DIY Paint Projects for Your Home

Puffy Paint Pillow

Fake an embroidered look with puffy paint. To make a painted pillow like this one, trace a favorite shape on contact paper. Cut it out, and press the paper to a solid-color pillow. With a light touch, apply puffy paint dots around the outside of the design. Allow the paint to dry for three hours and then remove the contact paper. The puffy paint dots will look like embroidered French knots.

Perfect Patina

Give a piece of wood furniture a distressed finish. This simple technique uses paint, sandpaper, and a few basic supplies.

Watercolor Magic

Customize a favorite photo with watercolor. Convert a digital photo to black and white, then print it on lightweight watercolor paper or cardstock. Avoid ink-jet printers; use a laser printer, or enlist your local copy shop for help. Tint your favorite details from the image with watercolor paints (light colors work best) using a soft watercolor brush. Leave the remainder of the photo black and white, and allow it to dry at least three hours. If the first wash of color isn't bright enough, apply a second coat. Let dry completely before framing.

Painted Rug

Put a little spring underfoot, and give an inexpensive sisal rug a fun update with paint. Use green painter's tape and a straightedge or yardstick to create clean outlines. We chose an improvised chevron pattern. When you're happy with your design, use a paintbrush or foam roller to apply interior latex paint, one color at a time. 

Splatter Art

Bring a Jackson Pollock-inspired piece to your home at a DIY price tag. Place a large stretched canvas on a drop cloth. Drip, drizzle, and splatter paint until you have a design you love. Experiment with old paintbrushes, toothbrushes, and splatter tools to create different effects.

Zigzag Chevron

Tap into the chevron trend and apply the pattern to your walls or another surface. Creating a precise chevron pattern requires a bit of math. Click the link below to learn how to measure and map out a chevron design.

Striped Pillow

Not only is this pillow painted, the cover is sewed from flour sack towels. Choose a pillow form, then fold and trim your towel to size. The cut towel should wrap around the pillow completely with an additional 1 inch on three sides for seam allowances. With right sides facing, sew the side seams together using a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Sew the remaining side, leaving a 4-inch opening in the middle. Turn the pillow cover right side out, lay flat, and insert a piece of cardboard to prevent paint from bleeding. Use painter's tape to make stripes on one side. Spray fabric paint over the untaped areas as desired and according to manufacturer's directions. Let dry and remove tape. Add stripes as desired in a second color. Let dry and insert your pillow form. Whipstitch the opening closed.

Faux Bois Headboard

Skip an actual headboard and go for one painted on the wall. A fun patter, like this faux bois design, will have the same focal point affect as a regular headboard.

Tone-on-Tone Stenciling

Stenciling brings pattern to walls and an interesting break from solid hues. Download this free stencil pattern, and follow the link below to see how to stencil a wall.

Lighter Than Lace

Brighten a basic solid-color lamp base with delicate motifs. A white oil-paint marker is the perfect tool to put your sketches in the spotlight. Draw simple spirals and interlocking paisley or flower patterns for an intricate look. Start at the top and work your way down for the best results.

Kitchen Floor Stencil

Put pattern underfoot by stenciling your floor. Click the link below to see how to stencil a floor, and get the free pattern used in this project.

Color Washing

Give furniture a subtle lift with color washing, a technique using watered-down paint to apply color in a whisper-soft finish.

Three-Way Mirrors

A few coats of paint can transform an old mirror frame, and the fresh effect is amplified when the look is multiplied. While one mirror would have been impactful, a trio of mirrors ups the wow factor. Simply mask off the mirrors, and paint the frames a hue that matches your decor.

Square Off

Go geometric with a simple makeover. Paint a dresser your base color and let it dry. Mark off squares with painter's tape, and paint the entire dresser with a desired color. (We used white as the base color and blue as the top color.) When the top color is dry, peel off the tape and let your design come to life.

Boost Curb Appeal

Easy paint projects aren't just for your home's interior. Brush a little color on your home's exterior for quick curb appeal. Try painting the front door -- a simple, done-in-a-weekend project -- a favorite shade that coordinates with other exterior elements and the surrounding landscape.

Personalize Your Bedroom

Dress up a wooden headboard with paint and a stencil. First, paint the headboard with your desired base color. Once dry, position a stencil on the headboard, and tape in place. Fill in the pattern with a contrasting paint color.

Made in the Shade

A plain lampshade is the perfect venue for painted motifs. This one, embellished with zinnias, is easily re-created with the help of a rubber stamp, a sheet of clear acetate, and a soft palette of sunshine-and-shadow green hues.

Remove and Revive

This standard dining set received a crisp update with white paint. When revamping furniture, don't be afraid to remove decorative elements that don't suit your style. (Just make sure they aren't integral to the function or structure of the piece.)

Dated medallions were removed from the table legs to give this set a more current aesthetic. The holes were filled with wood filler and given a light sanding. Then the entire set was primed and painted. Covering the seats with a graphic fabric completes the fresh, cheery look.

Pattern Perks

Using a stencil and acrylic paint, transform inexpensive solid-color sailcloth curtains into designer-worthy draperies. This elegant arabesque motif repeats at staggering intervals to create an eye-pleasing design. Lay the panel flat and plan your arrangement before you start painting. Be sure to have a protective layer such as newspapers beneath the panel so the paint doesn't leak through the fabric onto your work surface.

Aged to Perfection

Bring signature style to a basic white dresser with a few coats of dry-brushed paint and a set of antique handles. Milk paint provides this dresser with a rich-looking finish, and narrow trim on the drawers gives the once-flat structure dimension. Antiquing glaze rubbed over the entire surface completes the transformation.

Pretty in Paint

Pick a palette of bold paint colors and fun patterns to personalize a dining space. An oversize cane pattern painted on one wall offers a bold background for bright hues throughout the room. After painting the wall's base coat, use painter's tape to make a grid pattern (for best results, add any angled lines last), then paint over the design with your desired background color. Let the paint dry completely, then remove the tape.