I came across this bright idea by Design Love Fest as I was browsing Pinterest instead of, well working on my original post. Distractions happen. The colorful hangers were, in fact, simply a prop in a post on how to take better pictures, but it's an idea that's totally worth stealing.
While I'm a little too OCD to commit my entire closet to this (read: matching black velvet slimline hangers), I do have an industrial clothing rack in my entry that this would work perfectly on. The DIY is really simple: take basic wooden hangers, lightly sand if necessary, and spray paint. The more colors the merrier, and this would be a great way to unify a mismatched set.
For more pictures, along with the complete instructions, visit Design Love Fest.
(Image: Design Love Fest)

Z2 iPod Dock and Wi...
cute idea, but in reality these hangers will look terrible after a short amount of use... all that rubbing pack and forth across the hanging bar will leave the paint chipped, etc.
I have committed to those flocked hangers and they really do compress your clothes into a smaller, neater space. But these are pretty and colorful and way too thick and cumbersome for more than 1 or 2 items.
Wish spray paint wasn't so horribly bad for the environment. Do we really need matching wooden hangers?
I love DesignLoveFest! Bri is so creative and has such great style. I've been a daily reader of her blog for months. This, as all her DIY's is such a cute idea to perk up your closet if you do outfit posts or just to add a pop of color to brighten things up. Wooden hangers are great if you have a large enough closet, they really let your clothes "breathe" and aren't all squished. I'm going to do this to my hangers but skip the metal part as the paint will likely wear off quickly.
Cute. And I agree - skipping the paint on the metal part if the hangers will be in constant use is a no-brainer.
I invested in a set of 50 of the flocked velvet hangers a year or two ago- at first I was in LOVE with how neat and tidy my closet looked with all matching hangers. Unfortunately, the plastic they are made out of is really brittle, and I've broken at least 6 of them already, usually right where the metal hook connects to the plastic part.
My dream hanger would be flocking on the good old sturdy plastic tubular hangers.
Wooden hangers are so expensive and bulky- I wouldn't even consider them unless I had a walk in. My parents have wooden hangers in their entry hall coat closet, which is an appropriate use, I guess- hanging bulky heavy things, making a fancy pants impression on guests.
They look great but I'd be afraid the paint would start to chip off and ruin the shoulders of my clothes. Another option might be to dip wooden hangers in fabric dye to get a wash of color. Of course they'd have to be rinsed until the water ran clear and would have to dry really well.
I love it but I would not leave them in the closet. I would have to figure out a way to leave them out to show off.
I'm infamous in my family for spray painting anything and everything to make it my own... But even I wouldn't paint my hangers. I could see doing this for some sort of display, but painting a ton of hangers to hide away in your closet and get paint (or at least paint flakes) on your clothes? Nah. This would be a neat first step for a DIY jewelry organizer though.
The flocked velvet hanger divide is an interesting one. In my home it falls along gender lines. They are great for my (women's) clothes that tend to slide off anything else. But they suck for men's dress shirts--too much friction. So my man prefers very narrow steel hangers. In both cases, you get to pack a lot more stuff in your closet than you ever thought you could. Nay on the painted, nay on the wood.