Amazing friends, hello! The holidays are coming to a close, and as we near the start of the New Year, I like to look back at all of the favorites from the past year. Today, I’ll be sharing your favorite 13 thrifty furniture makeovers from 2023!
Before we get to this fun countdown, I have some exciting shop news…
*SHOP NEWS*
- Dixie Belle has formulated a BRAND NEW product that will combine BOSS with SLICK STICK!! No more guessing which one you will need since one product will both block stains AND act as a bonding primer for those super slick surfaces as well as Silk Mineral Paint.
I am hoping to have the new Bonding BOSS in stock by the last week of January. In the meantime, I still have tried and true BOSS and SLICK STICK available in my shop, but quantities are limited.
- Also, be on the lookout for SEVEN brand new Silk colors in January also! I have no idea what they are yet, but I’m excited to see!
Ok that is enough for shop news, let’s get to this delicious furniture countdown, shall we??
I always enjoy seeing what made it on the list!
I have linked to the original posts for each at the bottom of each makeover if you’d like to see more.
Enjoy!
13 Thrifty Furniture Makeovers
13
Starting our countdown at number 13 is this bench I picked up at a yard sale early in the summer for $20:
It had a very primitive feel before. This one got a good sanding before I applied White VooDoo gel stain…
Then, it got a little help from this silkscreen stencil:
And it doesn’t even look like the same bench!
The silkscreen stencils give such amazingly sharp detail!
See more of this bench makeover HERE.
12
Next up is this petite vintage dining chair I redid back in April:
It was an absolute steal at only $6 at the thrift store, but it needed some work! After removing the existing upholstery, I gave it a custom gray made of Hurricane Gray and Cotton.
Then, I used a gorgeous fabric shower curtain I found at the thrift store to recover it:
I then added more special detail with this Secret Letter II script transfer:
This was already a pretty little chair, but now it has a fresh new look!
I love the script writing detail the Secret Letter transfer added to the back.
And you would never know that beautiful fabric was once a shower curtain!
See more of this pretty chair HERE!
11
In the number 11 spot on the list is our bedroom furniture that I just reshared. Although, I didn’t originally share it in 2023, it got enough attention to make the top makeovers even though I just shared it, so it was worth including!
Here is our bedroom set before:
We weren’t ready to sink thousands into a new bedroom set, so I decided to try to paint it instead. I know I of all people should know better, but I was not totally convinced paint would fix this these pieces.
I gave everything two coats of Fluff. This is after just one coat!
Fluff has excellent coverage.
I am so glad I was wrong about this one and took a chance!!
See more details and all the products I used on this set HERE!
10
Coming in at number ten is this desk that was my favorite Fixer Upper makeover of 2023. I found it at the thrift store already painted white last January for $50:
I thought this would be a quick flip, but upon further inspection, this thing was a hot mess!
I ended up sanding it all over and patching with Mud:
Then it got a coat of White BOSS to block that bleeding going on, and finally, it was time for paint!
Once I had it painted, I pulled out a couple of transfers. I used some remnants I had from this Floral Collector transfer, and also the Pretty in Blue transfer:
Layering these two transfers turned this into a blue and white beauty!
See all the details of this Furniture Fixer Upper HERE!
9
Number nine in this countdown is this dresser and nightstand set I got for $50 from a local reader:
She had reached out to see if I was interested and at the time, my sister was looking for a set for her son, so I said yes. However, when my brother-in-law went to pick it up, it was smaller than they had anticipated, so I ended up with it.
This makeover began with Fluff also:
Then, I chose the Cosmic Roses transfer to embellish and really give this set life! This transfer is huge and was able to do all three pieces.
Here is how this set turned out:
The drawer sides were painted in Silk Mineral Paint in the color Serenity…
This transfer is so pretty!
The dresser ended up selling without the night tables lol.
See more of this dresser set HERE.
8
Next up on the countdown is this dated sofa table I found for $30 at a yard sale:
It was quite heavy feeling before. I decided on a two-tone look on this one with a custom gray mix and Cotton.
That completely lifted the weight from this piece!
Not bad for $30, right? This could be great in an entry, or at the back of a sofa.
The top looked like it had planks and painted up so well in white:
I think y’all liked this one because it really is a big difference from where it started!
See this makeover in more detail HERE.
