Wood Bowl Makeover

Keep an eye out for cheap wood bowls at thrift stores because with a quick wood bowl makeover you’ll have something that looks like a million bucks.

I should say quick-ish makeover.

Time is all relative, but this wood bowl makeover should take less than an hour.

All you need is a wood bowl with a terrible finish and a sander.

I found this wavy, wood bowl at the thrift store for $1. It makes me ridiculously excited that I can still find things for a buck.

I was relatively confident that a pretty wood grain was hiding underneath that heavily-glazed, orange finish.

All I needed to do was sand it away!

I have no idea if this particular bowl had a food-grade finish on it or not, but since I don’t plan on using this bowl for food it didn’t matter.

Here’s my useful tip. If you are contemplating doing a wood bowl makeover and you have a plethora of wood bowls to choose from, think twice before you buy a wavy wood bowl. As it turns out, it’s a pain in the booty tricky to get a sander in all of those grooves. I had to hand sand the wood bowl in a few places.

It was totally worth it though! Isn’t it pretty?

You can leave your bowl completely natural after sanding it or you can add wood conditioner or oil to it.

It just depends on the look you are going for.

I rubbed mine down with olive oil and it darkened up slightly.

I almost wish I had left my bowl completely natural. You know all of those product warnings that say, “Try this in an inconspicuous spot first?” Yep. I should have done that by trying the oil on the very bottom of the bowl first to see if I liked it.

Live and learn.

Although, it’s possible that I won’t learn since I have yet to heed those product warnings.

Despite the oil situation this wood bowl makeover was so satisfying that I’m happily on the hunt for another bowl to makeover.

This is partly because the wood bowl only stayed in my bedroom sitting area for half a day before being reapportioned to my daughter’s room to hold her rock collection.

Let me know if you try a wood bowl makeover! I’d love to see how it turns out.

To answer questions about this space:

I’ve had the glass floats that you see resting in my wood bowl forever. Did you know many authentic glass floats from Japan are made from recycled sake bottles? Cylindrical-shaped floats are not as common as the round ones, so I’m happy to have this one. If you want to learn more about the history of glass floats and how to determine if they are authentic, I found this article helpful and informative.

The grey recliner chair is not a forever piece of furniture, but I love the mid-century vibe and the price was great.

I’ve had the brass chest for over 20 years. It is lined with cedar on the inside and makes for a very practical coffee table! I do not have an original source for this particular brass chest, but I see a wide variety of brass chests pop up on eBay from time to time.

Thanks for reading about my wood bowl makeover! I hope you gleaned an idea or two from today’s post. Here are some other posts you might enjoy.

Kitchen Mini Makeover with Black Stained Cabinets

Step Stool Makeover from High School Shop Class

Makeover: Dresser with Brass Details

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