Mudroom Painted Locker Makeover

***The paint I used in this post was gifted from Velvet Finishes. All words and opinions are my own.

Since we moved into this house, I’ve been trying to decide if the “lockers” in our mudroom/laundry room combo were orginal to the build or if they had been added-on later? Part of me thinks they were built with the house. The design is the same as our kitchen cabinets and also those that were in the laundry room. The other part of me thinks the lockers could have been added after, because: 1. They take up so much room in the space! It doesn’t seem like they were designed to originally be a part of the space. 2. They’re not actually all that functional. The cubbies at the top, for sure, are too small to really hold any baskets that would be helpful.

I’ve debated taking the lockers out for some time, to free up space, but we’re not ready for that yet, so the next option was to give them a makeover. The wood isn’t the highest quality and wasn’t stained that well. Paint would be a welcome upgrade for this tired piece.

That’s why I was so excited to partner with Velvet Finishes for the paint for the project. I loved the idea that, for the lockers, I wouldn’t need to sand or prime. I’m a lazy DIY’er, what can I say?!

I mean, just look at this beast of a locker. While it’s not really big enough to be functional, it’s just so big and brown…weighing down the entire mudrrom/laundry room. A change in this room is more than welcome! — As you can see from the pictures, I’d already tackled the cabinet below the sink with the Velvet Finishes paint. More pictures and info below on that as well.

While I didn’t have to sand or prime the lockers, I did use the Ready spray from Velvet Finishes. It’s the recommended cleaner to prep the surface. I sprayed the entire locker unit down and let it sit for about a minute. (The bottle says 35-45 seconds.) After it had sat on the lockers, I wiped the Ready off with a lint-free cloth, making sure I got in all the nooks and crannies. I really wanted to make sure I did this part well, because I want the paint to be able to stick the best that it can to make it last.

After that, I taped off the lockers. I’m a really messy painter, so this is always necessary for me. I still ended up getting paint everywhere—apparently I need wider tape…and a little more practice.

When I picked out the paint colors that I wanted, I knew that I was going to do a custom mix, so I chose Tranquil and Timeless. Tranquil is beautiful, but I wanted a little bit of a darker color, so I added the Timeless to “muddy” it a bit. I used a quart mason jar to mix in, adding Tranquil to the 20 oz line, and then filling the rest of the jar (to the shoulder—approx 8 oz.) with Timeless. You can see the slight difference in the two colors I tested above. The color on the right is pure Tranquil and the one on the left is with Timeless added. You can create your own perfect blend by adding Timeless a bit at a time, if you’d rather it be more or less dark.

Since I was using a small foam roller and smaller paint brushes, using plates works out great! If I had a large roller or were using more paint at one time, I would use a paint pan. Having quality tools does make the job a lot easier and look nicer!

Again, super lazy DIY’er here. I didn’t want to have to take the shelves out to paint. Since, eventually, we’ll get rid of the lockers, I didn’t think it would be a big deal to get the paint behind where the shelves set into the lockers. Buuuuuutttt…while I was cleaning the lockers, I realized how tough it was going to be to paint the small cubbies, so I went ahead and removed the shelves. It ended up being way easier to paint them out—and to paint the inside of the cubbies with them taken out.

Between coats of paint on the shelves, I painted the lockers themselves. I started by painting as much of it as I could with the foam roller. Then, I went back in and got the rest of it (the rounded areas where the roller wouldn’t fit and the more intricate details—using a pointed brush, meant for trim and a 2 1/2” angled brush. After the first coat of paint dried, I went in reverse of this order for the second coat. I first painted the rounded and intricate areas of the lockers and then painted the rest with the foam roller. Velvet Finishes paint dries so quickly that I could have done all of this in one day. My schedule didn’t work to do that, but if you like to get projects done all at once like I do, you will love how quickly it dries!

The lockers are the star of the cabinetry makeover in the mudroom/laundry room, but I also painted the cabinet under our sink. I followed the same cleaning steps as I did for the lockers and removed the door closest to the wall (I couldn’t get a good angle to paint without doing that). I left the other door on and (using my pointed brush from above) carefully painted around the hinges. Using this same brush, I was easily able to reach behind the door to paint the cabinet itself, as well.

While the door and false drawer front were off, I filled the holes from the old hardware. Truth—we didn’t have any wood filler, and I didn’t want to buy any for such a small project—so I just used dry wall putty. I sanded it lightly after it dried and it worked just fine! I was able to utilize the top hole from the old hardware, so we only had to drill a new bottom hole for each handle!

I am in love with how this project has turned out. These lockers have been a big, brown, heavy eye-sore for so long—and I am over the moon with how they look now! They’re the same size and take up exactly the same amount of space, but somehow, they feel lighter! Not to mention that the color is wonderful and delicious and now I want to use it everywhere! The Velvet Finishes paint made this project so enjoyable. It covers well, dries quickly, and also feels durable to the touch. Some paints seem like they will chip or scratch if you look at them wrong, but I don’t feel that way about the paint from Velvet Finishes—which is a good thing, because we’re very hard on things in our house.

I mean…I cannot get enough of the new paint, hooks, and, of course, my lovely pothos trailing down the side. I am so excited about this mudroom/laundry room makeover and DIY project! It wasn’t a difficult DIY, but did take some time to complete. If you’re all prepped for the project and have the materials, you could easily do a similar makeover in your home in just a day! Imagine the difference!!

There is a final coat of product called Protect that I still need to put on. You use a brush to apply and it gives surfaces an extra layer of protection for pieces that will get a lot of use. It’s not a requirement for the Velvet Finishes paint, but just to be safe. Although, I think the paint feels very strong already!

If you’re interested in using Velvet Finishes on a project of your own, you can find it HERE. Bonus…I have a discount code for you! Use code: HILARY20 at checkout for 20% off your purchase (good now thru April 1, 2020)! I think you will really like how easy Velvet Finishes is to use!

If you decide to try a Velvet Finishes DIY makeover project in your own home, I would love for you to share it on Instagram and tag me so I can see! You can find me on Instagram HERE.