HOW TO COORDINATE YOUR CHARITY SHOP FINDS
All Round Creative Junkie, Cheryl Lumley shows us how to coordinate charity shop finds!
“Charity shops are a treasure trove for upcyclers, they’re full of the once loved items that people didn’t want to throw away, but wanted to give a second chance through a charity, so are generally in great condition, just a little dated or out of fashion.
In most charity shops there is a little corner dedicated to homewares where you’ll generally find flowery tea sets, cut glass decanters, figurines, vases and even the odd toby jug – remember them? What they all have in common though is that they’re generally a bit dated in colour or pattern and thats usually why people have handed them on in the first place. If you look past this though you’ll find the shape of the objects are still lovely and could be a perfect starting point for an upcycle. There is a paint for pretty much everything now and I guarantee you that everything, no matter how tacky or dated, will look better with a lick of paint.
I want to stick to the simplest of colours for this project and go for white but still wanted to add texture so I’ve gone for a mix of gloss and matt with Rust-Oleum Universal All-Surface Spray Paint in White Gloss and Flat White for a different finish. The best thing about this spray paint is that it sticks to everything and has a primer built in, plus you can even hold the tin upside down to spray into those fiddly bits.
I wasn’t sure exactly which pieces would work with each other until I sprayed them, but it all came to under £10 so a complete bargain, even if I don’t use some of them, it’s worth it to test out techniques for that price.”
What you will need
- Objects to be painted
- Rust-Oleum Universal All-Surface Spray Paint in White Gloss and Flat White
- Dust sheet
Steps
Preparation
Old items can be full of dust and years of greasy finger marks so make sure your pieces are clean and free from dust particles otherwise you won’t get an even finish. Place outside on a large dust sheet, and make sure you wear a protective mask for this one.
Paint
Using Rust-Oleum Universal All-Surface Spray Paint, hold the can about 12 inches away from the object and using nice even strokes spray 2-3 thin coats on. Keep the can moving and overlap each stroke slightly. Thin coats will dry quicker and give a much neater finish. If you do happen to get drips on then don’t panic, just use kitchen roll to dab off the excess and it will cover up in the next coat. It will take between 30-60 mins between each coat to be touch dry. The first coat will look speckly, that’s fine, if you try to get full coverage in one spray you’ll get drips.
Styling
By painting all of the objects the same colour you instantly create a collection, so you need to find the perfect place in your home to display them. It’s works best to group things in odd numbers and add height using books or boxes. If there are vases in your collection then flowers will create extra height too. Don’t go for tallest to shortest, mix up your heights. My bedroom mantle is quite shallow, but if you have a deeper shelf or surface then using the space to bring things forward and play with the space. I went for 3 pieces on either side of the mantle.
