Scavenger Chic

50+ Thrift Store Makeovers

• By Joan
• January 28, 2018
• 7 Comments

If you like before and afters this post is for you.  If you head into a thrift store and have no ideas what to look for, this post is for you.

Last week I shared my latest thrift store finds and  retail therapy.  I’ll find inspiration  for my projects at flea markets, dumps, a farmhouse, an abandoned restaurant, the salvage yard, auctions,  curbside finds (especially pallets), from family and friends but this list is all about the thrift store.  It’s everything I find at  thrift stores and what it becomes.  

A couple of pieces in this tiered server are from the dump, but the cooking pans are thrift store finds.

Put all the pieces together and they become this tiered server.

For this project I was going to use the existing medicine cabinet and build around it.  When that didn’t work out, it ended up just being a mirror makeover.  The remainder of the medicine cabinet got thrown away.

All’s well that ends well with my new medicine cabinet.

I was looking for a cylinder vase when I spied three. 

Those hurricane lamps or cylinder vases became these driftwood lamps, moss  vase, and shell covered vase.

And because those covers just slip off, I was inspired to make a couple more covers…honeysuckle vase and a sweater vase using a thrift store sweater.  If you click on the sweater vase you’ll also find 15 more recycled sweater ideas.

Wiring a lamp really isn’t that difficult, but if you want a super easy project start with a basic thrift store lamp.

Under this driftwood lamp sits that silver thrift store lamp.

You might not want to pass up those plain stainless steel spoons.

If you pound the heck out of those spoons and chop the handle off, they now become beautiful angel wings.

Or, those same spoons are now fish gills and the handles make a nice back fin on a fun and funky junk fish.  The yellow knobs were also from a bag lot at the thrift store.

Thrift stores have tons of silver plated trays and candlesticks.

Combine the two for an easy 5 minute pedestal server.  Add a few more minutes if you want it painted.

 

Pick up the next salt and pepper grinder you find but make sure the pepper grinder is still grinding.

You could paint them to match your decor or give it a try painting them in the style of MacKenzie Childs.

I have four wooden salad or serving bowls on this list because I find them often and they are easy to transform.

OK, I probably won’t put salad in this one any more, but it does make a cool fruit bowl or right now it’s center stage on my coffee table holding the remotes.

These mismatched file cabinets  (notice the difference in heights and handles) are mismatched no more.

They are now matching and make up the two ends of my sons computer desk .

Pair up a thrift store mirror with a rusty dump find.

Pretty sure you won’t find this mirror any place else.

If you find a stack of gold plate chargers don’t pass them up even if gold is not your color.

Play around with the paint a little and it looks like you have a set of vintage tin plates.

Pick up that loaf pan and vase, with a little glue and paint…

… you now have an indoor herb garden.

This three part dresser mirror does not match my dresser or my furniture but no worries…

…one of the side pieces became this mirror with ledge.

And the center section used the existing hinges to become this shutter mirror.   As for what happened to the other section…it was shipped over to one of my sons who needed a narrow mirror in a small bathroom.

This thrift store bench  just needed a refresh.

The paint and a new fabric seat gives this bench transformation a new life and really shows off the fluted legs.

I included these, but now that I’m thinking about it, I didn’t actually get these weights from the thrift store.  They were hiding under the porch in my son’s new (old) house.

I do have another weight project coming up where I actually bought the weight from the thrift store.  As for these 10 lb weights, they make a couple of very cool bookends.

This is the second file cabinet makeover I’m showing you.  Thrift stores are almost always loaded with file cabinets...that is until you are actually looking for one , then you can’t find one anywhere.

This one is still a two drawer cabinet but I redid it for my son and daughter in law, both architects, and it now looks like it could hold all their plans and blueprints.

The chip and dip bowl and the candlestick are two more thrift store finds.

Combine the chip bowl and the candlestick with a finial and baluster for a divided pedestal server.

I usually pass up the big furniture unless I have a helper but I couldn’t resist this writing desk which had seen better days.

I went home, grabbed my son for his muscles and a couple weeks later the desk has a new life.

Thrift stores are also a great source for side tables and better yet they are easy to carry  home without enlisting that extra muscle.

Nicks and chips are easily sanded out ( then you can add your own paint chips) and repainted the color of your choice.  This one was for my mother in law whose favorite color is blue.

This was another beautiful  side table that was full of doodles, etchings and watermarks.

Again, a little paint and sanding goes a long way.

