Check out this cute DIY sign that I refinished to align with my navy and white decor!
One of our very favorite local BBQ places recently closed its Santa Barbara location. Before making their big move out of state, the owner had a warehouse sale to clear out items that they didn’t want to pack up to bring with them. Enter adorable light up eat sign. As soon as I saw it posted for sale, I had the cutest vision of it one day sitting on my kitchen counter! Granted, my vision includes a much larger kitchen with a whole heck of a lot more counter space than I currently have…but a girl has to start somewhere, right?
I eagerly took all of the bulbs out to start prepping before taking a before photo, so here’s what I have to show as a before photo. It’s not ugly by any means, it’s just not my style!
I made sure to tape over all of the holes that held the light bulbs before spray painting it. Painters tape is definitely the way to go for ease of use!
When searching online for spray paint to use, I was really focused on the color more than anything. Keep in mind that colors can render differently on computer screens! Other factors you might consider are matte vs. glossy, dry time, and level of protection against rust. I ended up selecting this paint from Miner’s Ace Hardware. Shoutout to them for always having friendly associates and having a painless curbside pickup option during COVID-19!
Here are a few tips/lessons learned from this quick and easy project:
- If you don’t have an open space outside that you can complete a painting project, be sure to put some old cardboard underneath your item so you don’t end up getting paint everywhere.
- Wear gloves. I didn’t realize that spray paint was so messy! I definitely forgot to take photos of what my hands looked like after I was done, but trust me when I say it wasn’t pretty. And, you don’t want all of those nasty chemicals on your skin anyway!
- To get full coverage in every nook and cranny, you’ll likely need a few coats of paint. I let mine dry outside in a place where dirt and debris couldn’t blow onto my wet paint for about an hour prior to spraying a second coat.
- When your project dries, it will likely smell. My sign was fine to the touch, but it reeked! I left it in our outdoor laundry room overnight to help with that. Within about a day it was fine to bring inside.
I was SO thrilled with how it turned out! I really got lucky with the paint color matching almost perfectly with our kitchen chairs!
Do you have anything old lying around that could be revamped with a fresh coat of paint? I’d love to see your projects in the comments below!
xoxo
Jennifer
Great job!
Thanks!