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.

IMG_8035.jpg

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

IMG_8037

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.

IMG_8059

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.

IMG_8067.jpg
Primed

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.

IMG_8101.jpg
Tara O Brien Plant Lady Print

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.

Colourtrend Fruit Crumble.jpg
Colourtrend Fruit Crumble

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.

 

IMG_8079.jpg

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.

IMG_8082.jpg

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.

IMG_8086
Finished Product

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

 

 

 

 

 

12 Comments

  1. Fab job Bronagh. I love the foam rollers. They do a great job.

  2. Alice Myers

    Looks amazing. Thanks for including instructions and tips. Eyeing up my own fridge now .

  3. Mother of Snot

    ooh, I just saw your fridge on the Creators stories on Instagram! Gorgeous, I’ve never seen a pink fridge before!

  4. That’s great, Will try it in the upcoming weekends. Thanks.

  5. 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.

  6. Useful points for making your fridge brighter than before. Thanks for sharing this article.

  7. Extremely innovative and beautiful. Thankyou for posting this

  8. So quick and clean to use! Thanks for sharing

Have you got your own gems of wisdom to share? Please comment below!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.