When we first moved to Fox Hollow I thought the house was haunted. I would be lying in bed at night and I would heard these strange noises and I imagined it was the ghost of the past owner. Investigations proved it was the fridge. It was vocal and angry about it’s advancing age and the third house move, but it is still going strong. God knows how much longer it will last. What have I got to lose by giving it a paint job and brightening up it’s spot in the utility? Absolutely nothing.
Here is the run down of what I did, and more importantly what I did wrong.
What I used:
Sugar Soap
Sandpaper
Painters Tape
Two Fussy Blokes Smooth Microfibre Roller (gifted)
Colourtrend Primer No 2, plus their Eggshell paint for wood and metal in Fruit Crumble
Getting the prep right
Firstly **ALWAYS** do a test area, I chose the top of the fridge, but it didn’t stop me going on to mess up!
Clean the fridge thoroughly with the sugar soap and a sponge and then rinse off. Once that is done grab your sandpaper and gently buff the surface. ****KLAXON**** here is where I went wrong, I picked up the heavier grade sandpaper and over-scratched the whole fridge. Did I realise there was something wrong? Absolutely not, firstly I thought it was just normal debris, then I thought once it was painted it would improve. There is little that can be done after the fact, but subsequent coats have improved the look significantly. So pick the finest grade sandpaper you can.
Anyway, once it is sanded, clean it with a damp cloth, to clear the dust. Carefully apply your painters tape to the areas you don’t want painted. Then apply the first coat of primer. Follow the instructions on the tin regarding drying time and number of coats.
Choosing your colour
Being a colour lover I find it hard sometimes to narrow it down to one choice, so in this instance I used a new favourite print by Tara O Brien as a starting point.
I wanted something that would tie the walls, doors, print and plants all together, and a colour I would use again, so I chose Fruit Crumble, which has slightly coral tones in it. I went for the low sheen of an eggshell finish.
The colour was applied with the rollers and it makes light work of it. It also leaves a beautifully smooth finish, similar to it being spray painted. So between the time it took to apply and the professional finish I really can’t see myself going back to brushes.
I left eight hours between each of the three coats, to be entirely sure that the paint cured sufficiently, but the information sheets say it ‘develops full adhesion after 7 days’ so I’m going to continue to be kind to it for a week.
You can easily to this job within 24 hours, I started at 9 am on Friday, prepping, cleaning, sanding and masking off. The primer went on at 10am, the first coat of colour at 12 noon, the next coat at 9pm, and the final coat the next morning at 8am. ***TIP***Just bag up the roller and the tray in between coats to keep it fresh.
So there you have it, Fox Hollow now has a bright pink fridge, it is still as noisy as ever but at least it looks more cheerful.
Thank you for reading
B x
Fab job Bronagh. I love the foam rollers. They do a great job.
So quick and clean to use!
Looks amazing. Thanks for including instructions and tips. Eyeing up my own fridge now .
Ha ! I love it! I hope painted fridges turn up everywhere now!
ooh, I just saw your fridge on the Creators stories on Instagram! Gorgeous, I’ve never seen a pink fridge before!
Oh thank you ! xxxxx
That’s great, Will try it in the upcoming weekends. Thanks.
This guide is really on point and they are very practical for beginners. I would love to read more from you in the future. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much!
Useful points for making your fridge brighter than before. Thanks for sharing this article.
Extremely innovative and beautiful. Thankyou for posting this
So quick and clean to use! Thanks for sharing