Create Modern Farmhouse Decor with Black Paint

It's so easy to create modern farmhouse decor with matte black spray paint! I'm sharing my tips for getting the best results and avoiding a dirty, dusty look that is so common with black paint.

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Modern farmhouse is my jam. I love the warmth. I love the rustic and cozy vibe that farmhouse decor offers, and I love using black because it keeps my home from feeling too cutesy. Today I'm showing you how to create modern farmhouse decor with matte black spray paint!

You don't have to be a decor aficionado to know that black is hugely popular in the home decor realm! Whether it's iron or black painted items, black has a firm foot in the decor world! It's classic but also trendy, and I think black stands the test of time.

Easy way to create modern farmhouse decor

I was going through a pile of stuff I'd set aside to take to the thrift store when I came across these ceramic leaf decorative dishes. I purchased these 10, maybe 12 years ago, and if I'm being honest, never really loved them. I liked the idea of them, I liked the texture and details. But the color was not my thing. It's why they were in the donate pile. ceramic dishes before

When you're about to throw something out, try spray paint!

What's the best fix for decorative items when you don't love the color? Paint! I decided to update these fall leaf dishes with black spray paint and make them modern. Unifying them with black paint also takes them out of the "fall only" seasonal decor arena and makes them work all year round!

I had a can of Rust-oleum Chalkboard spray paint already on hand, so that's what I used. I sprayed 3 light coats until the dishes were completely covered. The paint is very flat, and was such a great upcycle from the shiny before, but if glossy is your thing then by all means choose a glossy black spray paint.

When the decorative dishes were dry, I started styling them. They looked amazing! The black totally transformed these leaf dishes into something extraordinary! The ribs of the leaves were more prominent and they were perfectly modern farmhouse. I knew they wouldn't be heading back to the attic with my fall decor! I could use them every day.

I didn't even realize I had a problem until I went to edit my images for this post! Can you tell where I'm heading?

Do you ever wear black pants? Or black socks. Or a black sweater?

What do all those items have in common, besides the fact that they're black?

Lint.

Lint is the enemy of black. It sticks and clings and can ruin the best outfit!

Well, guess what? It can ruin a great DIY too!

Look at my linty dishes. I know it's probably dust or little floaty things that the human eye never sees...until you try something black!

Can you see all those white specks? I tried wiping them off, but they had permanently attached themselves to the painted dishes.

All those white specks made my freshly painted modern farmhouse ceramics look dirty. I didn't want to repaint them, so I tried something a little crazy but it worked like a charm.

Easy fix for dusty specks on black painted pieces

The easy solution to those dusty black dishes was dark furniture paste. You know, the wax that you use when you want to make your painted wood furniture look aged and distressed! I've used it for many of my painted furniture projects including the weathered wood look I created on our master bedroom dressers.

I had a can of Annie Sloan Dark Wax in my craft locker and I pulled it out. You could use any dark furniture wax to remove lint from matte black painted pieces. Home Depot has a dark wax by Behr, and I've used Minwax Dark Furniture Paste on many pieces.

Using a lint-free rag, I wiped on a coat of dark wax and really worked it into the paint. Because the wax is dark, it didn't change the color at all but, because it's dark, it did camouflage all those white specks that were ruining my project! You don't want to use clear wax when you're trying to disguise something (like lint or white specks) on either black furniture or painted ceramics!

The dark wax was the perfect solution! Take a closer look...see any white specks or lint?

Nothing but beautiful modern farmhouse decorative dishes!

The dark wax adds a very light sheen to the matte dishes, just like when you work wax into your painted furniture. It's not glossy, just a barely there soft sheen, which definitely enhances both modern and farmhouse decor!