I did it!

Apparently, I’m completely incapable of resisting the urgings of my blog readers (please…avoid the words, “jump,” and, “cliff”) because I took the suggestion that many of you put forth and which, I must admit, was already rattling around in my own brain, and painted teal polka dots on my almost-brand-new dryer.

And it was a bit of a pain.

But ultimately worth it, I think.

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Do you agree?

So, why was it such a pain, you ask?

Well, let me break it down for you:

1) I taped my stencil in place with painter’s tape, just like I did when I painted my washer, but it was a little harder to get it secured since there was nothing above the dryer to tape it to. No biggie, though.

2) I rolled on two coats of Kilz oil-based primer, just like I did when I painted my washer. Only this time, I only rolled the stenciled polka dot sections, since the background was already the color I wanted it to be.

3) I went back over the polka dots with the teal paint that I used on my washer  (: )), doing my best to correctly realign the stencil over the already primed polka dots (no easy task since the dryer background is white and so is the primer).

4) For the side of the dryer, I attempted to add several coats of paint by rerolling the same polka dots while the stencil was still in place.

But the effect was usually a bit smeary and definitely not dark enough.

I finally got smart and rustled up a little craft brush to help me out…but only after ruining quite a few Q-tips in the smear clean-up process (hey, they were probably just thanking me that it was paint and not ear wax).

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(And, yes, that creepy shadow looming is me. There’s not a lot of natural light in this laundry room at all).

5. I used the tiny craft brush to carefully make the lines around the polka dot edges darker and more defined and then filled in the middles with the same brush.

It was definitely a bit time-consuming but ultimately less frustrating  than rerolling over and over and still getting lackluster results.

6. I used painter’s tape around the door edges to avoid smudging/bleeding.

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7.  Finally, I employed my ear wax averse Q-tips in the job of cleaning up any particularly unsightly stray marks, and…

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…can now proudly introduce you to Henrietta’s equally polka dotted sister, Helena.

All told, this transformation probably took between 3 and 4 hours because the shiny newness of the metal made it a bit harder for anything to stick very well, but I sweet-talked it quite a bit, and it finally caved.

Also, for those of you who might be wondering how I answered the warranty question that was my only concern in whether I should paint a shiny new machine…

It’s still unresolved.

The good ol’ folks at Whirlpool might tell me, “No, ma’am. We’re sorry, but on the chance that your dryer breaks and paint fumes manage to seep into the electrical gears, and they stop working, then we can’t be held responsible for that.”

To which I might reply something super-mature like “Nah Nana Boo Boo!” but either way…

I haven’t asked yet, and, regardless of what they say, it’s done, and I can’t undo it.

So, let’s hope that Whirlpool has a sense of humor (or, at the very least, a thing for polka dots).

If you are considering this project and would like to know about warranties, I will be calling Whirlpool up very soon to get their reaction (which, I suspect, will go something like, “She did WHAT???! Is she calling us from a psychiatric ward?”), which I will then share with all of you, of course.

So, what do you think?

Did it turn out like you had envisioned (for those of you thought the reverse teal polka dot effect would be good)?

I sure hope so because, as I mentioned before, I can’t unpaint it now!

See you guys tomorrow for a Blissful round of Wardrrobe Wednesday!

P.S. I already added this info to my original washer-painting post because I was getting so many questions about the durability of the washer.

Well, I guess you can see with your own eyes from this post that I’ve had no issues with paint-peeling or any other major problems, but this is what I said:

**Edit: For everyone asking a) what kind of paint I used to paint the washer/polka dots and b) how that paint is holding up, the answers are:

a) on top of the oil-based KILZ primer, I used regular old latex paint in eggshell finish (no protective clear coat on top)

and

b) after 4 weeks and more loads of laundry than I care to remember, it’s holding up great.

Absolutely zero chipping, flaking, or peeling off. I’ve whacked it with the laundry basket, detergent bottle, etc., and it has left a small mark or two, but I don’t know any paint in the world that won’t show marks if you hit it with something hard.

The durability is mostly because of the primer I used, which is 1 part paint, a gazillion parts magic, as far as I can tell, but can also be credited to the fact that I rolled on three very light coats of paint. The lighter the better to keep the paint from globbing up.

Also, it took almost no paint at all. Maybe as much as 1/3 a quart.

