If you prefer modernism, impressionism or abstract, there is art out there for everyone…..in your local thrift store or consignment shop.  Personally, I don’t have a favorite, as long as it puts a smile on my face, and doesn’t cost a fortune, I love it.  Recently, I have had great luck finding art at my local secondhand stores and wanted to show you an easy way to makeover thrifted art.

Both of these works of art were purchased at my local thrift store.  The needlepoint lion was $4.00 and the large floral painting was $5.00.

This is Mr. Afrofantastic.  My youngest daughter loves all things animals, so this was a necessary purchase, but the brown frame had to go.

This is a 16×20 painting.  The colors were perfect for the girl’s room, but the frame had some issues.

One of the decorative pieces was missing and there was some green “stuff” hanging out all over the frame.

I opted to not take the art out of the frames and brush the paint on instead.  I used a healthy amount of painter’s tape to protect the art.

I gave the gold frame a really good scrubbing and lightly sanded both frames.

I used a trim brush and used white interior paint I had left over from a previous project and applied two coats.

Lea is in love with her Afrotastic Lion.

It is amazing what a coat of white paint can do.

To think that someone took time and made all of these knots is pretty special.

I wanted to keep this painting for myself, it is so pretty and colorful.  It looks great over Naomi’s dresser.

The paint covered the gold frame really well.

And you can’t see where the decorative piece is missing.

The colors are perfect, not bad for thrifted art!

Another thrifted painting that received a makeover is this small floral one on top of Naomi’s bookshelf.

When I bought it, it looked like this.  What is up with floral paintings in gold frames?

This piece was only $4.00.  The frame is just cheap flimsy plastic, so I popped the plugs off of the back and spray painted the frame gloss white.

Ok, now don’t judge, but I used some hot glue to put it back in it’s frame.  It is a first for me, but it did a good job, and you can’t even see the glue.

A nice pop of color, and no sign of glue.

Can you tell the frame is plastic? Nope!

I recently acquired this piece during Tour de Junk 2016, and have yet to give it a makeover.

It has some serious water damage.  I found it on the day it rained the most with hopes of saving it somehow.  The frame it came in was rotten and I removed it as soon as I brought it home.

It also has a hole in it.  Nothing like a challenge right?

The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame, so cutting the damaged part off isn’t an option.  Because this is an oil painting, I am hoping that I can repair the damaged part with new paint.  Oil paint is nice because you can layer and layer until the desired affect is achieved, and it gives the painting a nice texture.

I wouldn’t mind adding a bit of white highlights onto the flowers to brighten it up a bit.  And then of course, it needs a new frame!  I hope to use some trim, and if I pick a thick enough piece it might help cover some of the damage also.  I am pretty sure my husband thinks it belongs back in the trash, but everything deserves a second chance right?!

So that is 4 pieces of art, with a total cost of $13.00.  I didn’t include the cost of paint because I always have spray paint and interior paint just waiting for projects like this.

Have you found any great thrifted art lately?  Any suggestions regarding the large damaged painting would be greatly appreciated!