Scavenger Chic

Five Little Thrift Store Makeovers

• By Joan
• April 13, 2023
• 3 Comments

Five Little Thrift Store Makeovers

Have you ever gone to a thrift store and found an item that was so close to perfect.  If only it was a different color, if only it  wasn’t scratched, if only it wasn’t so dirty … then it would be perfect. 

Follow along while I show you 5 of my most recent acquisitions that were just not quite right.  I assure you, all were easy fixes.

     Carved Wooden Leaf Bowl

I found this carved wooden leaf bowl for  just $5. He had some major scratches that took away from his gorgeousness.

Besides the scratches, I think that that is dirt hiding away in the main veins of the leaf.

The scratches are still there but become almost invisible with some added stain within the scratches  and restore a finish wiped onto the entire leaf.

     Lampshade with Dirt Smudges

If you’re in search of a lampshade there is no better place to start the hunt than a thrift store.  Retail, a lampshade will cost $20 and up. At my local thrift stores, I would expect to pay $2 to $5.  

It might take a few trips to find the right size, but when you do, don’t let a few dirt smudges deter you.

The dirt on the lampshade cleaned off easily with a little elbow grease and a damp magic eraser.

      Fake Succulent in need of a Refresh

This little fake succulent had 2 minor issues that needed resolving.  The first issue was the pot was not exactly my favorite color and it had a couple of minor chips.

His second problem was a nice layer of dirt and dust build up.

The large leaves of the fake succulent are easy to clean with a damp rag.

I gave the pot a coat of paint similar to what I did here, a faux concrete paint finish. 

All fresh and clean and good as new.

     Kirkland’s LOVE Tray

If you can look past the huge LOVE lettering, the wood on this tray is beautiful.

This wooden tray is almost 2 ft in diameter, making that LOVE logo  enormous and I really don’t care too much for that font.

This Thrift store find was the most expensive of the 5, coming in at $10, but when you notice  the original price from Kirkland’s was $59.99, suddenly $10 doesn’t seem too much to spend.

Besides needing to remove the LOVE lettering, the tray’s handle had also managed to split.

To repair the handle, insert a generous amount of wood glue into the wood crack.  If it oozes out, you’ll know you probably used enough.  Wipe off the excess.

Clamp the wood  tightly and allow the glue to dry.

A fine sanding disk  will quickly remove all traces of the lettering.

The sanding will remove the lettering but it will also remove the existing finish.

All my tray needed now was a coat or two of food safe cutting board oil to bring it back to it’s former glory, just without the LOVE.  Isn’t that beautiful wood?

     Sarah & Johnny Ginger Jar Lamp

The last  of my thrift store makeovers was this Sarah and Johnny ginger jar lamp.  I’m assuming wedding gift?

Somehow this gift ended up at the thrift store and since I don’t know any Sarah and Johnny couples I don’t feel bad giving this lamp a makeover.

I didn’t know how much of the undercoat would show thru beneath my final black paint treatment so I gave the lamp an initial coat of dark gray chalk paint.

I’m using the same baking soda and paint treatment I used with the succulent pot above, this time with black and brown paint, though I think the black took over.

You can paint on the baking soda paint but try to dab out any brush strokes to give more of a concrete texture.

Here he is all finished with the new non dirt smudged lampshade.  Total cost for this project $7.  Four dollars for the lamp and $3 for the shade.

The quickest thrift store makeover project by far was the lampshade taking only a couple minutes.  The lamp project probably took the longest just waiting for a couple coats of paint to dry.  

Until next time, stay inspired.

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