Key Makeover

If you are anything like me, you probably get your keys mixed up when you are trying to unlock your door – especially when it's dark outside. I've tried to do the colorful ring-thing like this:

But that didn't help very much because it was too big to fit on my key ring and was so bulky that my entire key couldn't fit in the door, making the entire idea a pointless one. So, I bought the customized color keys from Wal-Mart, but they were so bulky with the paint on them that my key wouldn't turn in the lock. My third and final attempt was to buy the keys with just the colored tab on the end. Only problem? The tabs broke off after a couple of weeks. So, now I just seem to do the try every key until I get it right when I'm going into work, my parents house, or my house. The sad part is that I only have four keys, but I can never seem to pick the right one on the first attempt. Pathetic, isn't it?

So, a lady came into my workplace the other day with some very colorful-tipped keys. When she caught me checking them out, she hurriedly explained that her daughter-in-law used spray paint on the ends so that she could easily identify what key went to where. Apparently, her daughter-in-law got the idea from Pinterest. Of course, what did I do as soon as she walked out? I got onto my Pinterest using my phone and searched “Painted Keys.” While browsing through the pictures, I saw that several ladies actually just used nail polish instead of spray paint. Genius!

So, I tried it and so far it's going well. I was really afraid of the paint chipping when I put the keys on the keyring or after a few days of usage, just like my nails seem to do. So, I sprayed some Modge Podge over the paint to (hopefully) help them last a little longer.

Materials Needed:

- Keys

- Nail polish or other type of Paint

- Optional: Modge Podge or Clear Enamel Paint

Here's a picture of my supplies and my before-nail polish keys:

And here is my final result:

Much better, is it not? A lot prettier, also, than the average ring of keys.  I left my work key unpainted so that when I turn it in the guys won't have to use a colored key. I contemplated getting really creative and doing designs, but I didn't want to put a ton of time into something that wasn't going to last too long, just in case. As you can tell, I love bright, funky colors, making it very easy to distinguish between keys. Have any of you tried this technique? How long did it last for you before beginning to chip? I really don't mind having to do touch-ups once a month or longer, but if I have to do it once a week then I'm going to definitely just try the spray paint technique next time. I just get so tired of having problems distinguishing between my keys and I'm getting fed up with wasting money on things that don't work. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

I hope everybody has a great weekend and I'll do another post sometime next week. I'm getting ready to start redoing our kitchen, so I'm not really sure what day I'll be able to take a break and post. Wish me luck!