Scavenger Chic

Easy Thrift Store Makeovers with White Chalk Paint

• By Joan
• June 8, 2022
• 4 Comments

Easy Thrift Store Makeovers with White Chalk Paint

Last week I found this pair of wooden plaques at a local thrift store. At $6 each I had to have them.  I was having a good day, it was the same day I found the two galvanized trays to make the 3 tiered server from last week.

I’m always on the hunt for a good thrift store makeover, something that is both inexpensive and easy to do.  Something that will (hopefully) inspire you all to see the potential of an object that might not be just the right color for your decor but oh, the possibilities … and I also have to love them.

While the frame and the backing of these 2 thrift store finds are real wood, I don’t believe the “carving” is actual wood.

The two wood plaques were a little beat up and very dirty thus making them perfect candidates for  my easy peasy makeover.  That is not a gray accent color in those nooks and crannies, that’s dirt!

My other piece lined up for a makeover today was this oak arch.  It wasn’t actually a thrift store find but a trash find. I’m just lumping it in with my thrift store finds because it could be?!  Nevertheless, I love the cost for this one, free.

I don’t know if this arched piece was originally above a door or maybe a mirror  but with him only needing couple of minor fixes, he too, was ready to have his inner beauty shine through.

The two lower corners had previously been attached to something else and now there was just raw wood.

In my scrap pile I found an old piece of molding that was the perfect width to hide all the raw edges of the broken off pieces.

Simply hold your molding up to where you want the repair and draw a continuation of where the arch would have gone and the outside edge.

I used a table top scroll saw to make the fine cuts but you could also use a jigsaw. 

Sand the edges of your new molding, nail into place and fill any holes with wood filler.

Both the plaques and this arch will eventually be painted with white chalk paint, but I wanted any sanded areas of the arch to show thru the white as black.  This is a quick coat of black chalk paint mostly concentrated on the edges that would eventually be sanded off.

The plaques were fine as they were being that they started out as darker wood.

Everything got a nice coat of white chalk paint. Most of the pieces  covered  well with  one coat with just a little touch up on a second coat.

The edges of the arch are slightly sanded.  How much you age your piece is up to you.

I can see this arch above a door as an architectural detail, above a window, or even a bed.

A closer picture of the sanded edges.  You can see some of the black showing thru along the top arch and the black and wood on the flower pattern.

The plaques also got a light sanding, highlighting the detail of their carvings.  The paint hides all the dirt!

I may have to keep these for myself.  Right now, I’m loving them in the corner of my living room. 

I have so much natural wood in my house, the white is a nice contrast.  A good thrift store makeover is made so easy with white chalk paint.

You can find a couple of my past chalk paint thrift store transformations here.

As always, until next time, stay inspired.

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