Vintage Trash Can Upcycle

What is your favorite thrift store find? Is it something functional? Pretty? Or collectible? Did you love it and transform it? Give it an upcycle? Paint or refresh it? I have so many favorite thrift store finds. Having owned an antique and consignment store for 10 years, thrifting really was my job. So I would have to say I have a favorite thrift store find for each room in my house. And my favorite in my bedroom is this vintage trash can. Today, she is getting an upcycle!

I’m sharing this upcycle for Thrift Store Decor Team Wednesday. Yes! It’s already the second Wednesday of the month and time for the team to share our thrifty upcycles for the month. I’m linking all of the team’s projects at the end of this post. As usual, the girls have prepared some incredible projects for you.

The Thrill of the Thrift Store Find

My favorite thrift store finds are hands down the things that I simply can’t find anymore. Take this trash can for example. You can find new trash cans, of course. But they aren’t sturdy. They aren’t going to last for years and years. And the certainly don’t have the details and character of a vintage trash can. Today most trash cans are made from cheap plastic. If you can find one that is made of sturdy plastic or metal, you need to take out a mortgage on your home to pay for it. But this vintage beauty is heavy, solid, and full of character. She sports faux bamboo and rattan. She is made of molded brown plastic. and she cost $1.49. Years ago, I spray painted her black and parked her in a corner in my bedroom. But I failed to record the transformation to black with a quality photo.

Last year, I updated our Master Bedroom for the ORC. In the process, I primed her white. It’s finally time to make her shine.

Here is the bedroom.

Of course the primary color is blue. And many of the secondary colors are, well, blue, many shades of blue. Here is the post on the ORC Master Bedroom Refresh.

And there are vibrant accents. So I followed the same trend with this little vintage trash can.

I grabbed my favorite blues, some metallic copper, basic black and white, and a punch of vibrant coral. In the back of my mind I have a chinoiserie vision of white with splotches of blues…but then again, don’t all of my visions have some version of blue? I’m predictable that way.

This is the Klein blue that I used on the dresser in the MBR.

Creating a Vision

I gave the entire piece a fresh coat of white.

I wanted to do something fun with the rattan area so I played with my favorite blue, General Finishes Klein blue, white, and the drybrush technique. But the colors were too much of a contrast. I just couldn’t get the perfect application.

Sometimes, you just have to play with your colors. Which is what I did. Remember when you are experimenting with color, it can get worse before it gets better. And you just need to keep on moving forward. I won’t lie. I had a back up projects.

waverly chalk acrylic paint ink

So, I painted the rattan area all blue and decided I would try a whitewash over the blue.

Fill in the Blanks…Like a Coloring Book Page

Then I filled in the main areas with the colors of the room. Black would anchor the piece so I painted the top and bottom black. I colored in all of the bamboo areas with the metallic copper.

I used more black to outline the box. Coral was inserted and the lighter blue added to the edges. Klein blue became the focal point and filled in the center rattan area.

I quickly realized that this palette was right, but a little to bold for this room.

That’s when I decided that all of my colors, not just the bright Klein blue, needed to be muted with a whitewash. After all, this little accessory will brighten up a corner and not take over the room. Subtle is better in this case.

Practice Makes Perfect

Before I got too far with the colors, I finished one side completely so I could practice the whitewash. And actually see if this vision was lucid. It was.

I loved it. I put the back up project back in the closet. And I finished the other sides.

Whitewashing and Destressing – Love or Hate

I will admit that a good healthy whitewash is not for everyone. It’s like distressing. You either love it or you don’t. This unique finish fits my room perfectly. You could even give the vintage trash can another coat of the whitewash so that the colors are even more muted and the whitewash is more uniform. But again, I’m an uber distressor and lover of the imperfect so this fits me.

I think she turned out well! The whitewash definitely toned down the colors, especially the Klein blue. And I really like the powdered effect.

Paint Colors Used

General Finishes Klein Blue
General Finishes Halycyon blue
Folkart Metallic Acrylic Paint Antique Copper
Waverly Black Chalky Paint
DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint Scarlet

In looking at this last photo, I’m thinking I might need to white wash the light blue trim on that trunk.

This vintage trash can upcycle will do for quite some time. I’m imagining this vintage beauty, though, at some point painted in a high gloss fuchsia. Only the future will tell!