Monday  The CSI project ~ Menu Plan Monday ~ C.R.A.F.T.  ~ The Southern Institute ~ Making the World Cuter ~ Thrify Décor Chick ~ Metamorphosis Monday ~ Sumo Sweet Stuff ~ Gunny Sack ~ Singing Three Little Birds ~DIY Homes Sweet Home ~ Dittle Dattle ~ 1929 Charmer ~ Everything Under the Moon  ~ ModMix Monday ~ Sew Stylish ~ Coastal Charm ~ Under the Table and Dreaming

Tuesday ~Sew Crafty Tuesday  Get Your Craft ~ Tip Junkie ~ Blackberry Vine ~ Crafty Confessions ~ Me & my Boys ~ A Bowl Full of Lemons ~ Home Stories A-Z ~ My Uncommon Slice of Suberbia  ~ Carolyn’s Homework ~ Sugar Bee Crafts ~ House of Grace ~ Passionately Artisitc ~ My World Made by Hand ~ Uncommon Designs ~ Trendy Treehouse

Wednesday ~it’s Overflowing  Blue Cricket Design ~ Somedays Crafts ~ Sew Much Ado ~ Sew Woodsy ~ Handy Man, Crafty Woman ~ Savvy Southern Style ~ {Primp} ~ Midweek Fiesta ~ Rae Gun Ramblings ~ Polkadots On Parade ~ Lollipop Cards ~ JAQS Studio ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ Let Birdz Fly ~ My Girlish Whims

Thursday ~ Transformation Thursdays ~ Somewhat simple ~ Show off your stuff ~ House of Hepworths ~ Delightful Order ~ My Simple Home Life ~ The Frugal Girls ~ Thrifty Thursday ~ DIY Diva Thursday ~ Tablescape Thursday ~ No Minimalists Here ~ Crafty, Scrappy, Happy ~ Thrifty Decorating ~ Between U and Me ~ 36th Avenue

Friday ~ The Shabby nest  ~ Show and Tell Friday ~ Finding Fabulous ~ I’m Loving it ~ Simply Sweet Home ~ Whipper Berry ~ Chic on a Shoestring decorating ~ Spunky Junky ~ Delicate Construction ~ Homemaker in Heels ~ Family Ever After~ French Country Cottage ~ Common Ground ~ Young And Crafty ~ At the Picket Fence ~ Fingerprints on the Fridge ~ Miss Mustard Seed ~ Addicted to Decorating ~Bacon Time with The Hungry Hypo ~ Making Lemonade ~ I Can’t Stop Crafting ~ Over the Big Moon ~ Shabby Art ~ Answer is Chocolate

Saturday ~ I heart nap time- Sundae Scoop ~ Tatertots and Jello ~ Be different Act Normal ~ Funky Junk ~ 2805 ~ Making Lemonade Blog ~I am Along for the Ride  ~ Lolly Jane

Sundays ~ Homemaker on a Dime ~ Sunday’s Best

 

 

0 Comments

  2. Okay, I know this is an older post, but I’m in a similar quandary. My beautiful matte gray washer just died and I had to replace it with a white washer. It will be here Friday, but I’m already trying to vanquish my horror at mismatched appliances. I came back to track down those awesome painted ones I’d seen and thank goodness my search engine re-found you. Yay!

    So, how has it held up? Would you use the same paint, or do you think I could maybe use my ASCP to do something similar? My version would be a stencil in gray on the white one and a stencil in white on the gray one, so I don’t have to repaint a whole appliance.

    I would love your input my dear. Thanks!

    Miranda

    Reply

  7. Dots… cute – the process, not so cute. As soon as I saw it, I thought that instead of using paint, why not use peel and stick vinyl? you can cut into any shape at all, it comes in fun colors and patterns, you can change your mind and it’s cheap.

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  16. Super cute – if your afraid to “paint it” how about using a fun vinyl color or two and cut out circles with a silhouette or even a jumbo hand held punch or even various sizes and just stick them on?

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  18. Those look fabulous! How fun – I keep thinking I want to paint the side of my fridge but haven’t dared yet.

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  26. PS: I’d love to link to this post in my Favourite Posts link party on Friday, if that’s ok with you.

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  27. Oh, it looks perfect! You did a great job! I love the reverse polka-dot effect. Ok, now I need to convince my husband to drywall my laundry/office area so I can pretty it up!

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  28. Great job. Everyone uses my laundry room door and the first thing they see is my ugly Bob and Bertha. What do you think about zebra print? Not—- Seriously may make this my next project in maybe a plaid, stripe, or even a floral.

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  33. This turned out so cute:) For some reason it just seems that polka dots and washers and dryers belong together.

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