Fun DIY Fall Directional Sign Made from An Old Coat Rack

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I’ve had this particular idea for a while, and have been looking everywhere to find an old coat rack to upcycle into a fun Fall themed directional sign for my front yard, and couldn’t find one anywhere. Not at yard sales or thrift stores. Then a few weeks ago, I happened to be checking out my local Facebook Marketplace and a lady had one listed for only $5 and I had to get it. I’ve never used the marketplace on Facebook before, but it seems like a pretty cool place to buy and sell.

She was selling her coat rack cheaply because she knew it needed a coat of paint. Well, that just so happens to be one of my favorite things to do, so win-win!

Anyway, it’s time again for the Thrift Store Decor Upcycle Challenge for the month, and I knew my coat rack makeover would be the perfect seasonal project to share.

The Rules:

• 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 the Hosts

Amanda | Domestically Creative Michelle | Our Crafty Mom
Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled Pili | Sweet Things Debra | Shoppe No. 5
Chelc | Inside the Fox Den Jeannee | Centsably Creative Michelle | Michelle James Designs
Molly | Just a Little Creativity Angela | Simply Beautiful by Angela
Marie | DIY Adulation Denise | My Thrifty House Lindsay | Crazy Organized
Florence | Vintage Southern Picks Shirley | Intelligent Domestications

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

Many of you already follow my Instagram stories and have seen this project as a work in progress this week. So many of you took good guesses as to what I was working on, and I’ve enjoyed engaging with you over there!

As you can see, she wasn’t joking about it needing new paint. I had a pretty gray chalk paint left over from a different makeover project, so after removing the coat hooks, I added a new coat of paint.

Next, I cut a few pieces of scrap wood to size and painted each with a light coat of seasonal colored craft paints. For the ones that were a little too dark, I used a cloth and rubbed some of it off, much like you’d do with wood stain.

I’ve shared my favorite method of transferring typography onto projects several times on the blog, but you can CLICK HERE if you want a good tutorial refresher (or just search “typography” here on the blog, and you can see many more ideas).

I printed each of my words to size, and used carbon paper to transfer them onto my painted signs.

To make the words vibrant and colorful, and to ensure fine lines and details, I used a combination of Posca pens, gelly roll pens, and Painters paint pens.

I had pre-drilled pilot holes into the signs so screwing them onto the coast rack post was easy.

Now, it looks colorful and decorative in my front yard!

CLICK HERE to see my other Thrift Store Decor Upcycle Challenge Makeover projects- including a farmhouse style dresser, sweater pillows, and Essential Oils shelf, and more!

And now for more thrifty goodness! Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!