My New Magazine Rack – Restored with Rub N’ Buff

I am VERY late to the magazine rack party.  I have to say that I never saw the point before.  Magazine racks seemed so hopelessly  and pretentiously retro… back from the time when people consumed their media in paper form, rather than on kindles or online via excellent DIY/home improvement blogs.

That may be the way of the future, but what apparently never occurred to me is that I actually DO read a lot of magazines.  I get House Beautiful and HGTV Magazine, and am fortunate enough to inherit copies of other publications from Brad’s mother – like Better Homes and Gardens, Organic Gardener, and more.  And I LOVE reading these.  In fact, I stockpile them next to my bed until I am in just the right mood, and then binge read over the course of a week or more.

This habit led to a rather unfortunate situation next to my bed, where they would accumulate in messy piles.

Of course, it is a law of physics that messy piles attract increasing messiness until great force comes to separate it.

I was simply resigned to this situation, until Sage and I were out doing a thrift store circuit to gather supplies and ideas for our entry in the Cent-Sational Salvage Challenge, and I came across this beauty in Found, a cool, eclectic thrift store in Lowell, MA.

It was only $12, and pretty enough to break-through my magazine-rack-prejudices.  Just look at those cool little arrows/ice cream cones it has all over it!  Besides, Sage had already bought a cool glass and metal carafe to use as a modern water vase, and I was jealous.

However, this piece had obviously been well-loved before, and the nice brassy finish was rubbing off to reveal a nickel tone underneath.

But that’s okay!  I had been itching to try Rub ‘n Buff (affiliate link – read about our policies), which I learned about via this lamp-redo on View Along the Way.  I bought a small tube in the Ancient Gold finish to try out.

The container says to use it in a well ventilated area, so I set up shop outside on one of the first nice days of spring.

The container also says that you can apply it with your finger, and other blogs had reported that gave the best results.  But I was skittish about rubbing anything on my hands that I shouldn’t be exposing my lungs to, so I used gloves.  I just dabbed a bit on my finger at a time, and carefully coated the entire surface.

I think it would have been easier to get a clean finish without the glove, but this worked fine and didn’t expose me to whatever is in this stuff.  It just took a while with so many little pieces of metal to cover!

It also dried incredibly fast, so I didn’t need to worry about ruining the parts I had already covered.

After letting it hang out overnight, I took on the “buffing” part the next morning, just going over it with a clean rag.  I was initially disappointed by the amount of shine I was able to get out of it, but once I stepped back the overall effect was nice.

Here it is!

I picked the color a little blindly, as it was tough to tell from the tiny images I saw online.  I would have liked to keep it a little brassier so it would have been more true to the original, but this is a nice look, too.

Up close it is definitely more of a matte finish, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.  It certainly looks more like metal than metallic spray paint does!

I am totally on whole magazine-rack train now.  My bedroom floor has gone from disorganized, hoarder mess to “purposeful and refined reading experience” without me really changing any habits or doing very much work.

And I love the shape and airiness of this piece.  I am contemplating a pretty gold light in this room, and that would go so nicely.

I am also totally won over on this product.  Who knew you could so easily change the finish of random metal pieces (or write more than 700 words about a magazine rack)?

(Sharing at Link Party Palooza, Thrifty Decor Chick, Tip Me Tuesday, Whimsy Wednesday, A Bowl Full of Lemons, All Things Thursday, Think and Make Thursday, AKA Design, and That DIY Party – and Featured at Tatertots and Jello!)