Clean Crisp Look for Old Containers

Jeanne Johnson Ortego
by Jeanne Johnson Ortego
3 Materials
$2
45 Minutes
Easy
When I was researching Pottery Barn to look for inspiration for this week’s post, I realized that I had several pieces that would work within those parameters. While I was spray painting my lamp, (Link posted below) I went ahead and painted those other pieces, as well. The first is a set of crockery that I use for my kitchen utensil storage. They’re over 30 years old and I was tired of the brown.
My Inspiration from Pottery Barn.
Seeing these in Pottery Barn, I decided to try painting mine white. I didn’t realize all those Pinterest Thrifting Tips that said to paint tired crockery from thrift stores white were based on these Pottery Barn beauties!
Old Crock
Before attempting to paint the crocks, I cleaned each one thoroughly by spraying them with my homemade lemon oil and vinegar cleaner. I let it sit a few minutes, then wiped it off.
Old and chipped crockery
Next, I washed and dried the pieces.
Pitcher Inspiration
I also decided to paint an old pitcher from a garage sale that I picked up a month or so ago, once I saw this pitcher on the Pottery Barn website.
Before
I set the crocks and pitcher up on a roll of tape, paint can lids, and old bowls to keep them off the drop cloth. I was careful to spray evenly and in thin coats. I let the paint dry for a few minutes between coats. Today was pretty and sunny, so they dried quickly. They looked better immediately, with just the first coat of primer.
Finished product
Once I was through painting the crockery, I let them sit out in the heat to ensure that they dried evenly. It also allows the scent of spray paint to dissipate.
The primer leaves a powdery, flat finish. Since this is the look that I was going for, all I had to do once they dried was place them in the kitchen.
Resources for this project:
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 8 questions
  • Tbk23999789 Tbk23999789 on Apr 09, 2018

    The initial post also said that you could repair chips on these pieces, but nothing has been mentioned. How do you do the repair....

  • Lori Dumm Lori Dumm on Apr 10, 2018

    I can't see the material list. Do you mind telling me what kind of paints you used?

  • Bbunny42 Bbunny42 on Apr 10, 2018

    If the paint isn't food safe, I certainly wouldn't store cooking utensils in them. It would be a nice look for vases, though. I'm assuming you can wash the containers without removing the paint?

Comments
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3 of 23 comments
  • Shan Shan on May 17, 2018

    You can always retrofit a food safe plastic container inside and everthing will be good.

  • Shan Shan on May 17, 2018

    You can always retrofit a food safe plastic container inside and everthing will be good.

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