How my painted projects are holding up | Home With Tess

If you’ve been reading my column for a while, you know how much I write about paint. I could likely preach about the power of paint for 100 more articles. It’s the cheapest way to make the largest impact, whether you’re looking to transform a piece of furniture or an entire room.

But paint can also be tricky. The numerous brands, paint types and painting techniques available can be dizzying, and choosing a paint color that looks lovely at all times of the day is another challenge entirely.

In 2020 – my first full year of home ownership – I went a little paint crazy as I tried to eradicate all the gray in my house with several projects that remain in my home to this day. So, roughly three years later, were these projects worth it? Would I do them all over again, and if so, what would I do differently? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

Painted cabinets

In late 2020, I embarked on the journey of painting my kitchen cabinets, a process that I outlined in a three-part series. Based on the sole fact that I wrote three articles about it, you can likely tell that this project was quite a large undertaking filled with days of prep work.

More than two years later, though, I can easily say the prep work was worth it. I haven’t spotted a speck of paint peeling from the cabinets, a discovery that would surely shatter my soul and confidence as a DIYer if it ever appeared. It’s still a project I feel good about every time I see the cabinets, and the color adds an extra dose of happiness to my day.

The color choice, though, is a double-edged sword. While I still love the deep teal, it has created a sort of predicament now that I’m looking to slightly change the color scheme in my living area, which bleeds directly into the kitchen to create one big room. I am now permanently tethered to the teal, backed into a metaphorical corner as I try to pick out a new paint color for the walls — and while I want to go bolder with my wall color, I fear it would clash with the cabinets.

If I had to do it all over again, I would have thought longer about the color I wanted my walls to be and assured my cabinets coordinated well with that instead of the other way around. Knowing what I know now, I also probably would have waited for warmer weather so I could have created proper ventilation to spray paint the cabinets instead. It’s not the finish on the cabinets that bothers me (although some slight brush strokes are visible), but rather the sheer amount of time it took me to complete the project. Spray painting, although it would have required more investment and prep, likely would have taken much less time.

Rainbow stairs are fading after a few years

In early 2020, I wanted to bring some brightness into a newly COVID-crazy world, so I decided to paint each one of my stair risers a different color using discounted paint samples I bought from a local shop.

This project is a perfect example of why prep is so important. Three years later, these stairs have seen better days. Color is slowly chipping away from the risers, though when working with cheap paint, that’s not to a huge surprise. What is perhaps more unexpected is the way the stair treads have worn. I cleaned, sanded and then painted them with white primer, which looked great at first. Over time, though, the primer has started to peel off and now displays dog hair and splattered coffee stains – a far cry from the crisp, clean look they had when freshly painted.

If I had to do it over again, I would have focused more on the prep and likely would have just stained the treads instead of painting them, depending on their condition. It may have held up a little better, and at the very least, it would have been better at concealing stains and dirt.

If the treads weren’t in ideal shape for staining, I would have at least researched a bit more into the primer I was using to make sure it was suitable for using on an area with heavy foot traffic. Luckily, this project was relatively simple, so it should be easy to touch the stairs up with a new coat of paint.

A painted mural

At a time when painted arches and other geometric shapes were at the height of their popularity, cropping up on photos across Pinterest, I, too, decided I must have a painted geometric mural in my home.

It was a fun idea at the time, and one I knew I could easily paint over if I ever decided I hated it.

Well, that time has come, and I’m preparing to cover the arches as soon as I get a free weekend or two to paint the room a new color (which may be when hell freezes over).

Let’s be honest – the arches were a trend that is fading, and after living with them for a few years, I’ve decided they don’t fit in with my core style. If I were to paint a wall mural all over again, though, I would have painted samples of the colors in the exact spot where I wanted the mural to be so I could gauge how they would look in different lighting throughout the day. I failed to do this before I painted my mural, which is in a dark corner of the room, and instead of seeing the rich jewel tones I picked out, the darkness mostly makes them appear like primary colors reminiscent of an elementary school.

I don’t regret painting them, though (at least not yet – I’ll report back on how difficult it is to cover the bold wall colors). That’s the beauty of paint – it allows you to experiment, learn and have fun with minimal risk involved.

Are there any paint projects you’ve regretted? Any that you would have done differently? Or any that completely changed your space? Whatever the case may be, I’d love to hear about them — drop me a line at homewithtess@gmail.com

Email your questions to Theresa "Tess" Bennett at homewithtess@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: How my painted projects are holding up | Home With Tess