Tag Archives: Painted Faucets

How do Painted Faucets Hold Up?

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Nearly four years ago, I painted the faucets in our budget friendly guest bathroom makeover. You can see how I painted them here. 

painting-bathroom-faucets

Do I regret it? Not one bit. Has it held up? For the most part. Here is how they look four years later…

painted faucet durability

These faucets are in a guest bathroom that gets used every day however it’s not heavy use. And I learned after taking this picture that the spout was even less chipped than shown. That’s mostly dried toothpaste. Oops. 

The fix: Since my paint is not flaking, I sprayed Rustoleum’s Metallic Oil Rubbed Bronze onto a styrofoam plate (until I got a “puddle” of paint). Then I used a Q-Tip to touch up the paint.

painted faucet touch up

Once that was dry (a few hours), I sealed the touch ups with clear nail polish.

touching up painted faucets

Good as new!

DIY painted faucets 

Guest ready once again…

painted faucets

For us, painting the faucets updated the old vintage pedestal sink and kept the cost of our bathroom makeover down. Finding separate hot and cold faucets with their own spout was a challenge so painting the faucets worked for us. I do have to say…it’s rather odd having one spout for cold and one spout for hot. There’s no dilly-dallying washing hands under the hot spigot…ouch! Filling the sink is the only option for “warm” water. Strange, isn’t it?

And in case you’re wondering, the painted floor has held up well too!guest bathroom

See the entire before and after: Bathroom Reveal.

Full painting faucets tutorial: painting-bathroom-faucets

Painting Faucets (and painted floor progress!)

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I know most of you have seen this, but I thought I’d share my faucet project again. It’s one of my most popular projects and update: as of 2017, these are still holding up beautifully! 
We’re keeping the pedestal sink. It’s pretty. It’s in like-new condition although I’m certain it is fairly old and I kind of like that it has a history. It stays until big dream-remodel occurs. However the faucets presented a dilemma. Look at the set up. One faucet for cold. A separate faucet for hot. Washing hands is a challenge. It requires a back and forth motion between faucets or hoping that the hot water isn’t instant. Or, using the stopper and filling the basin to get a sink full of warm water. I imagine original home owners used it that way. I looked to replace them…but I didn’t have any luck in finding separate hot/cold faucets. Now I’m kind of glad that I didn’t.

The old faucets are solid and silver. I’m guessing these things are old. I tried looking them up. They say “volverwine”. There is an old “Wolverine” brand. ? They’re heavy and the quality is awesome. I however want oil rubbed bronze to match other fixtures in the room. I decided that my old trusty favorite DIY magic transformation technique (spray painting) was the answer.
I tested the process on a gold brassy door stop. I loved the results. This is my all time favorite spray painting project so far!

I sanded all surfaces of the faucets, drain and metal parts and chain for the plug. I used a 3M sanding block and even an emery board to get every single area. I made sure I got all areas nice and scuffed up.

(At this point…they looked beautiful and polished. I almost backed out but I felt like silver faucets and oil rubbed bronze everywhere else just didn’t “go together”. I found the courage to move on. I think it was when I dreamt of wearing brown boots with black pants.)

I washed and dried them and I taped off the areas I didn’t want painted and put the knobs in the “off” position so I wouldn’t gum up the opening/closing function.

I start by painting the underneath and sides. Each piece got a couple of lightly sprayed coats of Rustoelum Primer in “rust”. I let each coat dry at least 8 hours before applying another. Once the underside was done, I flipped and did the top and sides.

I used a piece of packing styrofoam to hold them upright.

I followed the same steps for the oil rubbed bronze spray paint. (Upside down and sides = light coats, then flip and top and sides = light coats). Once that was dry…


I used a high gloss lacquer and the same steps. It’s been drying for about a week. It’ll probably two weeks by the time all is said and done and ready for installation. Plenty of time to cure. The sink isn’t back in place but I can’t wait to see them!
This piece was easier painted when hanging. After: Here is it against the porcelain: I LOVE how they turned out. What do you think? The finish is very hard and durable. The faucets open/close without any issues. And now they match the door knobs and light fixtures. I’m happy!
bathroom updates 

I used: Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer Rustoleum Metallic Brilliant Metal Finish (oil rubbed bronze) Lacquer Hi-Gloss (for metal) I did at least two coats of the primer and ORB then quite a few of the lacquer. I stayed back about 9-12 inches to keep the spray even and to prevent runs. 

DIY painted faucets

Touch ups in 2013.