The Best Thrift Store Find Yet!

If you follow my blogs or videos, you’re aware that I regularly claim I’ve discovered the best thrift store bargain EVER! Could I be guilty of exaggerating in some of these instances? Perhaps. But this time I really mean it. Really! I dare you to think I’m exaggerating once you learn that I found a 42” x 42” square, leather, solid wood ottoman for $12.99. Real leather, Michele? Yes! No fleather whatsoever! Granted, the leather was severely dehydrated, but it was intact. And the finish was outdated, but I describe the overall condition as “not too bad.” For 12 bucks I call it best ever!

There was a small problem though. How to get the best bargain ever home. My hubby insisted it wouldn’t fit in our SUV. He was right, but how could I pass up the best bargain ever? Trick question: I could not. We carefully strapped the ottoman to the roof of our Honda CRV and made our way home using side streets. 

You may doubt whether I snagged the best thrift store find ever. However, after reading today’s blog I think you’ll either agree fully or at least agree it’s ONE of the most epic finds ever found. Following are the steps I took to turn this “not too bad” neglected piece into a true beauty. 

Steps to Refinish the Wood and Leather Ottoman 

1. Access the piece. This is always the best first step. Figuring out what exactly needs to be done to the piece and how I can best accomplish that. This piece has a wood shelf that runs under the whole piece and so I had to figure out the best way to access that so I could sand and refinish all the wood. This would be the biggest challenge.

2. Cut the top away from the bottom. After some consultation with my hubby/guy who can do the things that I’m not very good at, we figured out where on the legs he could cut through and separate the top from the bottom while I refinished the piece and then still be able to put it back together again once the piece was done.

3. Nourish the leather, sand, and refinish the top. The leather looked really worn and quite dehydrated so the first thing I did was clean it good with leather cleaner and restorer. I used Weiman. There are a lot of different brands out there but I was familiar with this one and have had good results with it. It’s quite an amazing transformation once the leather is cleaned and treated. Yes, if you look closely there is still some wear that shows but I like that. It gives it character. I applied the conditioner several times to help it be more supple. I also sanded the trim around the top and refinished it. 

4. Sand away the old finish. Because I was going to slightly darken the wood from the original color, my biggest concern was getting the old varnish off. Luckily when I sanded it down (using a coarse 60 grit), the old finish came off quite easily. Always be careful not to over-sand because you can end up with a coarse finish that remains quite rough. When I finished with the coarse paper, I went back with a finer grit (about 120) to smooth out the wood and get rid of any rough spots.

5. Apply new finish. I chose a dark walnut finish to tie in with our other furniture and you can see by the pictures that I was dealing with two different types of wood on the legs of the piece versus the actual shelf. The affect is two-toned but it turned out great! It only took one coat on the shelf and two on the legs. I applied the stain with a brush and then wiped away with a cloth. To protect it I used Minwax Water-based Poly in a matte finish. I used two coats, lightly sanding in between and wiping carefully before applying the next coat.

6. Reconnect the bottom and top. My hubby bored out holes in the legs, both top and bottom, so that we could use dowls when we glued the two pieces back together. Luckily on this piece, the top is very heavy so its weight worked in our favor to create a nice tight fit that will hold well with the dowls and glue. We used Gorilla Wood Glue. After dry-fitting to make sure everything went all the way back in, it was time to glue, put the top back on the bottom and let the weight of the piece hold it all together while it dried. Obviously, this isn’t something that we will ever drag around by the top just to be sure that we don’t do any damage to the new connection we made between the two pieces.

7. Admire the best thrift find ever. This is always the best part of any project and this was no exception. It looks great in its new spot in our home, and I admire it every time I walk by. 

Yes, my ottoman required elbow grease and TLC but it was soooo worth it! I hope you have the same type of luck next time you’re out thrifting. Happy hunting! 

Now, what will you do next to love where you live? 

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