? painting refrigerator with frost white/pearlized auto paint finish?

6 years ago

I want a brighter finish for my fridge than what I currently have. I have always liked the look of the really pearlized clear top coat finishes on some high end automobiles. I would like the same finish for my refrigerator, not because it's old but because the stainless steel looks so drab - it sucks the light out of the room.

This is different from a white refrigerator color because again the main thing is the pearlized reflective look. I'm not talking something like glitter or large metallic specks, but something subtle but beautiful.

Has anyone ever had this done or done it themselves? I want the paint finish to be smooth and consistent.

I would remove the door, gasket, handles etc... so the painter only has to apply the paint.

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Comments (5)

Aglitter
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
You can get an automotive shop to re-coat a fridge, but that is usually done on fridges that are already painted. To start with stainless steel, they may need to rough up the surface to get adhesion, and if you're looking at a translucent coating, then the roughed-up stainless (if it were even possible to do that) wouldn't look so good. I would get some scrap stainless and test this first if you wanted to go this route. Few things are as durable as stainless steel in a kitchen. You could end up with long-term wear issues from any coating. Many European kitchens feature paneled refrigerators which is more so the standard style there, and those are available here in North America if you wanted to place cabinetry panels over the fridge to disguise it. I've even heard it said that if you get an exposed refrigerator in Europe they say you have decorated "American" style.
User
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
Are you aware of what good automotive painters charge for specialty finishes? Many vehicles have more money in the paint than the car itself. You’re not looking for a $300 Earl Scheib special here. Try 100 times that for specialty finishes.
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eam44
6 years ago
If you don’t appreciate what you’ve got, someone else surely will. Why not sell your stainless fridge, then look for a refrigerator that has a finish, perhaps not pearlescent, that you can appreciate. Smeg has some great colors and nice finishes.

Stainless steel is light reflective. It does not suck light out of a room. If you feel your space doesn’t have enough light, perhaps you should work on the lighting before you do anything else.
M
6 years ago
Applying automotive point to stainless steel is very difficult. That's why Tesla doesn't want to paint their truck and instead suggest that owners should get it wrapped. You could do that with your fridge. But not sure whether that's an improvement over the look of stainless steel.

Some manufacturers so make powder coated appliances. Not sure if they use something other than stainless steel for these panels, or if this coating, unlike automotive paint, does in fact adhere to stainless steel.
cat_ky
6 years ago
Stainless should not suck the light out of a room. I think you probably do not like stainless, and if that is the case, then, maybe take the money it would cost to get the frig redone (if you could even do that), and buy a new frig, and sell the one you have. I dont like stainless and have black appliances, which I love, and they dont suck the light out of my kitchen at all.