Weekend Project: Stand Mixer Makeover

I’ll never forget the excitement I felt when I got my KitchenAid stand mixer. My mom had it delivered to me as an early birthday gift five years ago. I’d dreamed of owning my own stand mixer for years, knowing it would up my baking game, and have used it on a regular basis ever since.

She carefully selected the color, too. I had a green and turquoise theme going in our kitchen at the time, and would pretty much only buy kitchen accessories in those colors. Naturally, the “Aqua Sky” stand mixer fit right in.

Fast forward five years and, while I’m still just as in love with the mixer itself, my color palette has changed quite drastically. Now, I’m all about toned down neutrals and, when it comes to kitchen accessories, copper!

I’ve been thinking about attempting a stand mixer makeover for over a year now, but always panicked at the thought of it going horribly wrong. It requires lightly sanding the existing finish and paint, after all, so what would happen if I slipped up? There’d be no going back. (And also, what would I tell my mom if it didn’t work out and she saw my deconstructed, scruffed up, paintless, once-beautiful-now-unsightly mixer?)

Recently, after a ton of research and a good self pep talk, I had a streak of braveness and went for it – and was pleasantly surprised at how easy of a project it really was. It requires time, patience, and a close attention to detail, but if you can manage all of that, you can totally transform your stand mixer over the course of a weekend!

I followed the instructions from this article over at Apartment Therapy every step of the way.

I’d highly suggest reading the article linked above for step-by-step instructions and photos (I didn’t think to take any when doing this myself.)

How to Paint a Stand Mixer

Materials Needed:

All purpose cleaner
Rags
Good quality spray paint or epoxy spray paint
Enamel gloss protective spray
Painters tape
Sanding block (120 grit worked well for me)
Plastic bags/plastic wrap
Screwdriver

Directions:

Set up your workspace in a well ventilated area, free of flying debris – the yard or a garage is ideal.
Before you get started, you’ll want to give the whole machine a thorough scrubbing – removing any caked on batter or dough with a warm, wet rag.
Then comes the most intimidating part: removing the necessary pieces (the end cover, the bowl clamping plate, and the silver strap around the top of the machine.) I took a photo from every angle before deconstructing, and kept all of the screws separate, so I’d know which went where when putting it back together. If you stay organized and work slow, it’s actually quite simple to get everything removed.
Lightly use a sanding block to go over the entire surface. I did this step twice, just enough to see the shine fading but the paint remaining.
After sanding, wipe the whole thing down thoroughly. I used a a couple of Clorox wipes first, then made a final sweep with a wet washcloth.
Time to tape the non-removable parts off! I had good luck with 3MM painters tape sticking to all of the necessary spots that need protecting (don’t forget to cover the whole cord in tape or aluminum foil to protect from the paint, too!) And pay special attention to the motor area. I used aluminum foil to cover most of that and tape to hold it in place.
I did two coats with Rust-Oleum Metallic Finish spray paint in Vintage Copper, and two with the Rust-Oleum Gloss Crystal Clear Enamel, waiting about thirty minutes between each coat. I let it sit for about six hours before replacing all of the hardware I’d removed.
- Note: If I could go back, I would have given it a full day or two before reassembling and taking it upstairs, until the paint was totally dry. I was too impatient and just wanted to get it back in it’s rightful place on the kitchen counter. While it felt dry to the touch, the next day, I gave it a look-over and there was a little spot on the side, where the cord had been pressed up against it, that left an indentation. Not a big deal, but better to safe than sorry – wait it out! After three full days, you should be good to use it as normal. I’ve used mine many times since painting it and it’s held up beautifully!

I fell in love with this stand mixer all over again when the project was complete. It looks like a brand new appliance made just for our kitchen. And for the record, my mom loves it, too!