How To Paint Appliances Stainless Steel

Did you know that you can paint your appliances?

I thought about waiting to share this project until the entire makeover was done, but decided it would be fun to share as I go along. I’ve been hinting at the fact that I’m doing a little makeover at my niece’s house. I’ve always wanted to makeover her dining room, and that is how it all started. But one thing led to another and we ended up starting in her kitchen. We are on a budget in this space, so I brainstormed cheap decorating ideas to get started. We decided the first step was to paint the appliances to look like stainless steel.

I was slightly skeptical when deciding to try this paint, but I am really happy with the results! If you have appliances that aren’t so pretty but are totally functional, then keep reading to learn how to paint appliances! In this next shot, you can see the dishwasher and the stove before.

It’s a galley kitchen and it’s really light and bright space, it just needs some updating. Here are the plans we have.

Paint appliances – stainless steel

Paint the countertops

Install a backsplash

Refresh the cabinets with paint and new hardware

Paint the floor

We are updating this kitchen on a very small budget, as I usually do. The appliances are in good working condition, and they fit the space well so there is no real need to replace them for cosmetic reasons. I had seen liquid stainless steel paint online, and admittedly I was a little skeptical if this would really work, and not look cheap or fake. The people at Giani were gracious enough to send me the liquid stainless steel paint as well as their countertop paint to try. For appliances, the liquid stainless steel has one kit for the refrigerator and a second kit for the range and dishwasher. The range and dishwasher kit are designed to handle high temperatures.

Items needed to Paint Appliances:

Liquid Stainless Steel Fridge Kit

Liquid Stainless Steel Range and Dishwasher Kit

Dropcloth

Paintbrush 

Painter’s Tape

Second paint tray

Prep Work:

Even though I was a bit skeptical, I was excited at the possibility that this would work, and it did not disappoint! To begin, we first used painter’s tape to block off the areas we didn’t want the paint leaking onto. I’ve done tons of painting and I have to say, do not skimp on painter’s tape. Pay the extra few bucks for the better brands, it is so worth it! Next,  I read the directions twice to be sure I was doing it right. The kit comes with a roller, foam brush, and a wide foam brush.

How to Use Appliance Paint:

Once your prep work is done, the first thing you need to do is mix the paint very well. My niece and I were so excited when we opened the can-it’s so pretty!

We started with the dishwasher. The key to using this paint is to apply very thin coats, letting them dry in between. But to be honest,  I never wait for the entire recommended drying time. It became a joke by the end of the day. “Oh the directions say wait an hour in between coats, so….5 minutes should be good”. You first use the roller to roll on the paint, immediately followed by the wide foam brush to smooth it out. It is recommended for the dishwasher that you apply the paint in a side-to-side motion as opposed to vertically.

Here is the dishwasher after we applied the first coat. Note, we didn’t have any drop cloth on the floor. We plan on painting the floor later, so we weren’t too worried about it. But when we got to the refrigerator it got really messy,  and we quickly covered up the floors. You’ll definitely want to put something over the floors before beginning!

This shot shows how it looked as I was applying the third coat, I had painted about 3/4 of the way down the dishwasher at this point. You can see how it fills in as you apply each coat. I was pretty amazed by the results.

Adding the top coat

Once you have your desired finish it’s time to add the glaze, which comes with the kit. This is why you want a second paint tray. Because we were doing all 3 appliances in one day, it was convenient to have one tray for the paint and one for the glaze. To apply the glaze, you roll it on just as you did with the paint, then we used a paintbrush (as opposed to the wide foam brush that we used with the paint) to work it in, and remove the excess. It looks white as it goes on, but it dries clear.

While we waiting for each coat on the dishwasher to dry (it dries fast by the way) we started on the stove. You can actually use the appliance paint on the stovetop which is awesome! The stovetop was the hardest thing to paint because of all the little grooves around the burner and because you are working with smaller areas here, not a large flat surface like on the dishwasher.

This is the stove after two coats. We ended up doing a total of 3.

We also painted the range hood cover with the range paint kit. While waiting for each coat to dry, we moved onto the fridge.

Using the Refrigerator Paint

For the fridge, it’s recommended that you paint in an up and down motion, rather than side to side as is recommended for the dishwasher. With the fridge, we noticed that after we rolled on the paint and then went over it with the wide foam brush, that it created a lot of drippings. This is why you really want to make sure your area is covered with a drop cloth or newspaper. To help prevent massive drippings, we thoroughly wiped the wide foam brush off on the paint tray after each swipe. This next picture shows the fridge after 2 coats.

The spots you see on the cabinets are where we removed the old, oddly placed knobs and filled them in with wood filler. As I mentioned, painting the cabinets is on the list.

On the refrigerator, we actually used 4 coats of the liquid stainless steel, while the dishwasher and range only took 3 for complete coverage. We used the glaze on all 3 appliances and the range hood cover. I have to say, this liquid stainless steel paint from Giani really amazed me, see for yourself!

To purchase both kits will cost you a total of about $100 – which is far less than buying new appliances!

So far, so good! I will share the countertops soon, we got them started over the weekend but haven’t finished them up yet.

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UPDATE: See how we painted the countertops here, installed a subway tile backsplash here, and how we painted the flooring here.

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If you’re looking for more budget decorating ideas, check out The Ultimate Guide to Beating the High Cost of Decorating here and Cheap Decorating Ideas That Look Chic here.

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