7
One of my favorite things to redo are hutches. This year’s number seven spot is this hutch I just shared in October. I got a great deal on it at the thrift store for only $60:
It had a very country feel to it, so to give it a more sopisticated look, I chose Silk paint in Anchor:
I love how it updated the look of this piece!
The interior was painted in Anchor as well…
And the drawer got a pretty floral fabric:
See all the details of this hutch makeover HERE.
6
At number six in our countdown is this stunning French Provincial dresser I scored for only $75 at the thrift store:
This is my favorite style of furniture to redo. This piece was part of a promotion a few friends and I did to promote Dixie Belle’s new Cottage Collection chalk mineral paint colors.
I chose Secret Path, a lovely, understated purple:
Then to add some highlight, I did some shading on the drawers:
I love how this one turned out!
I figured by painting the hardware white, this piece could easily be matched with white pieces to create a set.
And the drawers got a fun surprise…
This is one of my personal favorites!
See this full makeover HERE.
5
This next one was a big favorite! I had hung onto this child’s desk for several years and was honestly considering just donating it back to the thrift store. However, when I found the chair at a yard sale, it made a perfect set:
Together, this set cost me only $10!
I mixed Tea Rose and Fluff for this one to get a bit lighter shade…
The top of the desk got stripes:
I chose the sweetest Hello Baby transfer for this set:
I love how it turned out!
I had the bear left over from one set, but I had to open another to get another bear as I wanted the seat to match the table:
There are a few cute critters in this set…
I love this sweet transfer so much!
There are a lot more details to see HERE. I also used this transfer on this night table and this rocker.
4
At number four is another favorite of mine. I picked up this vintage dresser at the thrift store for the bargain basement price of only $15.99:
This was one needy piece, but these are my absolute favorite pieces to make over. I love to be able to breathe new life into a piece that seems beyond hope.
After a TON of repairs and prep, this one was finally ready for paint, and I gave it a Vintage Duck Egg/Fluff mix:
I love Vintage Duck Egg, but I love it even more lightened up a bit. It’s a good idea to keep a large size of Fluff or Cotton on hand, so you can lighten up existing colors to get even prettier colors.
I chose the Magnolia Grandiflora transfer for this one for big impact!
Look at how cute this one turned out!
I started the magnolias on the side and brought them around to the front.
Both the insides of the drawers and the outsides were a mess. I sanded the outside and hydrated them with Big Mama’s Butta:
The interiors were painted in Silk Oyster:
What a difference!
See the many details of this makeover HERE!
3
Coming in at number three, is this rolling buffet cart I picked up at the thrift store for $25:
I loved it as soon as I saw it because this is one of those styles of pieces you don’t see too often at thrift stores.
I chose my favorite bold color, Antebellum Blue, for this one:
Once I had it painted, I accentuated the wheels with Gold Gilding wax…
This was another simple makeover that really changed the look of this piece!
I already had this hardware on hand that was just perfect!
See the whole tranformation HERE.
2
Number two is this hot mess vintage Brother sewing cabinet that was given to me by a sweet local reader:
I think y’all showed me all the love for this one because of all the trouble it gave me! (If you want to see me mess this peice up not once, but TWICE, follow the link on this one lol!)
There was all kinds of prep needed for this cabinet, including removing the treadle pieces inside. Here is just one shot of the work that went into this one:
I ended up choosing Caviar for this cabinet to hide all the flaws.
Then, to camouflage the second boo boo I made, I needed a really large transfer and chose this Meet Me in the Garden beauty:
I also used some of the Flower Collector transfer pieces I had left over:
Here is how this cabinet finally came to be:
The feet I added really stepped it up a notch!
And the inside got this gorgeous Plum Crazy color:
This had been left behind by a former tenant and surely would have been headed for the trash, but now it is such a unique storage piece!
Thank you, Mary, for passing this one along to me!
See this whole transformation from start to finish HERE!
1
And finally, your favorite furniture makeover of this year was small, but mighty!
It started as this little vintage sewing notions table that I found at a yard sale for $20:
I reimagined this one in Antebellum Blue.
Then, I shaded each panel with Drop Cloth, once again using my Best Dang Brush:
Once I had all the shading done, I chose the Blue Wildflowers transfer. (Unfortunatley, this one has been discontinued.)
Here is how this dainty piece turned out:
I highlighted this one with Gold Gilding Wax as well, including the entire inside bobbin and thread compartment:
The drawer got some love too.
