How to Makeover Thrift Store Picture Frames

Art can be expensive to buy brand new, but can add so much interest to your home. That’s why I’m sharing how to makeover thrift store picture frames to create custom art—on a budget!

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I’ve been wanting to give our master bedroom a refresh for a while now, and recently, decided to tackle it! My goal was to spend as little money as possible, so I’ve been trying to use items that I already had on hand to give the space a new look.

I had fully planned on just that for the picture ledge above our bed, until I spotted these frames at the thrift store last week.

The frames themselves were too good to pass up, but what really sold me, is that they had mats. There is something about art being in a frame with a mat that just totally elevates it!

The glass in one of the frames was broken, but that didn’t bother me because I knew I wanted to remove the glass anyway. Bonus, I asked for a discount, since the glass was broken, and I saved $3 on that frame! This brought my total spent to $11.

I was so excited about my find! I couldn’t wait to get home and get this makeover project started!

The first thing I did was to pull the frame apart. I removed the hanging wire from the back, as well as several staples and small nails, holding the back of the frame on. I did have one “oops” moment, when I was taking the staples out of the frame with the cracked glass. I had it face-down on the table and the pressure from me pushing on it caused the glass to shatter.

I got the glass cleaned up, though, and was able to keep working on this thrift store makeover!

I also had a blogger failure during this project. Once took apart all the pieces of the framed art, I spray painted the mats white, to freshen them up and take them from creamy to crisp! I didn’t take any pictures of this step, though. So, you’ll just have to use your imagination! I can tell you, though, that I used one of my favorite spray paints: Rustoleum American Accents 2X Ultra Cover Ultra Matte in White.

Okay, honestly, the biggest hiccup of this project was that part of the initial plan I had for it, didn’t pan out at all. I had fully intended to use Rub ‘N Buff Wax Metallic Finish on the frames themselves, to help tone down the yellow look they had. As I’ve learned in the past, though, sometimes Rub ‘N Buff doesn’t like to adhere to certain surfaces, and this was one of them.

So, I had to pivot, and decided to spray paint the frames black. I again used Rustoleum American Accents 2X Ultra Cover Ultra Matte, but in Black this time. My plan was to see how I liked the frames in black and, if I didn’t like them, I could layer the Rub ‘N Buff over the top. I knew that it would work on top of the painted surface, even though it didn’t on the frame itself.

Luckily for me, I loved the frames painted black…and I think you will too!

The next step was to cover the original artwork from the thrifted picture frames with the new “art” I was framing. I gave my audience over on Instagram the choice from four different pieces I could frame. The winning vote (by a long shot) was this vintage York Wallcoverings wall paper.

For each frame, I cut a piece of the wallpaper about 2” larger than the original piece of art from the frame. I used ATack Clear Double Sided Tape to attach the wallpaper to the art. Once I had the paper smooth, I folded the sides over (as tightly as I could), and used Duck Brand General Purpose Masking Tape to hold it down on the back.

Since I had removed all of the staples and nails from the back of the picture frames, that held the artwork and backing in, I had to get creative to put all the pieces back together. I wanted something strong, so I turned to Duck Tape Brand Duct Tape. It doesn’t look very cute, but no one will see the backs of the frames and I know it will hold!

I seriously couldn’t be happier with this budget-friendly thrift store makeover! This project just goes to show that you don’t have to spend a lot of money on home decor to make it look like a million bucks! All you need is some imagination…and a trip to your local thrift store!

I still can’t get over how well this project turned out. Not that I didn’t have faith in what the thrift store frames could be turned into, but they look even better than I could have imagined!

I am so happy that the Rub ‘N Buff didn’t work on the frames, even though I had totally envisioned them being gold. The black makes such an impact in the room and makes the frames pop off of the picture ledge and white wall. I think every space needs a touch of black in it and these frames add exactly that!

I didn’t want to clutter up the picture ledge, so I only added a couple of plants to balance out the thrift store picture frames. Whenever I’m in doubt about how to decorate a space, I just add plants—they always work!

What do you think about this project? Do you think it’s something you could do to update and refresh your own space?

I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments on this post! If you try your hand at making over some thrift store frames, share them in your Instagram story and tag me so I can see! You can find me on Instagram at @hilaryprall.