Add Color to Your Home With These 7 Easy and Creative DIY Home Painting Ideas

If you thought paint was just for the walls and ceilings in your home, think again. There are many other areas of your home that could benefit from a coat or two of paint or a new paint color. In fact, choosing the right paint color and adding fun pops of color to your home can even increase its value. 

But what should you paint? 

Below, you’ll find seven of our favorite creative DIY home painting ideas. 

1. Dining Room Chairs

Dining room chairs are an excellent opportunity to have a little fun with color — and you don’t even need to paint all of them. Just two will do. For example, you can paint the two chairs that sit at the heads of the table to give your dining room a big splash of color. Or, you can mix and match your freshly painted chairs around the table to create an interesting visual. If you’re feeling extra adventurous, painting each chair will be a major focal point. 

Before you get to painting, determine how many chairs from your dining room set that you want to paint and where you’ll place them at the table. Then, carefully think about your color selection. If your chairs are naturally dark in color, keep in mind that lighter colors will need several coats in order to fully come through. You’ll also want to sand the entire chair to ensure the surface is smooth and ready for primer and paint.

Image credit: A Beautiful Mess

2. Inside of Your Cabinets

When we think of painting ideas, we rarely think of painting the inside of something. However, painting the inside your cabinets is a great way to surprise yourself and guests with vibrant colors. And it has the added benefit of being really unique. 

Because the interior of your cabinets will often be obscured and will rarely be on display full-time, you have the freedom to pick brighter, more lively colors than you’d feel comfortable picking for your walls. 

To make sure you’re picking an accent color that still goes with your kitchen, bathroom, or the decor that surrounds your cabinetry, try matching it with a nearby decor item. For example, Jessica of Mom4Real matched her cabinet color with her kitchen chalkboard, soap bottles, and strainer to ensure the cabinet color fits well with the room.

Image credit: Mom4Real

3. Closet Walls

Similar to cabinet innards, closet walls are typically not visible to you or your guests. But just like the insides of cabinets, painting those interior closet walls with a fun shade is a surprising and creative way to use color in your home. 

To add the right color to your closet walls, use the same advice above and pick a shade that closely matches another piece of nearby decor or furniture. This way the closet color will match with the rest of the room and won’t create any clashing visuals. If you don’t want the closet color to feel matchy-matchy with the rest of them, try choosing a color that is within the same color palette or family as the rest of the room.

Image credit: Classy Clutter

4. Edges of a Door

Just a hint of color can go a long way. That’s why we love the idea of painting the edges of your interior doors. Painting this 2-inch strip of wood provides a fun, contrasting color without requiring a ton of work on your part. Just make sure to sand the door edge prior to painting and remember to use a primer as a clean base.

Image credit: Remodelista

5. Around the Dresser Drawers

This is probably the most involved home painting idea that we’ve come across. But the effect is very unique and, in our opinion, worth all of the extra effort. 

For this painting idea, take the drawers out of the dresser you want to paint. Then, sand the dresser to get a smooth surface that’s ready for primer and paint. The next step is to go to town and paint the entire dresser the color of your choosing. It’ll take a while, but once the coats are dry and you put the drawers back in, you’ll have a dresser that is one-of-a-kind.

Image credit: It’s Two AM

6. Window Trim

Color is nothing without light. In fact, that’s what color is: wavelengths of light. One of the best sources of light in your home is your windows. To make the most of the natural light entering your home, we love the idea of painting your window trim a bright, vivid color. When light then comes through the window, the entire room will become filled with color.

Image credit: Laura U Interior Design

7. Your Staircase

Stairs aren’t always the most decorative focal point in your home. They’re more functional than stylish. But that doesn’t have to be the case. In fact, your stairs represent a great opportunity to bring color to your home’s floors. 

For example, A Kailo Chic Life painted their entire staircase risers different tones of the same color for a fun ombre effect.

Image credit: A Kailo Chic Life 

But our favorite staircase painting project comes from Leslie of Deeply Southern Home. With a recently installed custom stair runner, Leslie wisely chose not to paint her stair risers a specific color. However, she did tape out and paint fun stripes that outlined the edges of her stairs. This added a nice, polished finish to her staircase.

Image credit: Deeply Southern Home

Paint the Town (and Your Home)

Adding color to your home doesn’t have to be done through new wall colors or decor. You can do it by painting the furnishings and decorations that already make your home unique. Stick to the above DIY home painting ideas and you’ll make your home more colorful and vibrant in no time.