Thrift Store Art - Refreshed for the Townhouse

When my parents were visiting, we made many-a-trip to the thrift stores (my poor Dad).  We even found a new-to-me Value Village when he ripped his only pair of pants and we had to make an impromptu Moore's run.  It was at that Value Village that I found two lovely paintings, both of water, that made me smile.  This weekend, I removed them from their frames and gave them a blast of glossy white spray paint before reassembling them.  Both frames were a little beat up (and dated) but now are refreshed.  One day Hubs and I will make new frames for them (see here for one tutorial, and here for another), but right now paint was all I had time for.  It's a cheap fix that made them both look modern, cheery and townhouse-appropriate.

One made its way into the office, replacing a small sculpture my Grandpa made (it will find a new home). The other is adding more zingy colour to the bathroom, replacing a black and white photograph that hung there previously.  Things are looking grim on the lakehouse purchase (competition - details soon), so these two paintings might be my only "waterfront view" in the foreseeable future.  At $20.00 a piece, these are the better deal (less headache, too)!

In the bathroom, I love the extra jolt of turquoise to tie in the colour from pretty much every other room.  My DIY yellow painting has a hint of turquoise and the new painting has a hit of yellow, so they work nicely together.  Plus, (is this too much information?), when I have a bath, the water crashing against rocks is my new view.  Seeing as this is a windowless bathroom, I'll take what I can get!

How to take frames from blah to bright:

• Using pliers, remove the nails holding the painting in place
• Lightly sand the frame, to remove any sheen
• Wipe clean with a damp cloth, allow to dry
• Spray with primer (I chose a stain blocking primer - Beauti-tone STOPZ)
• Allow to dry overnight
• Spray with Rustoleum Painter's Touch in Gloss White
• Allow to dry for 48 hours to fully cure 
• Hammer in finishing nails alongside the painting
• Install eye hooks and picture hanging wire

This is a photo of the back before I disassembled it, but I did the same thing: using finishing nails to hold the painting in place (mine are straighter!) by hammering them into the frame alongside the painting:



And that's it!  P.S. Check out this post on how to pick the right frame for your art - it might give you some DIY ideas!