How to Transform Thrifted Flips Into Pottery Barn Inspired Decor

Are you a Pottery Barn Fan with a Thrift Store budget? You will be amazed at how you quickly make a thrifted flip into a Pottery Barn Dupe, and I’m sharing all my secrets.

Pottery Barn is known for its stylish and high-quality home decor, but it can be expensive. If you’d love the look for less, thrift flipping is the answer.

Thrift flipping is the process of transforming thrifted finds into stylish and unique pieces for your home. It’s a great way to save money, reduce waste, and create your own unique decor.

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Thrifting with The Gals – Monthly Series

Thrifting with the Gals

Today’s post is part of our monthly series, Thrifting with the Gals.

If you are new to our series, we are friends who share a love for vintage and thrifted decorating.

We all live in different parts of the country, but we come together once a month to share thrift store shopping ideas and tips on decorating with your treasures.

Here are the Gals:

• Ann from Dabbling and Decorating finds her treasures as she travels between Vermont and Maine. She decorates both homes with so many vintage treasures.
• Kristin from White Arrows Home loves thrifting in Minnesota and adds some of her finds to her vintage store.
• Robyn from Robyn’s French Nest loves to travel and bring her vintage treasure to her lovely Florida Home.
• Lora from Lora Bloomquist Create and Ponder is joining us as a permanent addition to Thrifting with the Gals. We are so happy to have another vintage lover among us.
• I am from North Carolina, and I love filling my farmhouse and beach cottage with thrift store finds. I focus on budget-friendly decorating and DIY projects.
• This month, our guest host is the talented Joanna Anastasia. Joanna is the mom of three littles but still finds time for thrifting.

Our guest this month is Sarah from Sadies SeasonGoods, and she loves repurposing thrifted and vintage finds into unique treasures. Sarah is also from North Carolina.

How To Find Pottery Barn Dupes at the Thrift Store

Finding Pottery Barn Dupes at the thrift store doesn’t happen by accident. First, you have to be prepared.

Here are a few things I do each season.

• Browse Pottery Barn online (or any other favorite decor store)
• Take screen shots of your favorites new items
• Jot down some dimensions if you are looking to match sizes.
• Keep your list and photos with you when you go thrifting.
• Don’t overlook the ugly. Think shape and size instead.
• Finally, is it a good price? For the Pottery Barn Dupe to be cost-effective, you need good deals.

You will be amazed at what you can find when you go thrifting with a plan. You may even get lucky and find an actual Pottery Barn item.

Last week, I found a set of 6 Copper Charger Plates that are from Pottery Barn. They are from a previous season but will never go out of style. Plus, they were a fraction of their original price.

How To Transform A Thrifted Flip

Once you find your look alike, it’s time to transform the thrifted flip into a Pottery Barn Dupe.

Here is my latest thrifted flip, and it was so easy.

First, I took a screenshot of the Rustic Turkey Shaped Stoneware Salt & Pepper Shakers and Gravy Boat. I couldn’t believe my luck when I found all these items at one thrift store.

Here is the inspiration and the Pottery Barn Dupe after the transformation.

Easy Transformation Tutorial

The pottery barn pieces have a rustic flat finish, so all that was needed to transform my thrift store finds was rubbing alcohol, long toothpicks, and Chalky Finish Spray Paint.

Clean the surface of the items with rubbing alcohol and place the tooth picks in the salt and pepper shaker holes.

Hold the spray paint can approximately one foot from the item and spray lightly. Allow the paint to dry for at least two minutes, and repeat.

Repeat this process until the items are covered entirely, and all the old finish has disappeared.

If you apply a heavy coat, you will risk the paint running or dripping.

I applied three coats to get the coverage I desired.

Don’t they look great? The matte finish pairs well with the other rustic kitchen decor.

The thrifted turkeys cost only $8.00, and the spray paint was also $8.00. Therefore, the thrifted flip saved $48.00 and took minimal time to achieve.

Tiered Basket Tray – Pottery Barn Hack

In addition to the stoneware tableware pieces, I loved this tiered Pottery Barn basket tray.

You can create a similar look with two thrift store baskets and a cheap candlestick. This project saved me over $100.00 and took less than 10 minutes to assemble. You can make a tray like this even if you have no crafting skills.

To see the full tutorial, check out Cheap And Easy DIY Basket Tray Tutorial.

Both the tiered tray and stoneware turkeys are in this year’s Fall Lookbook from Pottery Barn. Together, they create a perfect rustic vignette for fall.

Handcrafted Vase Flips

Another recent easy thrifted flip was a handcrafted vase.

I found a similar-shaped vase for only $3.00 and combined with a White Onyx Stone Textured Spray paint, I quickly transformed it into a Pottery Barn Dupe.

After spray painting with the stone finish, the vase has a rustic, modern texture and is perfect for any style home.

It is perfect for indoor and outdoor decorating. The thrifted flip save over $47.00.

Earthenware Pottery Barn Dupe

To create an earthenware texture for this thrift store flip, I used lightweight spackling, chalk paint, and dark wax.

You can see the inspiration and project details on Easy DIY Faux Earthenware Vessel: Pottery Barn Dupe

Lamp Transformations

Thrift store lamps are another great to get that Pottery Barn look for less.

When I fell in love with these large earthenware lamps, I immediately started combing the thrift stores for a lamp with a similar shape.

Finding this great-shaped lamp for only $7.00 didn’t take long. It seems that items just materialize when you are focused on the hunt. LOL

Plaster of Paris was used to create a lovely texture that is similar to the inspiration earthenware lamp. Although the steps to transform this lamp were more involved than some projects, the results were worth the effort.

You can see the full tutorial on Easy Thrifted Lamp Makeover.

And finally, another high-end look-alike is this Napkin Decoupage Thrift Store Lamp makeover.

The thrifted lamp only cost $1.00, and these blue and white napkins were less than $10.00.

With a new lamp shade, the lamp only cost $35.00.

Resources

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Other High End DIY Dupes

If you want to get the look for less, here are some other DIY project that look just like the high end versions.

• DIY Leaf Pottery Barn Napkin Rings
• Easy Candlestick Vases with coastal flair
• Oyster Shell Garland
• DIY Tropical Napkin Rings
• Tropical Placemats Tutorial
• Metal Flower Anthropologie Wreath Dupe
• Decorative Wooden Box Transformation

More Thrifting Inspiration From Thrifting With the Gals

Follow along for more thrifting inspiration. Next, check out Sarah at Sadie Season Goods Vintage Halloween ideas.

Sarah’s Vintage Halloween Decorations / Ann’s Best Loved Vintage Antiques and Uniques

Robyn’s Ideas to Style an Antique Scale In Vintage Kitchen / Kristin’s Styling an Antique Mail Sorter

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to sharing my next adventure with you!

Pin It To Remember It

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