Scavenger Chic

3 Easy Thrift Store Makeovers

• By Joan
• September 20, 2023
• 3 Comments

Trio of Easy Thrift Store Makeovers

Today I have for you, three thrift store finds that  just require a little touch up to make them as good as new.  These follow my last “Five Little Thrift Store Makeovers” from April.

Sometimes you just have to look beyond the discoloration or missing parts and you’ll find a hidden gem.

Brass Floor Lamp

First up for his thrift store transformation, I have for you a brass floor lamp, that has definitely seen better days.  The brass covers a base of solid iron.  He’s super heavy and super sturdy…a great candidate for a makeover.

If you look up brass cleaner on the internet you’ll find many different home hacks.  While I had Bar Keepers Friend on hand, I did want to see if any of the home remedies would work better or faster.

One of the home hacks for cleaning brass was Ketchup.  Supposedly the acid in the tomatoes will eat away any tarnish.  Smear on the ketchup and let stand for at least 30 minutes.  Wash off the ketchup and clean.  That’s the ketchup in the front .

On the back right is a mixture of vinegar, flour and baking soda.  The acid in the vinegar will act the same as the tomatoes in the ketchup.  Rub vigorously with a dry cloth.

The flour and vinegar didn’t do much but I was slightly encouraged by the ketchup.  After 1/2 hour, some of the tarnish had been eaten away.  I decided to go for one more half hour. 

After the additional half hour, you can definitely see some of the tarnish has disappeared  (on the right) but I would still have to go over it again with the Bar Keepers Friend to shine him up properly.   That tiny little patch of shiny brass on the left is the results of rubbing pretty vigorously with  the Bar Keepers Friend.

If  I’m going to have to buff with the polishing cleanser I might as well start there and save the ketchup for the hamburger.  😆 

You may ask, why would I buy an old floor lamp when I could easily purchase one without all the work?   Price, price , price.  A new brass floor lamp can easily cost over $100,  This floor lamp was $7.50 (25 % off) and the lamp shade was $2.00.

The brass is (almost) as good as new.  It just took a little elbow grease.

Wooden Salad Bowl Set

Next up, a wooden salad bowl set. 

Of my three thrift store makeovers, this one is by far the easiest.  The wood is so dried out , I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been run through the dishwasher a few too many times.  This wood is just crying out for oil to revive the wood.

I have lemon oil , tung oil and danish oil on hand, but the only one I absolutely knew was food safe was my bottle of cutting board oil.  I had used it to seal and condition the wood when I had made my very own, one of a kind, scrap wood, cutting boards.

I tried not to move the angle of the bowl in the front left.  This bowl you could definitely see the dried out wood. Now,  the right side of the damaged bowl has a coat of cutting board oil on it.  The wood is just soaking up the oils that it has lost.

A brand new salad bowl set.  Those smaller bowls would also be fantastic as serving bowls.  

Wooden Storage Box

Lastly, we have this cute little storage box.  This is exactly how I found him, and at $5, he had to come home with me.

I have no idea if this is a vintage wooden box or if he is just painted that way to fool me.  All I knew when I purchased him was that the front cover didn’t close all the way, the little turn screw was in the way.  Now that’s an easy fix!

Now I’m going to show you how closely I inspect things when I purchase them.   When I finally got the front door open, I kind of noticed that he doesn’t have a back or a bottom to that little storage area.

Here is the view from the bottom.  It’s kind of obvious there is no bottom, there is no back.  You would have thought I would have noticed such things.  Nope.  I saw a $5 price tag!

I would have bought it anyway because it’s still an easy fix.

I’m using an old scrap wood drawer front, cut to size, and nailed on with a nail gun and finishing nails

I used the same scrap wood drawer front for the inside shelf.  Cut to size and nail from the sides.

The pieces of leather that were used as hinges makes me think that this piece could be very old.

I moved the turn screw up so it no longer blocks the door from closing, and painted the new wood black to match the already painted door.

That little box has now found a permanent home at my son’s Farmhouse Airbnb, where he fits right in.

Ready to go thrifting?  You never know what you will find.  What was your best thrift store makeover?

Until next time, stay inspired.

Related posts:

Thrift Store Mirror Makeover with Plaster Lath DIY Wall Propagation Station Thrift Store Transformations with IOD Transfers 5 Mini Thrift Store Makeovers