Update Old Decor Items

Do you have decor items in your home that are looking a bit outdated or that you’re tired of? Don’t get rid of them! Instead, let us show you how to update old decor items so you’ll love them again!

If you’ve been following the blog since we moved from Kentucky, you already know that a lot of our decor was brown. 

We were shocked when we saw the video of our house on Zillow.

Rich and I both said, “I can’t believe how much brown there is in the house”. 

Well now we live in bright sunny Florida and the brown decor has to go!

Time to lighten things up a bit.

Rather than go out and buy something new, I’m grabbing my paint to change things up! 

Follow along as I update, not one but three, old decor items.

Ready to see the before picture? Here you go!

They’re not bad on their own, I’m just really tired of them.

So out with the old and in with the new!

Here’s what they look like now!

What do you think of the makeover?

Aren’t they gorgeous!

How to update old decor items

Here is everything you need to know to duplicate this project! First, gather all of the items you’ll need. Second, prep the area. Last but not least, paint your items!

GATHER

I used the following items for this DIY project:

• decor item (statue, short vase, tall vase)
• paper to protect the work surface
• Chalk paint (Annie Sloan Pure White)
• acrylic paint (FolkArt Barn Wood)
• paint can opener
• Stir sticks (I use plastic knives)
• Two chalk paintbrushes
• clear wax (Annie Sloan)
• one wax brush
• brown wax (Valspar Antique)
• a small paintbrush
• black wax (Annie Sloan)
• a very thin paintbrush
• painters tape
• two paper plates
• lint-free paper towels
• plastic gloves
• steel wool

Below is a picture of the paintbrushes I used for this project.

PREP

1. Clean each item. I used dishwashing liquid and water.
2. Put down paper on the countertop to protect it.

Here are my decor items, prepped and ready to paint! Ignore the items on the right, they are for another project I’ll be sharing when it’s done!

PAINT

1. Stir paint
2. Paint all three items white. The items will look very splotchy after the first coat dries.  Don’t worry, it will look better soon!
3. Let dry according to paint instructions. I waited one hour.
4. Apply the second coat of paint.
5. Let dry and assess the situation. I think the statue looks good but I need to put a third coat on the two vases.

Here are my old decor items after I updated them with the white chalk paint.

Finish the statue

While the vases are drying I will wax the statue.

Wax

1. Apply a clear coat of wax with the wax brush on the top section of the statue.
2. Wipe off the excess with a lint-free paper towel or rag.
3. Apply antique wax over the clear.
4. Immediately wipe off the brown wax with a lint-free paper towel.

Sand

I wanted a bit of the gold to show through on the higher edges so I used steel wool to lightly sand spots here and there.

I love to take old decor and update it! I’ll be using this statue in a Spring vignette on my coffee table in the living room. Stay tuned, I’ll be posting my Spring decor soon!

finish the short vase

I saw these vases in a store and decided I wanted to mimic the white and tan layered look. I don’t like the splotches in the second picture, but it’s shaped similar to my vase and I liked the darker edge on the bottom.

prep

1. Apply painter’s tape to the vase to protect the white paint in the middle of the vase.

I forgot to take a picture after I applied the tape, but at least I remembered to take one right before I pulled the tape off of the bottom section.

paint

1. Paint the top edge and bottom edge with tan paint.
2. Let the paint dry according to the instructions on the bottle. I waited one hour.
3. Apply a second coat of paint.
4. Remove painter’s tape as soon as you finish painting.
5. Let dry.

Here is the vase after the paint dried.

Wax

1. To protect the paint, apply clear wax to white chalk-painted areas.
2. Wipe the excess wax off with a lint-free paper towel.

The original plan was to leave it this way but I just felt like it needed something more. It looked too modern for the French country feel I’m going for.  So, I decided to “dirty” it up a bit and make it look older.

1. Pull the tan paint back out.
2. Dip a small paintbrush in the tan paint and dab excess on a paper plate. 
3. Lightly brush the paint onto the vase using very small, random strokes.

Here is the finished product.

I filled it with these beautiful faux flowers. I like how it turned out!

Finish tall vase

I’m almost done with this DIY project! Just one more old decor item to update! Keep reading to see how I finished the tall vase.

darken indentations

I wanted to darken the indentations of the vase but I was afraid to use paint. So instead, I used black wax. Here’s how I did it.

1. Take a small amount of black wax and put it on a paper plate. 
2. Use a very skinny paintbrush and dip it in the black wax.
3. “Paint” the wax into the vertical indentations in the vase. 
4. Very carefully wipe the wax away, following the vertical line.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for every vertical line around the vase.
6. Get quite a bit of wax on the length of the brush and run it along the top edge of the vase.
7. Lightly wipe off the excess wax.

Wax

1. To finish and protect the paint, apply clear wax to the entire vase.
2. Wipe the excess wax off with a lint-free paper towel.

When I finished, I felt the same way about this piece as I did the short vase. It just looked too white and new. It needed to look more worn and older so here are the steps I took to solve the problem.

1. Mix a small amount of white and black wax on a paper plate.
2. Dip a paper towel in the wax mixture and lightly apply in random spots around the vase. 
3. Wipe the excess wax off with a lint-free paper towel.

Below is a close-up of the finished product. This is my least favorite of the three. I’m just not loving this one, but I think it looks better than it did before.

Here it is after filling it with Spring branches and some Spanish moss. The more I look at it, the more I like it. I guess you could say it’s growing on me!!

Well, friends, another DIY project is in the books! It’s so fun to work on these smaller projects as I try to learn how to improve my painting skills. I’m feeling more confident with each project I try! Do you think this was an improvement?

Do you have any old decor items in your house that could use an update? If so, let me know in the comments below!

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Blessings, Donna and Rich

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