A chubby, rustic piece of furniture found at a consignment shop gets easily transformed into a cute-as-can-be cottage style magazine rack.
Cottage Style Magazine Rack
Hello friends! If you are a fan of cottage style furniture, then I have a treat for you today. Recently we were visiting friends in Mt. Pleasant, SC, and we stopped in a consignment shop. I spotted a unique piece of furniture in the back and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was going home with me!
It was rustic with chubby legs and had wire mesh in the back. It was already painted blue with French Country flair.
I could tell by the tag that the piece had been in the shop for many months so we offered a low cash price to take it off their hands.
When we got it home, I immediately put it beside the fireplace and filled it with magazines. I’m not sure what its purpose had originally been, but it was just the right size for a magazine rack.
But the more that I looked at the piece, I thought that those chubby legs were too long!
So about 2 inches were taken off.
Next, I decided that I was going to repaint it.
There really was nothing wrong with how it was painted other than the blue did not look good with some other blue items I have in our family room.
I almost hated painting over the fleur-de-lis stencil on the sides.
But, I decided that my cottage style magazine rack needed to be green. I mixed up some chalky style paint using leftover paint that I already had. If you’d like my formula for making your own chalky paint, you’ll find it in this post: A Thrifty Repurposed Vanity.
Once I got my piece painted green, I decided to highlight the features with paint instead of using dark wax.
Using burnt umber acrylic paint, water, and a small art brush, I filled in the areas that I wanted darker.
First I painted the indentations on the front.
I smeared a lot of it on this section, and then I used a damp paper towel to remove the extra, leaving the umber paint in the crevices.
Here you can see the process a little better, and you can also see how I did the same on the edges of the legs.
The good thing about using watered-down acrylic paint to highlight the features is that you can always wipe it off if you think you’ve added too much, or you can add more green paint on the raised areas.
Here’s the final paint job. I chose not to distress this piece and I still need to add clear wax to protect it, but isn’t she cute?
Her cut-off legs look better proportioned to her body, don’t you think? I just love the homemade look of this cottage style magazine rack!
To style her, I added a few blooms from our Chinese viburnum bush to the top.
If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw the bush loaded with blooms. What? You’re not following me yet? Click HERE to remedy that right now!
I hope you enjoyed seeing my painted cottage style magazine rack today, and if you’re looking for more thrifty projects, you’re in luck!
Below you’ll find 13 more thrifty DIY spring projects from the other members of the Thrifty Style Team. Just click on any of the links below to find more inspiration.
HOW TO CREATE AN INEXPENSIVE PLATE WALL from The Creek Line House
EASTER EGG CRAFT IDEAS from DIY Beautify
PAINTED SHELF MAKEOVER from 2 Bees in a Pod
DOLLAR STORE SPRING CENTERPIECE from The How-To Home
EASY DIY STRING FRINGE TUTORIAL from What Meegan Makes
VINTAGE LINEN USES AND CARE TIPS from I Should Be Mopping the Floor
SIMPLE THRIFT STORE SHELF MAKEOVER from The DIY Village
DIY MASON JAR CHANDELIER from Hearth and Vine
ROUTE 66 BEER TOTE from Bliss Ranch
THRIFTED PRAYER BASKET WITH PRAYER SLIPS from Salvage Sister and Mister
THRIFTY SPRING FOYER from Redhead Can Decorate
THRIFTY AND STYLISH CHANGE TO THE BATHROOM from Duke Manor Farm
QUICK AND EASY EMBROIDERY HOOP EASTER WREATH from Homeroad
Julie Briones says
April 18, 2019 at 3:52 pmI LOVE this, Jane! I’m not sure why I’m not seeing you on my social media lately. I’m going to subscribe so I don’t ‘miss’ you! Would love to have you join us at Homestyle Gathering! 😉
Faith says
April 17, 2019 at 8:50 pmThis turned out really nice. About paintint over the stencil: My mom was a decorative painter, so plain paint, however nice, never looks quite finished to me (unless it’s high gloss enamel). It shouldn’t be too hard to find a suitable fleur-de-lis stencil. I think an old gold stencil on the sides would look better on the green than it did on the blue. [I can also see a Graphics Fairy (thegraphicsfairy.com) decoupage on the sides.]
And I had to smile. Shortening, or cutting off, the legs was usually the first thing my mom did, before she even decided how she was going to paint a piece of furniture for herself
Julie says
April 13, 2019 at 4:52 pmCan’t get any cuter!!
Pam says
April 13, 2019 at 1:37 pmAmazing how different it looks in green. Guess you can’t tell me the color if you mixed it up yourself …. I like it alot. Everything you create is awesome.
Deborah Sommerlot says
April 12, 2019 at 11:22 amThat green color is perfect!!!!!!!!!!! And I love the antiquing. FAB
Robyn says
April 11, 2019 at 10:08 amThat little rack is adorable! Love the color !!!!
Mary says
April 11, 2019 at 7:32 amThat is such a sweet green color you chose for this project Jane!
Jane Boudreau says
April 11, 2019 at 1:57 amOmgoodness, Jane! This is a fantastic makeover. The color and your method to make it look old is spot on. Now—show me how to do a bookshelf this nice!! 🙂
Jane x
Meegan says
April 10, 2019 at 11:48 pmWow the green gives your piece a whole new life! I like the way you added the paint for accenting the details. Always something pretty and inspiring here on your blog, Jane. I love it.
Cindy says
April 10, 2019 at 6:22 pmAww, she is cute as can be! An adorable find and I do like her in green…she’s a little more sassy 😉
Kristi Dominguez says
April 10, 2019 at 3:07 pmThis is such a cool piece, Jane! Fun and functional…and the color is fabulous! It’s always so great linking up with you! xoxo
Courtenay @ The Creek Line House says
April 10, 2019 at 2:44 pmSo cute! I love painted furniture like this and it really does make a great magazine rack. So much smarter than a regular magazine rack because it can hold so much more!
Susan Homeroad Stevenson says
April 10, 2019 at 2:23 pmLove the table Jane! The hardware cloth on the back is perfect and so is the color 🙂
Jean says
April 10, 2019 at 12:51 pmI like this green Jane as you have heard me say. This color is in your kitchen which I love love love… This magazine rack is a very nice piece also. Great job. Jean
Patti says
April 10, 2019 at 11:09 amJane, this is super cute. I want one!! I love the green and the way you antiqued certain areas.
Mary Beth says
April 10, 2019 at 11:05 amThis is such a pretty redo, Jane, and the green is absolutely cottage perfect!
Vicki and Jenn 2 Bees in a Pod says
April 10, 2019 at 10:03 amJane total Thrift Store Score! Love the spring green paint and that you’re using it for a magazine rack!
Bliss says
April 10, 2019 at 9:33 amI love the new color, and I agree it fits magazines perfectly. Pinned!
Sandy says
April 10, 2019 at 9:31 amThat is just darling. I love the green. I do wonder what its original use was though. I think it is the perfect magazine rack though.