Vintage Firewood Holder Flip – Thrift Store Brass to Class

Before you pass up an awesome brass thrift store find, find out how you can give those ugly yellow outdated pieces a facelift with the just the right color spray paint!

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Before I dive into this ridiculously easy tutorial I wanted to let you know that this post is part of one of my Thrifty Thursday Series. I’ve teamed up with some lovely blogging ladies to bring you a little dose of DIY inspiration.

Find out how to make more of your home for less and check out the other projects at the bottom of this post!

I have a special place in my heart for brass thrift store finds. They’re so ugly and dated with their bright yellow sheen, but they were once the “it” pieces of home decor.

Why not show them a little love with a simple spray paint makeover right? I was pretty confident I could turn this 80’s vintage firewood holder into something more modern, so for $5 it went home with me.

I know what you’re probably thinking. It’s hideous right? But I did a little googling and found out these vintage pieces were going for over $100 on etsy and ebay!

Like what?!

I’m not sure who would want this thing in it’s original form, but I figured I scored myself quite the deal. And I was determined to turn it into something like this.

I loved these modern brass firewood holders from Crate and Barrel and Williams Sonoma, but not for the price tag.

So off I went to find the perfect brass spray paint to try my best to recreate the look.

vintage firewood holder makeover supplies

• Spray Primer
• Gold or Brass Spray Paint of Choice (I tested these)
  • Rustoleum Gilded Brass
  • Design Masters Antique Gold

I really wanted to try this color that Lauren from Blesser House tested out, but couldn’t seem to find it anywhere in stock. So I decided to test out the two gold spray paints I picked up to see which one would give me the best modern brass look.

I took a poll on Instagram to find out what other people thought of these two golds. Decisions are so hard right?!

In the end, I went with the Gilded Brass color on the right. It had more of a muted and toned down satin gold color. I figured the one on the left would be way too loud for my style.

how to makeover a vintage firewood holder

step 1 – clean it up

I had to give this guy a thorough bath in the kitchen sink. It was covered in dust and cobwebs. But other than that, it was in pretty decent shape. No scratches or knicks to buff out, but if you needed to you can always use a little sandpaper to even out the metal surface.

step 2 – prime your surface

I used zinsser spray primer for this project because it claims to stick to all surface types.

Use short bursts to cover the entire metal surface with primer. This will ensure that you don’t up with a lot of sag and paint drips.

I was pretty happy with how quickly this primer dried. It was also really smooth to the touch on the bottom of my log holder. But the top was another story. I’m not sure if it was user error or if the can was just getting low. But the second side of my piece was gritty and rough.

In hindsight, I probably should have gone over this with a fine sandpaper to smooth out some of the grit, but well, laziness.

step 3 – paint your surface

Can I just say how much I loved this can of Rustoleum Gilded Brass Spray Paint?!

The spray nozzle was so easy to use and there was no need to do careful short bursts when applying the paint. It sprayed on in the most fine mist so I just went carefully from side to side to get an even coverage.

It took the entire can to cover my vintage firewood holder so I got super lucky that I only really needed one coat for the application.

It was dry to the tough after about an hour so I got to work styling it with these super inexpensive birch logs I found at Crate and Barrel.

And if you’re curious about the marble fireplace you can find all the details on the makeover here.

I have all the heart eyes for this little thrift store makeover! What do you think? Does it stand up to the high end look a likes? Drop me a comment below!

more thrifty thursday projects!

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• DIY Gold Ombre Basket from Windmill & Protea
• Copper Drip Pumpkin from Practical Whimsy Design
• Vase Makeover from The Inspired Decorator
• DIY Cornhusk Wreath from One-Thousand Oaks