5 Ways To Reinvent Secondhand Furniture

5 ways to revamp furniture, thrift store furniture

The New Year is here!  Time for new beginnings and refreshing your home décor. Finding unique items to revamp your home in the New Year while on a budget can be difficult. My New Year’s resolution is to be more penny conscious in 2014 and I discovered the secret to having fabulous decor and money in the bank.

Want to know what it is?  Imagination!  Your next statement piece could be sitting at your local thrift store.  Put on your imagination goggles and look for opportunities to reinvent an ordinary object.

With a few dollars and a little elbow grease you could be on your way to a 2014 décor overhaul with these 5 first-rate DIY ideas on a secondhand budget.


1. Porcelain Pen on Tableware
Add a personal touch to gently used dinnerware with a porcelain pen. You can draw fun designs, write your favorite lyrics or meaningful quotes directly on the porcelain.  Place in the oven {as instructed on the pen} to cure.  Easy, pretty and affordable!  Porcelain pens can be found at a craft store or online at Amazon.com.

For details on the projects above head over to A Merry Mishap Blog and Brooklyn Limestone.  

2. Chalkboard Paint
This DIY is a guaranteed conversation starter!  Use chalkboard paint on any flat surface {like the coffee table below} for a touch of kid friendly flair. Chalkboard paint can be found at most hardware stores including Home Depot.

how to use chalkboard paint, chalkboard paint decor

To duplicate this coffee table project check out Ten Feet Off Beale.

3. Nail Head Trim
Transform outdated and cheap furniture into edgy and expensive looking pieces with decorative nail heads or studs.  All you need is a hammer, ruler for spacing accuracy and a few packs of nail heads found at Amazon and Home Depot to emulate this current trend.

nail head decor, decorating with nail heads

Feeling studly?  Visit Clementine And Olive and Decor Hacks for directions on the projects above.  

4. 18K Gold Spray Paint
Sure, it’s not exactly 18K gold, but doesn’t it give the same effect? Make your secondhand treasure look like a million bucks with this DIY project. Gold spray paint on ordinary objects creates instant opulence.   Krylon Gold Spray Paint can be found at most hardware stores and Walmart.

decorating with gold spray paint, gold spray paint project

To see this mirror makeover in detail visit Living My Style.

5. Wallpaper Linings
Give a used bookshelf a face lift with wallpaper.  Lining shelves with bold paper designs is an affordable way to add personality and character to a dated bookshelf.  Visit Megan Carn on Etsy for budget friendly and unique wall paper designs.

For the bookcases above and even more inspiration visit Shelterness.

Now that I’ve shared my favorite ways to reinvent secondhand furniture it’s your turn.  Do you have any ideas to recreate a secondhand find?  What’s the last piece of furniture you revamped? Share below!

About the author: Taylor Gordon is a freelance blogger living in Washington, D.C. When she isn’t obsessively searching for deals, you can find her Instagramming photos of her cat Zeus or blogging about personal finance and budget living on her blog, TrendyCheapo.com.  Like Trendy Cheapo on Facebook or follow her @TrendyCheapo on Twitter.

6 Comments
  • Alicia Nace
    Posted at 10:25h, 06 January Reply

    Love these ideas!!! You can also get thin chalkboard adhesive sheets to stick onto trunks and any furniture.. I’ll ask Allen where he gets it and let you know!

  • Khalid
    Posted at 16:58h, 06 January Reply

    Awesome!! Love the table with the chalkboard paint. The wallpaper prints on the bookcases are a good idea too!

    • Taylor
      Posted at 10:11h, 07 January Reply

      Thanks! The chalkboard is my fav too. I may do that to my whole dining room table.

  • Pingback:Be Realistic with Your Pinterest DIYs | Looking Fly on a Dime
    Posted at 03:00h, 21 January Reply

    […] there you have it. Want some practice? Try these questions on my post 5 Ways to Reinvent Secondhand Furniture and see if one of those fabulous ideas could be your next […]

  • Jason Joneh
    Posted at 08:26h, 31 January Reply

    All these innovative ideas are personally impressed me a lot. Seriously stylish and looking sustainable. Besides chalkboard paint, wallpaper lining and gold spray paint look wonderful.

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