Have you ever wanted to personalize your pillows? Are you the kind of person that enjoys “adult coloring”? Well, grab some pillows and some paint to make your very own painted pillows.

There are plenty of sources that will point you to specialty fabric paints, stencils, and lots of details. While there’s nothing wrong with that approach, that’s not the only way. Get a little more relaxed and a lot more creative to let your funky side shine through. If you don’t love the result, you can always flip the pillow over or nestle it in with a pillow arrangement. If failure terrifies you, then practice your paints and techniques on paper, old t-shirts, or paper towels.

Find supplies around your house to make painted pillows part of an upcycle project.

You probably have a variety of paintbrushes around the house. Whether you have thin paintbrushes used in children’s projects or big brushes used for painting the house, you can use it for your pillow. Even better than a paintbrush is a sponge, since it will give a great textured effect. If you don’t think you have a proper painting sponge, go for a (clean) bath pouf, dishwashing sponge, or car wash sponge. If you don’t have those, I’d recommend a magic eraser pad or even a balled up paper towel.  

For paints, you can use acrylics or some leftover indoor house paint. Latex paint even looks a little like leather or suede (depending on the paint color and pillow color). If you really want to be bold, you can use spray paint. Most paints can have a different look (and feel) if you water them down just a tiny bit. Don’t have any paint laying around? Go to the home improvement store and look for the returned colors or samples.

There’s a wide variety of looks you can accomplish. You can paint designs directly or blot colors on. You can lay down some tape (painter’s or masking tape both work fine), and paint straight or zigzag lines. You can even dip stamps into your paint for more detailed work. Of course, you can get really into it with stencils (hand made, bought, or created in a die-cut machine). If you’re not good at stencils or hand-drawn designs, you could also slide a picture under the fabric and use the guideline to paint.

Most of these looks and techniques can easily be done directly on a purchased pillow. If you want to slide a picture underneath the cover, you’ll either need to make or buy a shell (or unstitch and restitch an existing pillow). While we certainly have just about any sized pillow insert you could want, we also have the option of purchasing pillow shells. No matter how you go about this project, just embrace the fun of it!