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Treasure Hunting-Repainting Thrift Store Houses

April 13, 2022 by Courtney 4 Comments

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It is common to see tiny wooden houses at thrift stores and yard sales. Repainting thrift store finds is a good use for these knick-knacks. They are “country style” decorations that were very popular in past decades telling by the fact that they are so easy to acquire. Turning cast-offs into lovely, whimsical treasures is a favorite hobby of mine!

Image of a tiny painted house on a white table

So, find yourself some little wooden houses and gather a few supplies and make your own little village!

Supplies To Gather For Repainting Your Thrift Store Finds:

  • Small wooden houses
  • Various paintbrushes- broad tipped, and fine tipped for details
  • White gesso
  • Acrylic paints in preferred colors, or mix colors to suit your preference
  • Rag to wipe paintbrush between colors
  • Old surface on which to work
close up picture of small wooden houses lined up on a table

Preparing The Surfaces For Paint

The small wooden houses were stenciled with the letters to spell out “welcome” and the rooftops were painted, so I prepared their surfaces for paint with white gesso. Gesso makes surfaces more smooth and is non yellowing so it is a good primer to use before the paint goes on.

For painting on the gesso and first coat of paint, I used more of a broad tipped paint brush. I held the house by the roof and bottom, and painted all the sides. In order to paint the rooftop, I placed the house on a table and just painted the top without holding it. So the bottom has remained unpainted.

Small wooden houses are lined up on a table after being painted with gesso,

I painted a thin layer of gesso so that the houses would be more smooth and that they would dry more quickly.

After some thought, I settled on a folksy style of painting. I knew my painting would be very flawed, so I decided to embrace the imperfections. Imperfections are beautiful in my eyes because they highlight the handmade nature of an object.

Custom Mixing Paint

close up image of bottles of acrylic paints for repainting thrift store finds

Next, gathering my supply of paints, I saw the colors were not what I had in mind. So I mixed my colors to suit my color palette of muted shades.

There was a blue paint, “Cayman Blue” that I mixed with “Titanium White”. That lightened the blue and then I toned it down with a dab of “Pure Black”.

image of blue paint and a dab of black paint in a dish with a paintbrush
image of paint being mixed with a paintbrush

Also, I used a paint color called “Deep Peach” that I lightened with “Titanium White”.

image of dish of paints and small white houses

On any of the little houses, the gray I used was a mix of “Pure Black” and “Titanium White”.

image of three dishes of paint mixed for repainting thrift store finds

Repainting Thrift Store Finds

After I had my paints mixed and ready for repainting thrift store finds, I started by painting the blue houses. Then, I painted the peach houses, followed by two white houses. I painted each of the roofs with gray paint.

To help them to look more aged, I used a dry brush painting technique. With a clean dry brush, I put a small amount of paint on my brush. I wiped some of the paint off onto a rag and then brushed what remained onto the small house. This technique gives an imperfect, worn appearance to any project.

close up image of a small house after being dry brushed with blue paint
image of repainted houses on a brown table

Painting The Details

After painting all the houses, in pencil, I roughly drew windows and a door onto the front of the first house. They are all a little different but the style is similar. I made a few whimsical differences among the little village.

image of a small house painted peach with a gray roof and pencil drawn windows and door
image of plate holding gray paint and a paintbrush resting on the plate and a small painted house in the background

Choosing to paint the windows with a darker gray than the roofs, I added a dab of “Pure Black” to a lighter gray mix. I painted the door and windows with the finer tipped paintbrush.

image of small painted house with gray windows and a blue door

Using the same mixed blue from the other houses kept the color scheme consistent. Because of the small details precise painting was difficult!

image of small painted house with white trim painted around the windows and door and a gold colored doorknob

I painted a white trim around the windows and door and panes on the windows. I painted the doorknob “Antique Gold”.

image of small painted house with a yellow door and small tree painted on the house

This house, because it had no chimney, I decided to paint as a narrow townhouse style with three stories of windows. I added a topiary and a yellow door. This yellow was “Daybreak” that I mellowed down with a bit of “Antique Gold”. This house’s difference in style, I feel, really made the final results turn out nicely. Without the variation it would not have pleased my eye as much.

image of houses lined up on a shelf

Next, I couldn’t resist painting a cute little clothesline on this whitewashed house with a rounded yellow door!

image of blue white and peach house lined up on a shelf
image of a white washed house with a blue roof with a chicken painted on the house

In the end, painting my tiny wooden houses in quaint colors updated them and they are my style now! My kitchen will feel fresh for spring and summer. I have designated a special shelf as their perfect home. Moreover, the shelf where I put them is dry brush painted as well.

If you enjoy making beautiful and useful items for your home, check out this post.

What Spring and Summer updates are you enjoying in your home? Tell me in the comments below!

Filed Under: Homemaking Tagged With: painting, repurpose

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy

    August 8, 2022 at 9:20 pm

    Gosh, this looks like such a fun project! I have a couple of very creative granddaughters and I am going to look for some of these little houses to paint with them. Thanks!

    Reply
    • therosemarywreath

      August 9, 2022 at 10:37 am

      It is really fun to paint these, I think it’s a great project for kids. I hope you have a wonderful time with your granddaughters!

      Reply
  2. Connie

    August 26, 2022 at 5:07 pm

    Super cute. I love to remake thrift store finds. These turned out great!

    Reply
    • therosemarywreath

      August 26, 2022 at 10:15 pm

      Thank You! There are so many unused things out there waiting to be made into something fresh.

      Reply

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Hi, my name is Courtney. It is my passion to preserve beauty and goodness in my  home, and to make it a place of comfort and love. Please join me each month as I keep a remembrance of the pleasures of homemaking! Read more about me here.

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