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A Vintage Style Fan Gets A Brand New Look

It’s my favorite day of the month again!  Woot Woot!  It’s time for the Thrift Store Challenge.  This month I have brought a vintage style fan back to life.  I am excited to show you how easy this fan went from rusty and old to pretty and useful!  Last month I made over a fun vintage bathroom scale.  

I love working with metal. I have a lot of projects that I makeover that involve metal. It brings a nice industrial or farmhouse look to your decor that wood just can’t do. And the projects I have made over look so nice when I am done.

If you love DIY metal projects you can click here to find more metal crafts inspiration!

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

Thrift Store Challenge


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Vintage Style Fan

Peggy gave me this vintage style fan as a gift a couple of years ago.  I am not sure why it sat in my garage for so long.  I really was excited.  You know how that goes, right?

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.  You can read my full disclosure here.

Materials Needed:

Vintage Style Fan

Various tools to take it apart.  I used a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and a wrench

Sanding Block

Two colors of spray paint – Be sure to use a paint that adheres to metal

Getting Started

This is what my vintage style fan looked like when I started.

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

It has some rust on the front of the base and it was pretty dirty.

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com
I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

The first thing I did was take it apart for painting.  I removed the cage around the blades and took the base apart from the motorized part.  This makes it much easier to paint.  Plus I wanted the blade cage to be a different color than the rest so taking that off was a must.

It was just a series of screws that needed to be removed. Then I cleaned the parts and gave them a light sand with the sanding block.

The rusty part on the base was sanded quite a bit to get rid of it before I painted.

Spray Painting

It was finally a nice day when I painted so I was able to head outside.  

I used two large pieces of styrofoam to hold the pieces off the ground while I painted them.  It worked well.  I laid them all out on one piece for this photo then separated the cage for the blade before I started painting.

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

Krylon brand was my paint of choice this time.  I loved this light green and was very excited to try it out.

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

For the blade cage I wanted a darker…almost black.  One of my favorite “go to” colors is the metallic oil rubbed bronze so I used it.  I LOVE it.

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

Finishing Up!

After the paint was completely dry I put it all back together and it turned out so nice.  I took pics of the parts and how they were put together.  I highly recommend this method if you have a terrible memory like me. 

Anyway, here is the final vintage style fan.  I love it!

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com
I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

The color is fabulous…in my opinion!

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com
I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

Well there you have it.  My “new” vintage style fan now adds some extra style to our home.  And it is useful just in time for the warm weather.

If you like this upcycle project you will probably love to check out my recycle/upcycle gallery!

It is full of fun things. 

Be sure to pin it if you like it!  

I love to bring old things back to life. This vintage style fan needed some TLC but with the help of some spray paint it now looks AMAZING! #vintagefan #upcyle #DIY - www.michellejdesigns.com

And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!


Mary Distel

Thursday 13th of May 2021

How did you keep from getting paint in the motor of the fan?

Michelle

Friday 14th of May 2021

Hi Mary,

I did my best to add some painters or masking tape under those rectangular spaces so that as little paint as possible would get in. It worked pretty good.

Carolann

Monday 4th of June 2018

Love your fan, Michelle! Again, you always find the perfect colors for your projects. It does match your desk perfectly. I just love it. You are so creative and always wow me with your creations!

Michelle

Tuesday 5th of June 2018

I saw this green paint at the store and just knew I would love it. I always have a hard time deciding on color but this one was spot on! Thanks so much.

Michelle Leslie

Monday 4th of June 2018

YES!!!!!!!! The colors look superb together Michelle. So lovely, I can almost feel the cool breeze coming off of that gorgeous pale minty green you used.

Michelle

Tuesday 5th of June 2018

Thank you Michelle! I am really liking that green and have painted several other things with it. I love this fan too!

Sue Purdy

Monday 28th of May 2018

I absolutely LOVE how your cute vintage fan turned out. Wonderful project and I'm going to be on the lookout for a similar thrift store find.

Michelle

Monday 28th of May 2018

Thanks so much Sue. I love this thing and was so happy when Peggy got it for me. I hope I a not the only one who loves an old rusty, dirty, vintage fan as a gift. LOL!

Debrashoppeno5

Friday 25th of May 2018

Love the look. It is up to date with a vintage look. It is a great accent piece.

Michelle

Saturday 26th of May 2018

Hi Debra. Thanks so much. It really does make a great accent piece.

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