SPRAY PAINT YOUR WAY TO HAPPINESS

I’m always looking for ways to spruce up the house without spending much money.  One day while padding the aisles of my local home improvement center in a dreamy renovation daze, I found myself hypnotized by the long rows of candy colored spray paints.  What snapped me to attention was a little squadron of spray paints with textured caps.  What was this?
Upon further investigation, I was surprised to learn that Rustoleum produces a line of “hammered spray paint” that lends the look of hammered metal to whatever you hose it down with. 

Giddy with anticipation, I took a bottle of “brown hammered” home.  I was skeptical that spray paint could look like hammered metal, but decided to test it on a floor register vent cover that was so beat up, it needed to be replaced.  Hot Damn!  I don’t know how they do it, but it really does look like hammered metal!

Around the house I went, collecting everything I could think of to spray.  Most fixtures in the house are original from when it was built 20 years ago.  Given all that time, and numerous horrible tenants, we need to replace lots of fixtures!  We were pricing out new light switch plates, register covers, and vanity lighting strips for all the bathrooms before I stumbled upon this little marvel.  Instead of buying everything new, I spray painted it all, and saved a ton of money.  The beauty of the hammered metal paint is even if what you are painting is dinged up; the paint covers any of the imperfections with its texture.

Another fun thing I did was put to use my collection of jars that I have been hording collecting.  Spray paint the lids and you have a pretty place to keep rice, popcorn, pasta, etc. 

You can even use them in the bathroom for bath salts and scrubs.  Or to store your cotton balls in while you work on attempting to create the world's first completely silent drape-runners.
 

Anyway, if you try it, I guarantee you will be hooked. 
I also tried the "oil rubbed bronze" color, and liked that too.  Maybe it doesn't look exactly like oil rubbed bronze, but it is pretty close.  And much better than the "dirt rubbed rust" look it replaced.