I bought this wicker table because I wanted the glass top.

The glass top was used to cover my shutter coffee table. I didn’t think it was practical to have a bumpy uneven top.

Not to let the rest of the table go to waste, the wicker table got a new pallet wood top.

Have you seen any cheese boxes in your travels?

It loses that checkered country feel with a few layers of paint.  It’s newly old.

I really didn’t need these bed slats.  Anywhere I could use bed slats I could easily use pallet wood.  But these have one advantage…they’re sanded.

The bed slats transformed into this wine caddy or jar holder.

Another side table, this time a, Martha Washington  table which would have originally had side pieces that held the knitting needles, yarn and sewing.

Red  paint makes Martha  really stand out.

These feet were attached to an old stool.  While I did eventually transform the stool and give him new feet, I wanted these carved feet for…

…this termite infested trunk.   Yes, termites had eaten the entire bottom third of this trunk, but he’s beautiful now thanks to these thrift store feet.

Thrift stores are a great place for finding frames.

If you don’t like the color, change it and add your own artwork.  The blue heron artist is my niece’s boyfriend  Bryce Robinson.

Or grab an assortment, paint them all the same color and use them for your vintage postcard display.

I have no idea what this copper bowl was used for originally.

But if you drill a hole , it makes a perfect pendant light.

These thrift store galvanized bins inspired this shutter project.

Pair the bins with shutters and pallet wood and you get a fun bar cart or utility cart.

This post was about how to make a sawhorse desk  with pallets for free.  It was finished off with 2, $5 thrift store chairs…total cost $10.

This card table needed a lot of help when I found him in the back of a thrift store.  He was just screamin’ makeover.

Just look at the card table now.  There is usually a lot of pretty under the grungy.

This weight really was from the thrift store.

It’s now a receipt spike perched on my desk.

 I’ve had this old file box sitting around for a couple years until I was asked to make …

…a wedding card box, chalkboard style for my son’s wedding.  It’s personalized just for them.

Another thrift store lamp, again you have  no wiring to do, pairs with a rusty old (flea market find) hubcap.

And now I am the proud owner of a one of a kind, hubcap lamp.

 This wine serving tray was really not my style.

But look past the painted grapes and now I have a pallet wood tray mirror.

You may have looked past this little girls flowery jewelry box.

 But anything can be transformed with paint, and now I have a vintage chic jewelry box.

Just like the copper bowl,  just add a pendant kit to this bamboo bowl…

…and you have a one of a kind bamboo pendant light.

Another plain lamp.  Did I mention thrift stores are full of lamps just waiting for their transformation.

You wouldn’t know that this was the same lamp after it’s covered with oyster shells.

Three more thrift store finds, a candlestick, cloche and silver plated tray.

 Now they make the perfect holiday decoration whether for Halloween...

…or Christmas.

Just like side tables,  you’ll find a lot old chairs at thrift stores, and they are all ready for their makeover.

With paint and fabric this french chair has a new life.

 I had 2 stools like the one on the right, imagine my surprise finding my same stools  at a thrift store.

Once again paint and fabric transform all the stools and now I have a matching set of 4.

Jewelry boxes may not always be your taste in paint choices. I think this one belongs at Target.

But, like chairs, they can easily be transformed with just a little paint.

I found both  this lidless galvanized cooler and the belt at a local thrift store.

The belt is now a handle and the cooler has a new lid with the addition of a little scrap wood.

I’m drawn to projects that are in  need of a major makeovers like this modpodge picture covered drafting table.  The surface was kind of bumpy, not the best idea for a drawing table.

The drafting table is now ready for some serious work.  A yardstick (another thrift store find) prevents papers from sliding onto the floor and a pallet wood pencil holder is attached to the side.

I can usually find baby blocks in the toy aisle.

And now they help form the wings of my baby block angel.

I know that a straw wreath was not on my list that day but this one was brand new and still in its packaging.

Wrapped with twine and burlap it can now be used year long.

Another padded chair, this one was in fantastic shape but just a little too formal  for my shabby chic taste.

This  recovered padded dining chair  makes a great desk chair.

Thrift stores are full of knick knacks and  tchotchkes  (is that how that is spelled).  Look for good bones, you can paint anything.  This little bunny has good bones.

A little white chalk paint is all that is needed for his makeover.

So, I hope I inspired you with at least one project.  Make a list and go shopping….Now I kind of want to go shopping again.

Shared at Metamorphosis Monday,

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