See all the details on this one HERE.
I get so much joy out of seeing these pieces come back to life!
And those are your favorite thrifty furniture makeovers from the past year!
Do you have any favorites?
If you missed last year’s top 13, there were some good ones!
You can see them all HERE!
I’ll be back on Tuesday with all your non-furniture favorites!
UPDATE: No need to come back! Get even more thrifty makeover inspo with your favorite non-furniture makeovers HERE!
XOXO,
Don’t Miss a Thing!
If you like what you see, there are several ways to follow along!
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Mary Kaiser says
How much fun to look back at all the beautiful pieces from the year! Every thing you touch turns beautiful!! Looking forward to a new year of your transformations!
Christy says
Aww thank you!! I’m so glad you enjoyed this look back. It’s always fun to see what y’all enjoyed most. I can’t wait to see what this brand new year brings our way! Happy New Year, my friend! XOXO
Nancy says
Are there instructions anywhere I how to use the transfers where the drawers open and there is a space?
Christy says
Are you referring to the sides of drawers?
Janette Deans says
You must feel very proud when you look back on these items. Alot of hard work gone into making things look amazing, wow.
I hope your new year is wonderful, all the best. xx
Christy says
Thank you so much, Janette! I do love that I have a record of all of my makeovers on the blog here. I get so much enjoyment out of looking through them! Happy New Year to you! XOXO
Carla says
Another great year of furniture makeovers!
Christy says
Thank you so much, Carla! I’m exciting to see what the new year has in store! XOXO
Nana Diana says
Wow! What a fun post to wake up to this morning. I did see some of these in prior posts but it was great to revisit them and to see some pieces I had not seen before. You do such a wonderful job and I know your pieces delight those that buy them.
Happy upcoming New Year. xo Diana
Christy says
Aww I am so glad you enjoyed it, Diana, thank you! And I’m glad that there were some that were new to you as well. I miss doing craft markets where I would be able to see who buys my pieces, but it is nice to know that they are still finding new homes! Wishing you a blessed new year! XOXO
Susan says
What do you recommend on color for an old furniture set in my sons bedroom,,that has grey/white walls
Christy says
Hi Susan! If the walls are lighter, you could do a darker gray color like Hurricane Gray. The blues play well with gray also. Yankee Blue sells well and Stormy Seas is a great gray/blue color. Check those out and see if they appeal to you. You could also go with Fluff like I did on our room if you need some light in there. Best of luck! XOXO
Bev W says
I haven’t commented in a long time but oh I devour your makeovers! Really inspire me. Especially the sewing table. I hope to inherit my mother in law’s & saved that pic. Thank you !
Christy says
I love this so much, Bev! Thank you!! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy what I share. I hope you get that cabinet some day! XOXO
Karen Thompson says
I love seeing your beautiful work throughout the year. This year has been especially rough for me as my husband passed last year on 12/30/2022 so the joy I get from your posts is encouraging to me that one day I will finish redoing a dining set that I started and have had in the garage for about 18 months now 🙁
Merry Christmas and Happy New year to you and yours!
Christy says
Thank you so much, Karen! I am very sorry to hear of the loss of your husband. That must have been really tough. Creating is so therapeutic and might be just what you need in the year ahead! Wishing you a blessed new year! XOXO
Donna Marie says
I am getting ready to paint my kitchen cabinets Caviar. They are already black. Do you have any recommendations? (They are quite banged up by the previous owners.)
Christy says
Hi Donna! For kitchen cabinets, I prefer traditional latex enamel paint. I would clean your existing cabinets with a degreasing cleaner first and then sand lightly all over with 220 grit to smooth out any nicks or imperfections. Then, paint with traditional latex enamel in a satin finish. There is no need to seal and they will be very easy to clean.
Lizzy says
These are beautiful. It’s amazing what a little paint and know-how can do. You are so talented!
Christy says
Thank you so much Lizzy! Paint is magic for sure! XOXO
Cyndi says
I would be hard pressed to pick a favorite from these! They are all beautiful and I really enjoyed seeing them again and getting more ideas for my own projects. Thanks, Christy! And Happy New Year to you and yours!
Christy says
Aww thank you, Cyndi!! I’m so glad you enjoyed seeing them again! Happy New Year! XOXO