Sometimes the simplest projects can make the biggest impact. While renovating our en suite bathroom, I realized the look of our bedroom wasn’t quite doing it for me. After all, how can you have a new, stylish bathroom and a blah bedroom?? Because we had been in the middle of a whole-house renovation when we first redid the bedroom, we didn’t really put much thought into it. We really just picked a paint color that seemed nice and reused all our old furniture and décor. So right after the bathroom was completed (well kinda during because I’m an impatient perfectionist that just can’t wait once I’ve made up my mind), we decided to give our bedroom a refresh. Part of that refresh project was painting our existing closet doors. We had decided to paint the room white, and paired with our new white bedding and currently white dresser (that I do have plans to change at some point), it just felt like we really needed something to ground the space a little. I knew I wanted to keep a pretty neutral base to the room so I could add color in the rug and décor, so I decided black closet doors would be a way to get this look.

We were really lucky that our home still had its original closet doors in great condition. When we moved in, we just cleaned them really well because they were quite dirty, sanded them down a bit and put a couple coats of white spray paint on them. We knew we’d be finishing them more thoroughly later on, so that sufficed for the time being. This room refresh seemed like the perfect opportunity to finish them more thoroughly and also bring a different design element into our room. I was a little nervous because black seemed risky and I couldn’t really find many inspiration pics. But I decided to trust the vision I saw in my head, take the risk, and go for the gold, or in this case, black!

Supplies and Process

Matte black spray paint

Clear matte spray paint

Sandpaper (320 grit)

Knobs (similar)

The first step was to take the doors off their tracks and bring them outside for some sanding. I used a 320 grit to smooth down the previous spray paint job. If you have this exact door type, I will warn you that those slats can be SHARP, so be careful while sanding. I then cleaned each door very thoroughly using a cloth rag and shop vac to get off all the particles from sanding. 

The spray paint I used was a Krylon paint and primer in matte black. I’ve used this brand before to do our shutters and really like it. Now something I learned from this project is that, even though the spray paint directions say to do very light coats, it may be better to make sure your coats are a little thicker to get a smooth finish. I learned this the hard way. Initially, I did about 5 or 6 SUPER light coats (you can see the first coat pictured below to see how light) and I held the can far from the surface to make sure I didn’t get any drips. As it turns out, this creates sort of a sandy, rough texture on the surface. We lived with the doors like this for a few months but it was MISERABLE. Clothing and dust got stuck to them and they were impossible to clean because of the rough texture. After doing some research, I figured out that when you hold the can too far from the surface, the spray paint droplets actually dry midair before they reach the surface and create the rough texture. So we ultimately had to remove the doors, sand them again, and paint another layer of spray paint holding the can closer to the doors and making sure the coat was thoroughly wet. It was frustrating to redo them, but now were pretty much spray paint experts and we won’t ever make that mistake again! Also, don’t forget to always spray paint in a well-ventilated area and use a face mask!

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After painting the doors (a second time) we reinstalled them on the tracks and added some new hardware. And voila! A whole new look in our room with a couple cans of spray paint.

I love how the black looks against the white walls and the wood floors. After adding the other final touches to our new room, I love it even more. It definitely accomplished my goal of grounding the all-white space while maintaining a neutral palette that allows me to use some color. 

And there you have it! For the cost of a few cans of spray paint, a little elbow grease, and potentially losing the feeling in your spraying finger, you can add a cool, sophisticated look to any room. We definitely plan on replicating this project on other closet doors in our house, this time being sure to use proper spray painting technique. But the trouble was worth it because they look fantastic and I’m glad I followed that vision in my head!