How to Repaint Dated Decor
Raise your hand if you are a thrift shopper? No, what about yard sales? Have you ever seen any ugly ceramic decor items that shouldn’t have survived the 70’s or 80’s? Nodding your head YES? I thought so. Today I’m going to show you How to Repaint Decor. Those dated monstrosities can look like something you bought from Ballard Design or Pottery Barn! Don’t believe me, well check out this groovy pair (emphasis on pear. LOL.)
Would you believe this is the same fruit duo?
Yup! I scored them both for $5.
Now, have you seen these deliciously rustic pears from Ballard Designs? Yes? Did you happen to catch the price tags? $49 each!
Umm, no thank you, I’ll stick with my $2.50 fruit—Thank you very much. Let me show you how you can paint any ceramic, pottery, or china decor item to give it a new updated look. You’ll need a few things first.
Materials:
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- Rustoleum Spray Primer
- Rustoleum Heirloom White Spray Paint (satin finish)
- Drop cloth, newspapers or craft paper
- Fine Sandpaper
- Acrylic paints
- Palette knife
- Paper plates
- Fan brush
- Glaze
- Dry rag
Optional: Rustoleum Comfort Spray Paint Handle (saves your fingers from cramping!)
Instructions:
Clean your decor item with soap and water. Dry thoroughly.
Lightly sand the surface to give a little roughness.
Lay your decor item(s) on paper and spray with several thin coats of spray primer. Allow the primer to dry.
Spray several light coats of Rustoleum’s Heirloom White spray paint. Allow to dry.
If you want, you can leave the base color white. But, if you want to color your item, mix a base color with the acrylic craft paints. Using the fan brush use a “cross-hatch” pattern to apply the paint onto your item. (This gives more depth and interest than painting on a thick coat of paint.)
Next mix your glaze by combining acrylic paint (Mix raw sienna (dark brown), burnt sienna (red brown) and yellow ochre until you have a nice golden brown antiquing color.) Pour a small circle of glaze material onto your plate. Dip the fan brush into the glaze medium and then into the mixed acrylic paint. Dab off some paint onto the paper plate (you don’t want your brush to be saturated.) Brush the glaze onto the item and use the fan brush to blend the glaze around. Feel free to use the same cross-hatch pattern you did earlier.
Work in small areas and brush the glaze around until your brush doesn’t have any more glaze on it.
Then use a rag to dab around the decor item until you are happy with the results.
Paint any features onto your decor item (stems, branches, faces, etc.) To paint the pear’s leaf, try a dark brown (raw sienna) and a yellow ochre for the highlights. Acrylic paint is really forgiving. If you don’t like it you can paint over it.
I couldn’t be happier with the results of my repainted home decor! I saved myself about $95 for two decor items!
This fruit decor is perfect for any season . . .
But, I like to bring them out in the fall.
Happy thrifting y’all! Never leave cheap dated decor behind again.
Did you see that ladder above? It is the other half of this ladder and I added shelves to create my own ladder display shelves!
Those are so cute. I love frugal projects that look expensive!
I just repurposed an old window into a menu board on my blog if you want to check it out.
Ps- I'm your newest follower.
They turned out awesome! Love it!
I love the way those turned out! The colors are perfect. Much better then Ballards!
They are adorable! I saw the ballard ones, and with the price thought that they would be huge… but they're not, just the price is huge 🙂 Love yours!
Very cute! i love thrifty finds like that!
They look great! Way better than the original Ballard Design I think. So cute. Great job.
Beautfiful! You definitely have an eye for mixing colors…they look real 🙂
Great job!
I can not even tell the difference of which one is yours and which one is Ballards! Darn girlfriend, you are talented. Why do they think people want to spend that kind of money on an accessory? Blows my mind. Great job.
Oh man…LOVE it!!! Great job!!
Gorgeous knock off!
Beautiful harvest. 😉
Nice savings and great refashion.
They look fabulous. I really like them. Your colors and antiqueing are perfect. Good for you. Very creative. Hugs, Marty
Wow, great job! I think I like them better than the one from the catalog, and the price is fantastic! 🙂 Thanks for the dose of inspiration. ~Stephanie at Buttermilk Hill
GREAT DEAL AND IT TURNED OUT GREAT!! LOVE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS : )
How cool and very clever. You did a great job, without that hefty ballard price tag. Thanks for your opinion on my hairy situation lol!
Gorgeous! You did a great job blending the paints!
Those are super cute! Thanks for sharing. Love the final outcome!
Very cute!!! I love how it turned out =) Patience paid off!
