DIY: I Painted My Oven--Really! #PaintJob

by Cecilia MyThriftStoreAddiction

Greetings Friends! Have you ever had a pretty little thing--or in this case, not so little--get stuck in your mind? Inspiration turns to irresistible urge! Obsessed or not, there was no way I was spending $5500 (seriously!) on this beauty, so I started to research...

painted oven, appliances, painting, repurposing upcycling

...and research and research! Turns out quite a few people paint their refrigerators and even washers and dryers but ovens, not so much. Obviously the paint/heat factor is a safety concern. Painting your stove top is not recommended even with an electric range like mine. Notice mine is stainless. It was the black doors I wanted to lighten up. Nothing against black ovens, but in my colorful retro kitchen, it stuck out like a black hole. Seeing that Big Chill luscious light green pushed me over the edge. The color is actually called jadeite--it had to be fate, right?! Incidentally, I saw a post in Kitchn where Susan painted her wall oven periwinkle. So why not jadeite? Here's the before and after:

My kitchen is smallish and the layout makes it the hardest room in the house to photograph. Do you have any rooms like that? The actual painted color is very close to the inspiration photo and I am loving it! Now I'll tell you how...

Before making the decision and ultimately sharing it with you, I read many conflicting points of view--from one extreme to the other. Initially, I thought I would need to use a high temperature paint. However, I learned that to withstand temperatures of 500 degrees, they are made to "cure" which emits harmful fumes. I also read that most oven doors rarely exceed 120 degrees. In the end, I followed this advice from a Firefighter:

CAUTION! As a Firefighter/EMT/HAZ-MAT Responder, I am appalled at the risks some of you are willing to take with the safety of your families using some of those paint finishes around the eyes or burners on your stoves. That discoloration means that the products are OFF-GASSING, emitting toxic vapors into your home... not good! Worse still, you are standing directly in the vapor cloud while stirring your pots, etc.! Even if you don't see any visible changes, acrylic, acrylic enamel, and lacquer paints just cannot stand up to those kind of temps and are breaking down... i.e. off-gassing. Instead, paint the sides and front of the oven with regular spray paint.

So I did, just that...

Continue to my blog and don't miss a thing:

Enjoyed the project?

You can do it! Saved to your projects

Frequently asked questions

Have a question about this project?

Ask a Question

Comments

Join the conversation

4 of 7 comments

HouseLogic.com on Jul 28, 2015
We love it! A fresh pop of color is a great way to makeover an old but still useful appliance. We added your project to our painting board. We can't wait to share it.

1 Reply
- Cecilia MyThriftStoreAddiction on Jul 28, 2015
  @HouseLogic.com Thanks so much ;)
  
  Like
Katrina Warren on Jul 28, 2015
@Cecilia MyThriftStoreAddiction I've often wished the paint companies would make more color choices in their appliance paint selection! If I were determined to have a certain color stove, I would have it professionally powder coated, but that wouldn't be a cheap solution. Hope your paint lasts, it looks great!

1 Reply
- Cecilia MyThriftStoreAddiction on Jul 28, 2015
  @Katrina Warren I agree! You wouldn't believe how many different paint sources I shopped! Powder coating seems to be a durable option but like you said-- not thrifty ;) I plan to do a follow up at some point to display how the paint has worn. Thanks so much!
  
  3