A new coat of paint can do wonders to revamp your decor. And you’ll be amazed to see how far one cheap can of Rustoleum spray paint can go.

My old and tarnished porch light, floor lamp and dresser pulls were instantly transformed. Now they look like new and I saved a lot of money by not having to replace them. And that makes thrifty me very happy!

At my local hardware store, Rustoleum spray primer and enamel each cost around $4 including tax. The coverage is really great and it comes in several different colors and finishes. I prefer enamel gloss but you can also get matte.

Spray painting is easy to do, keeping a couple of simple things in mind. Following are the step by step photos and a breakdown of how much money I saved on each project, totaling over $200.

How to spray paint metal lights, lamps and knobs

1. Clean the surface by washing with soap and water or by using glass cleaner
2. Lightly sand to give it some tooth
3. Either mask off the area (if painting in place) or put the items on top of a large piece of cardboard
4. Paint outside if possible
5. Begin spraying before the piece, sweep across it and finish beyond the piece. Try to go at an even speed.
6. Use spray primer first. Do two coats, letting it dry for a few minutes in between. Follow up with two coats of the spray enamel.
7. Several light coats are better than one heavy coat

Porch light

Porch light “before” photo

Porch light before photo

With the outside of the house being recently painted, the old black mailbox and tarnished porch light needed attention. After all, they’re right by the front door, and that’s the first thing visitors see.

I was able to get the mailbox looking pretty good by just cleaning it and switching out the rusty handle. The 15 year old porch light, however, needed more than cleaning.

Porch light taken apart and cleaned

Disassembled porch light

I unscrewed the bottom so I could remove the glass inserts and set them aside. The other pieces were placed on cardboard for painting.

Light fixture masked off

Porch light taken apart and masked off

Using painter’s tape, I covered up the light socket. Then I took a large piece of brown packing paper and taped it around the fixture.

Primer coat applied

Primer coat on porch light

The light fixture and these loose pieces got two coats of primer.

Porch light sprayed with gloss enamel

Spray painting porch light

Everything was sprayed with two coats of black gloss enamel paint.

Masking paper and tape removed

Porch light with two coats of spray paint

Nice!

Porch light “after” photo

Porch light after spray painting

Everything put back together. Looks like new!

Floor lamp

Floor lamp “before” photo

Floor lamp ready to spray paint

This torchiere lamp is about 20 years old. The gold finish is tarnished and wearing off.

Here the shade was removed prior to being spray painted. I also masked off part of the cord.

Once again, two coats of primer and two coats of paint.

Floor lamp “after” photo

Spray painted floor lamp

All shiny and new. Maybe it will last another 20 years!

Furniture pulls and knobs

Dresser pulls “before” photo

Old brass furniture pulls

Dresser knobs “before” photo

Brass furniture knobs

The dresser also had knobs.

In this picture you can see that the knobs are screwed onto cardboard for painting. Once again, these received two coats of primer and paint.

Dresser “after” photo with handles and knobs installed

Spray painted dresser pulls and knobs on newly painted dresser

The directions on the can of spray gloss say that you can apply a sealer on top. I called Rustoleum to find out if that was necessary. Since handles get a lot of “handling,” I didn’t want black paint rubbing off. They told me that was an optional step so I skipped it. After several months of use, I’m happy to report that there is definitely no paint transfer. I’m very pleased with the durability as well as the look.

The dresser also had a matching chest of drawers. Altogether there were 21 pulls and 24 knobs.

Breakdown of savings

Total savings: $270.50

Based on the prices in effect today, I would have paid:

$24.00 porch light
$78.00 floor lamp
$153.50 furniture handles and knobs (45 pieces)

$255.50 subtotal
+$23.00 tax

$278.50 total
-$8.00 primer and spray paint

$270.50 grand total

Now that’s a pretty good return on investment!