Yes, you can personalize that boring, white plastic fan by adding a pop of color or creating a vintage look. Here’s the best way to paint a fan.
Have you ever thought about spray painting your boring old white plastic table fan? I got the idea to paint a fan in my head a few years ago, but when I looked at all the different moving parts, I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea. Well, fast-forward a few years, and we’re still using this painted fan around the house all of the time! This project worked surprisingly well and it’s a great way to give a fan you already own a bit of a stylish, vintagey look. I thought now would be a great time to re-share this idea for anyone who has a fan out right now that they don’t love the look of.
Here’s how I did it!
How to Paint a Fan
1) I unhinged the clips that were holding on the front of the cage and removed the cage.
2) I unscrewed the cap that was holding on the fan blades, then removed the blades.
3) I taped up the stick type thing (technical term) that the fan blades were sitting on and I took care to cover the hole that the stick type thing was coming out of with tape too so no paint would get into the innards of the fan.
4) I stuck the cord into a plastic bag and pulled it back a bit and just taped a few inches of the cord so I’d be able to spray paint around it.
Then I got to paintin’!
Funny story: I asked Kennedy to take my “before” pictures for me so that she would feel like this was fun and not just me forcing her to wait to play while I do yet another boring project. She kept playing around with the camera while I was working.
When we went back inside later to look at the photos, I found these little “extra” shots that she’d taken without my knowing!
That last one is the best. The wind blew the fan over on me and I used my cat-like reflexes to catch it. I’m like the spray painting ninja or something in that one!
A few light coats later and I had a pretty slick looking fan! I’m pretty sure the light coats are the key to not gumming up the works. I know you’re supposed to do several lights coats whenever you spray paint, but I really don’t. If I can do it in one big goopy coat and get away with it, I will. I was good this time though.
I painted over the number settings on the buttons, but I think we’ll be able to figure it out. We’re smart people like that around here.
I’m pretty pleased with it overall and I’m glad to have discovered this quick and easy little DIY. I actually have a few more that could use this treatment.
Have you ever tried to paint a fan?
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Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.