Revitalizing Thrift Store and Flea Market Furniture!

January 2, 2018

Thanks to Pinterest, crafty types who take the art of working with their hands seriously, pin not only inspiration and ideas on the site, but also how-to instructions for creating a revitalized furniture masterpiece of your own.

If you scored a great thrift store of flea market find, or have a tired hand-me-down that’s still in great shape but could use a facelift, we’ve collected a few easy options that can accomplish the task in a weekend – some as little as an afternoon! And if you need raw material in the form of vintage and second-hand furniture, check out one of the Arc Stores in Aurora – a Colorado-owned and operated nonprofit!

Knobs and Drawer Handles

Changing out the hardware on a piece of furniture is a quick and simple update that can give it a new personality. Hardware sources are everywhere online from Anthropologie to Amazon, but to get the full effect, stop by the Ultra Design Center in Aurora and survey the huge variety (thousands) of traditional and unusual hooks, knobs and drawer pulls. This family-owned business got its start in fine door and cabinet hardware in 2002 and is a local treasure trove!

Blogger Karen at Art is Beauty kept the original hardware of a mid-century modern thrift-store dresser she found, just cleaned it up and revived it with metallic gold paint.

Omglifestyle and Apartment Therapy have tutorials and before and after photos of hardware makeovers on drawers, cabinets and doors for “overnight” transformations.

Paint Makeovers for Furniture

DIYers prefer different types of paint depending on their projects. Bob Vila, the first home-project ace to appear on TV, prefers Painters’ Touch Semi-Gloss. Blogger Beth at Farm Fresh Vintage Finds uses Annie Sloan’s chalk paint on lots of her projects. And then there’s Martha Stewart. She has a line of paints available at Michael’s at Southlands Shopping Center.

Pop Sugar posted six pics that prove (you be the judge!) black painted furniture – indoors or out — looks more expensive. For a more distressed black finish, Instructables offers easy how-to steps using a twin headboard tutorial.

And for a primer on how to prep furniture for painting, Kathy, who makes useless junk usable at Petticoat Junktion, lists 10 steps to cover the basics.

Mod Podge® and Stencils

To update an old dresser, blogger Diane at In My Own Style added a roll of treasured wrapping paper she’d been holding onto, and Mod Podge®. Kandace at Just the Woods, ordered a damask stencil (Etsy has a few) and revitalized her dining room table.

When you choose to revitalize old furniture you not only help your budget, you help the planet and local commerce!

Local and Lakeside: Southshore 

The New Year brings with it renewed zeal for plans and projects in 2018 in the master-planned community of Southshore. The lakeside neighborhoods northeast of Denver feature breathtaking homes from top builders: Century Communities, Toll Brothers and Richmond American Homes, priced from the upper $300s to the $700s. Imagine your life at the lake, at Southshore!