Lately I have been drooling over white in decor-stark, shiny white. (Like that makes any sense with three boys and a big dog!)
I have been noticing white glass and ceramic everywhere as well.
When we were packing up for the move I realized I have boxes upon boxes of vases that I neither like nor use. Many of these are cheap florist vases that I received when my husband was deployed when we were dating. (He was wooing me, I got a LOT of flowers that year! Nowadays I prefer an extra hour of sleep to flowers!) Some of the vases I had picked up at the dollar store to use as centerpieces for charity events I used to plan.
So as I unpacked all those vases last week for the umpteenth time since we got married I decided to try to transform them into something I’d actually like looking at!
Since we pretty much go to Lowe’s daily since the move it was a no-brainer that I was going to need some spray paint. I used Rust-o-leum Universal in Gloss White, It worked great on my IKEA Bookcase Makeover and I love that you can use it on any surface.
(And yes, the grass seed in the backyard is sprouting very nicely, thank you for noticing!)
Twenty minutes later and voila! Faux milk glass/ceramic! I actually couldn’t decide what it looked like more hence my somewhat indecisive blog post title! The ornate glass vase looks a lot like milk glass but the smooth dollar store vases remind me of the West Elm ceramic vases I had been coveting.
Regardless, they look a heck of a lot better than before and I am just giddy at how they turned out!
Now on to my plan for how to use these vases….you know that weird space above the cabinets in the kitchen? You know, the one that everyone had covered in fake plants when you were a kid? Well I have an idea for that space in our new kitchen and these vases are step one in the process.
After the vases were dry I went to set them up there but the crown molding all but made them disappear. After rummaging through the garage amid all the moving box chaos I found some wood scraps from our DIY Reclaimed Wood Headboard and DIY Stained World Map and used those to prop the vases up and here is how it looks now!
I think they look great up there and play off the white subway tile we chose for the backsplash. I’m slowly but surely figuring out what else I want to put up there but I’ve accepted that its going to be a while before it looks like my “vision.” To see the whole kitchen tour hop over to this post.
Do you have an obsession with white? Check out my Office/Craft Room for more eye candy!
Like what you see? Follow me on Facebook and Pinterest-I have some great projects in the works coming up that you won’t want to miss!
Barbara Rodriguez says
so excited to see this idea !!!! I want milk glass centerpieces for my wedding but on a budget .
Melissa Riker says
I’m so glad it will be helpful to you, I love milk glass and I bet it will be gorgeous at your wedding!
Rebecca Payne says
I love this idea. Thank you for sharing.
Melissa Riker says
You’re welcome Rebecca!
Kalli McCarthy says
Can you fill with water to use as a real vase or does the paint peel off?
Melissa Riker says
The paint is only on the outside of the vase so it is fine to use as normal.
Jeanette Johnson says
This is BRILLIANT! Trying to put my father’s house back together after stepmom passed and her family collected everything. Just found a huge stash of cheap florist’s vases. This is the perfect idea for them! Also trying to think of how to re-fill the wide stretch of blank space they left over the kitchen cabinets. DOUBLE awesome sauce!!! Thank you!
Melissa Riker says
So glad it was helpful to you Jeanette, and sorry for the loss of your stepmom ❤️
Victoria Groce says
I love your blog. I have been saving glass bottles, and can’t wait to try this.
Melissa Riker says
That comment made my day thank you so much Victoria! I hope you love the “faux” vases as much as I do!
Beth says
Your site is a nightmare… The obnoxious amount of ads make it impossible!! Uggggg
Melissa says
Can you tell me if you are on mobile or desktop Beth? There shouldn’t be but a few and the video player so I’d like to have my ad manager look into that and knowing which would help a lot.
Elizabeth Westmoreland says
Agreed!!!
Melissa Riker says
Again, if you could tell me if you’re on mobile or desktop and what exactly is happening I can try to fix it. I am not having trouble accessing the blog at all.
Murano glassmaker says
They look really beautiful. Milky glass actually was an invention by Murano Glass masters
emil says
What a great way to use those old vases..The look awesome! I am sure you get lots of complements.
Maria says
Love this post!
The final result is beautiful!
I think I’m gonna use the same tecnique to revamp a couple of old-fashioned Murano glass vase.
Thanks.
Lester says
Thank you! This is a great, now I can make heaps of vases from my wine bottles as i didn’t know what to do with them! :)
James Roberson says
Beautiful ideas. I love it. I do some adeas with ceramic vases myself.