These are beautiful. I'm diggin' the ladder too.
They look beautiful,and you've gotta love savings like that!! I'm your newest follower, too!
Aimee @ Justkiddingaroundatlanta
Love your pears – beautiful! I'm a new follower from Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.
Have a great week!
Marie @ Sally Lee by the Sea
http://www.nauticalcottageblog.com
A blog for those who love everything about the coastal lifestyle…Shopping. Decorating. Crafts. Travel.
That is beautiful! Wish I could find some treasures like that at the thrift store!!!
Wonderful job! They look great!
I'm LOVING these! What a great redo! You did a great job, as always! 🙂
acrylic paint will take you far….for so much less…I swoon over Ballard's stuff too but not their prices!
Greetings! I haven't visited in a while. You did a FANTASTIC job here! Plus, saved a fortune. Good for you!
Best regards,
Gloria
Wow – those are fabulous!
They are gorgeous! Even better than Ballard! Nice score on the goodwill find!
These turned out great!
Love them!! Wish I could find a pair like that… LOL You did a great job!! :O)
Wow- at first I thought… LUCKEEE! But now I see more talent than luck! You did a great job on these… plus I am on a pear fix right now… my new kitchen will be full of them! nHave you seen the basic grey paper?
Awesome!
You did a great job. I would never know what colors to choose like you did. They look wonderful.
Those are great! Looks store-bought! Nice job.
They look terrific! Thanks so much for sharing your project with us at Anything Related!
{Rebekah}
I am so impressed! Wonderful job and a great tutorial too. Watch out Ballard's!!
Love,
Susan and Bentley
xxoo
This was a great project to link up and share…so glad you did. It really gives us gals the foresight to think outside the box! Thank you. Debbie
You did a fantastic job transforming the everyday to "awesome"! So cool!
Debbie@houseatthelake
They look fabulous! Your choice of colors and antiqueing were perfect. You did a great job!
~ Tracy
Much, much nicer you did a wonderful job rescuing that homely pair. 🙂
Wow!! I can't believe the transformation. So glad you did something with color!!! These look fabtastic!
Oooh, love them both!! Now I need to be looking for a pear!
~ The Speckled Dog
They look fabulous! You did a great job of selecting the colors.Just think of all the money you saved! Annette
I love them! I saw them in the catalog and would NEVER pay that price for them. Great job.
Wow, perfect! The glazing really took it to the next level. Outstanding outcome!
And you are so right on. You need to paint brighter if you plan to use glaze, otherwise you loose alot of colour. Nice call!
Donna
Those are amazing!!! I can't believe that they are that much either at Ballard Design!! Yours are actually better! Found you at Funky Junk Interiors!!!
Okay, so now I have to search high and low for some pears in the thrift stores! Seriously though, they turned out spectacular!
I really love how you blended the colors too. I think you got a better result because of it. Sometimes acrylics can be a little too 'true to color', you know? The blending makes it look more high end.
Would love for you to stop by tomorrow and link up to Passion for Paint!
This project turned out wonderfully! Thanks for sharing! Hopped over from Debbiedoos…
You did a great job on those pears, Girlfriend!
Love them, and their price tags!
OH HOW very AWESOME! GREAT job! They both look fabulous on that incredible ladder! BTW, I'm have a fun CSN gift certificate on my blog, I'd love for you to stop by if you have a moment. 😉
Beautiful makeover on those! I really need to get some of this Heirloom White! LOL! You really did a fantastic job!
Good for you! They look great!
I am a little envious of that pear. . .I want it 🙂
This was one of my favorite projects from last week's Mad Skills party, and I will be featuring it on my blog this morning!
madincrafts.blogspot.com
WOW….those look better than your inspiration!!
I love the finish on the pear
Better than the original. Great job!
Beautiful! I love the finish!
impressive! i’ve always liked the pear!
Those look great! Many years ago my mom used to do ceramics as a hobby.. I remember how she’d stain patina on the items. I’ve never done it, only the times I watched her. I wonder if I could pull it off. They are so lovely!
Lovely. We’re these ceramic or that foamy stuff?
I’ve seen those in Ballards & Yes can’t agree more, outrageously priced! These are wonderful, great job on the painting…now to just find something like this! Great Post Brittany & thank you!
Wow, beautiful! You never let your followers down, because you are just that great in your creativity
Thanks Ivory. Hope you find some dated decor to paint soon!
Those are adorable! I have a ton of aging decor, I love the concept of knockoffs that look amazing yet won’t break the bank.
It turned out so nice! And the size! Perfect!