Repurposed Lyre Design Magazine Rack

I often see magazine racks at thrift stores. I pass them by because I don’t have any need for one. But, a couple of years ago, I spotted one that has the same lyre design as my dining room chairs.

Of course, I had to buy it and give it a new look and a new purpose. It fits in nicely in our dining room now.

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Welcome to the monthly Thrift Store Challenge! I’m happy to again join the monthly challenge! Each month participants are challenged to:

• Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
• There’s no monthly theme.
• There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet This Month’s Hosts

Angela | Simply Beautiful by Angela
Beverly | Across the Blvd
Beverly | Eclectic Red Barn

Our Thrift Store Upcycle group of bloggers is looking to expand — and we need your help! Why not consider joining in our thrift store upcycle challenge on the last Thursday of each month? Make some friends while having fun and share your love of DIY with the world. It’s a win-win! Sound like something you’d be interested in? Just leave a comment at the end of this post with your blog name and someone will get back to you right away. We can’t wait to meet you!

Repurposed Magazine Rack

When I saw an old magazine rack at my local Goodwill, I was excited. I haven’t ever spotted a lyre back one at a thrift store. It’s a great match for my dining chairs.

The blue paint job was pretty bad, but I knew I could make it look great with fresh paint. I cleaned it with TSP before getting started.

Using my palm sander, I got started on sanding the blue paint from the magazine rack. It was slow going!

I put the project aside for a while thinking I would get back to it soon. I didn’t. The rack stayed in my garage for over a year before I finally decided to tackle it again.

When I began to work on it again, I decided to use paint stripper gel on it. Brush the gel onto the wood, leave it for an hour and use a paint scraper to remove the paint. Wipe away the excess with old cloths.

Somewhere along the way, I must have deleted the photos I took of using the gel on this piece, but this is how it worked on another old furniture piece.

Because painting this with a paint brush would have been a tedious project, I decided to use spray paint. I searched for paint that would be a good match for my dining table and chairs.

After I had the piece striped of the old paint, I gave it one coat of Zinsser Primer. Using a spray grip is always a good idea when spray painting. It keeps your fingers and hand from tiring out.

I tried a couple of different spray paints before using Rust-oleum Aged Rust Metallic Paint. It gave me the look I wanted and it made painting the rack very easy.

The paint went on smoothly. I made sure to keep the spray about 10″ away from the rack while spraying.

I gave it two coats of paint, allowing it to dry completely between coats. Once the second coat was dry, I gave it a coat of Polycrylic Protective Finish Spray.

After I finished the makeover, I wished I hadn’t procrastinated on this project so much! It comes in handy as an overflow space for items that don’t fit well on my bar cart.

I googled lyre magazine racks and found this one on 1stDibs. It’s a match. Look at that asking price-$395.00! I paid $4.99 for mine at Goodwill!

Pin Me, Please!

Lyre Design Magazine Rack Makeover for Storage

Supply List for Repurposed Magazine Rack

• Thrift Store Find Magazine Rack
• TSP Cleaner
• Paint Stripper Gel
• Paint Scrapper
• Old Cloths
• Sand Paper
• Palm Sander
• Spray Paint
• Clear Protective Finish Spray

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!

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