Spray Painting an Oven

When I told people I was going to spray paint our white appliances black, they were intrigued, but skeptical. Understandably so. Others were more supportive - wanting me to do it first so they knew if they could try it on their appliances at home!

I'll start by giving you a supply list of items that were helpful for me:

• "Fabuloso" Cleaner in Spray Bottle
• Steam Cleaner
• Steel Wool
• Microfiber Towels
• Light Grit Sandpaper
• Blue Painters Tape
• Butcher Paper 
• 4 Water Bottle Caps
• RUST-OLEUM High Heat Ultra Spraypaint

We started by spraying down the oven hood and the oven with Fabuloso (can be found at the local dollar store near you and is a pretty powerful grime cutter) and then steamed both items with my mom's amazing steam cleaner.

Next came a good scrub down with steel wool to get the remaining pieces of "ick" off both items. I then dried everything off with a microfiber towel and proceeded to sand. I sanded and wiped down both items around three times. You want to make sure the enamel paint on the items is roughed up enough to grab onto the spray paint. I sanded until the enamel paint began to loose its shine, looking dull.

I got lucky because the back control panel and the front of the oven was already black, so all we needed to do is paint the top and sides. In order to preserve what didn't need to be painted, we covered everything up with butcher paper and painting tape. My sister came up with a GENIUS idea to cover the burners that I'd highly recommend. She wrapped painting tape around water bottle caps and set them right over the burners! Perfect fit and not a drop of paint got on or in the burners. It takes a team, people!

Next step...the moment of truth...spray painting an appliance that would be really expensive to replace if I f#$@ed up too bad... 

SUCCESS!! Both items turned out great. A few tips while spray painting:

• Sweep back and forth using consistent pressure on the spray paint can nozzle.
• Catch drips right away! Dab at drips (I just used a paper towel) and spray paint over that spot again after your coat is dry. 
• Although the paint appears to dry fast, and I know you'll feel excitement in wanting to get it done to see the final product, but give it some time. I waited an hour between each coat. 
• Spray paint is very forgiving. Don't freak out if you need to re-sand a spot and start over or if you need to do several layers to make sure all areas are covered.

Here is our oven hood and oven in their natural habitat. Spray painting was an easy, cost-effective way to bring our new kitchen design together and is an option I'd use again (actually I already did...with our fridge...I'll post that later!). Happy DIY'ing, friends!