My 91 Year Old Dad’s Thrift Store Furniture Living Room Makeover

The “Thrift Store Decor Team” is at it again and we have nine thrift store makeovers for you today. My project revolves around my dad who is now 91 😲. I took a risk not knowing if I would find what he needed for his new living room at the thrift store. Lo and behold, I really got lucky that cold wintery evening, and found exactly what he needed. After we got home I just knew this would make a great story for our thrift store post. So….before I show you my dad’s thrift store furniture living room makeover, I want to invite you to join all us here everything month for inspiration using thrift store finds. All you have to do, to make sure you don’t miss a post, is sign up HERE and I will automatically send the post to your e mail. For now, you will find all of this month’s nine makeovers at the bottom of this post. Let’s get started…

Many of you remember my dad, Bob, and often ask how he is doing…well, he is 91 now and doing very well I am happy to report 😊. He recently moved back to our area here in SE Michigan with my sister. Slowly, but surely, my sister found a lovely place for him to live independently on his own because he is still fully capable of doing so. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring all of his furniture with him on the move back, so I volunteered to find what he needed. My first stop…you know it-THE THRIFT STORE.

What I Found for My 91 Year Old Dad’s Thrift Store Furniture Living Room Makeover

As soon as I walked into my local thrift store, I spotted this wood and glass coffee table and grabbed the sticker to see how much they wanted. The price was $30 which was a bit high, so I hoped to find something less expensive. We walked around a bit and came across the matching end tables, so that changed everything! I loved the idea of my dad having a matching set. Fortunately, we were able to talk the sales clerk down to $24 for the entire set 😲 because their inventory was rather high (so always ask about that). The sales clerk needed the room, so she was happy we were taking it off her hands. SCORE!

Next up were his lamps…I admit- I screwed up and bought some very old lamps at first without checking the shades in depth. Let my mistake help you, always check the shades for “smoke stains”. Smell them (yes literally smell the lamp and shade), look closely at the color, and plug in the lamps to make sure you see everything, and know that they work 💡. Luckily, I was able to find better lamps a few days later for $15 each. You can’t beat that price, especially when you consider the two light bulbs that came with them. We lucked out and got a “3 way light bulb” with it that goes from low, to medium, to high light which can cost a pretty penny these days. Just look at this clean lamp shade 🤩….

Okay here we go, let’s see how Bob’s new thrifty style pad turned out…

My Dad’s Thrift Store Furniture Living Room Makeover Reveal…

My dad looks so happy in his new thrifty living room, don’t you agree?! We sure have tried to help him feel that way, and hope he can make some new friends at his new place. Between my sister and all of her wonderful help to him, our visits, and our kiddos visiting he is getting a lot of attention- which he loves. In fact, I am headed there tomorrow with a cute little lamp for his kitchen counter.

Okay back to the living room…..everything in that photo above (excluding my dad, the sofa, and the tissue box, came from the thrift store 😲). The Van Gough canvas was originally used in our son’s bedroom, and I found it at the thrift store about 10 years ago. Even the faux plant, and the bowl that has “Happy” written on it…all from the thrift store. I should say the pillows were mine from the old house when I designed the “Zen Lounge”. So, the thrift store stuff is great and all, but of course we did “spruce” it up a bit to help it look fresh, fun, and clean. Did you notice that my dad’s sweatshirt matches the art (see above)? Total coincidence.

Speaking of coincidences-it was definitely not a coincidence that everything looks so perfect ha ha. We did have a little work to do to get the thrift store furniture to look as nice as it does. Here’s a photo of the coffee table before we cleaned it up with a few secret products that I swear by…

How We Cleaned Up My Dad’s Thrift Store Furniture

First and foremost, I want to say that my husband is extremely supportive through all of these thrift store makeovers, and he put in so much effort helping me get these furniture pieces to look better. Don’t worry though, I pay him back with food 😆 (view my homemade recipes here). So, lets see how these scratches cleaned up…

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To clean up, shine, and hide the scratches on the furniture here’s what we did:

1. Remove the glass, and use window cleaner/paper towels on it (if you have anything sticky try rubbing alcohol wipes).
2. Dust the cobwebs and dirt on the wood with a dry microfiber cloth.
3. Use a clean microfiber cloth to rub Old English Oil on every inch of the tables (use gloves).
4. Take a furniture marker like I use that is specifically used for furniture scratches and color those babies in. When you color the scratches, have a cloth in your other hand to rub the color in so it blends naturally into the scratch.
5. Put back the glass and enjoy.

I couldn’t go without sharing a photo of my dad with my beautiful mom and me from their last apartment together. This was our last photo together. As my mom always said, “Getting old sucks.” I miss you mom, it is not the same without you. I truly believe you had something to do with this fantastic apartment dad is now enjoying, and of course you had everything to do with this makeover. Thank you for inspiring me to keep a beautiful home without spending too much money ❤️

Before you head out from our thrift store furniture makeover…I invite you to visit my very talented blog friends who put so much love into their projects. Everyone is listed below ⬇️

The Zen Lounge

Vintage Sewing Machine Table Makeover Without Refinishing