How to Paint Appliances- Dishwasher Edition

I’m not much of a cook so I don’t spend a ton of time in the kitchen. That doesn’t mean I can’t make it pretty! While my husband was out of town last month I decided to paint my dishwasher! He came home and loved it! I told him I would be painting the refrigerator hot pink and he said to go for it! I have to admit I was trying to get a rise out of him, but at this point, he’s so used to me taking a brush to everything that he must be immune to it.

*This post contains affiliate links. You don’t pay any more from ordering from these links but I earn a small commission so I can continue to bring you more fun projects! They also allow me to show you exactly what I use so you know what I’m referring to! *

Material List:

The painting details

Like every project, I began with the prep work. Since this is metal I simply wiped it down with rubbing alcohol. That removed all the dirt, grease, and oils. It’s important to remove the oils because the paint we use is water-based and water won’t stick to oil.

Next, I gave it a coat of Slick Stick. This is a primer from Dixie Belle that helps your paint bond to slick surfaces like metal, tile, glass, and other nonporous surfaces.

After it was dry I painted the bottom in Cotton Chalk Mineral Paint and the top in Colonel Mustard.

Then I taped off my stripes with Frog tape. I used the tape roll to measure each stripe.

*PRO TIP: When painting stripes, Once your tape is on, paint it with your base color. In this case, I used Cotton. If your paint bleeds through the tape it will do so on the first layer. Thus you want the bleed through to be the base color for a crisp clean stripe.

Next, I painted my stripes with Caviar. I gave it 2 coats and peeled the tape off while the second coat was still wet. It allows for an easier, cleaner release.

You may be able to see a faint purple design on the top. I applied a stencil using Aubergine (Plum Purple Color) over the Colonel Mustard but I didn’t like how bold it was so I painted over it but left a bit of its texture.

I let this dry with a fan for several hours. Then I added a transfer from Hokus Pokus called La Vie Est Belle. Once it was applied, I made sure it was secure and sealed the whole project 3 times with Gator Hide allowing several hours of dry time between each coat.

I know you’re going to ask how has it held up? It has been a little over a month and it has held up very well!

I hope this inspires you to have some fun and paint something unconventional! Next for me will be my refrigerator. I painted the fridge in my shop last year, and now it is time to give the one in my kitchen a fun remodel.

If you would like to learn how to master my painting techniques, I many tutorials that give you the exact steps to follow. Find all of them HERE

For FREE painting tips and tricks, do not forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

And do not forget about, taking my quiz and determining the home decor that perfectly matches your personality, and share with me your results on Instagram or Facebook

Leah