Upcycling Op Shop Furniture

Over the last few months I have become completely smitten with upcycling op shop furniture and free furniture and decor. Upcycling was never something I was really into, even though I’ve been an avid op shopper all of my life, but then all of a sudden, with the inspiration from lots of Pinterest pics, I have become obsessed with searching for treasures at the op shops to repurpose.  I then also make time to go on junking road trips through the suburbs, searching for thrifty treasures thrown out for curbside pickups.

My most recent project was an old beaten up cube style unit that I found for free on Facebook Marketplace. A lady was giving away a bunch of old furniture so I gladly took all the items off her hands. The wall unit was definitely the most trashed piece out of all the furniture, so beaten up in fact that even my husband asked if I actually wanted to take it home with us, I said yes as I knew that I could bring this junky looking unit back to life.

I first cleaned the entire unit, it was so disgusting.  There was lots of grime and graffiti, it was just horrid.  I cleaned it not only with white vinegar, but also metho and then gave it a good vacuum.

After that, it was ready to sand and paint. The unit was not wood, just like a cheap melamine material and I didn’t have a primer on me so I figured I would just give it a light sand to hopefully help the paint stick to the surface.

It all worked out so well just giving it a light sanding and I haven’t had any issues with paint chipping away.

I used an acrylic paint from Bunnings and I needed to apply 3 full coats. I have to say, the paint job isn’t perfect, I can still see lots of imperfections and messy brush work, but I am still very pleased with the end product.

I also used the opportunity to practice my decoupaging skills and covered some holes in the unit with decoupaged roses. I’ve included the video if you fancy a watch, to see how I upcycled the old cube unit. It now sits proudly in my office and i’m currently planning my next upcycling project.

Thanks so much friends and happy thrifting xo

The Op Shop Girl

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Thanks so much friends and happy thrifting xo

The Op Shop Girl