Mystery Thrift Store Makeover... What is This?

4 Materials
$5
2 Hours
Easy
I found this interesting box at a garage sale for $1.00. I'm not sure what it was used for. The two glass dishes inside were removable but they didn't have lids. Let me know if you know what this was originally used for! Anyway... I bought it and did a little mini makeover on it to try out a distressed black paint finish.

After cleaning it up I gave it a couple of coats of chalky finish paint in Carbon.
Then I distressed the edges with sandpaper and wiped off all the dust with a cloth.
And finished it off with a coat of varnish.  Notice the difference in the paint before and after the varnish.  The chalky finish paint really changes after the top coat goes on… no matter if you use varnish, poly, or wax.
Sadly, I didn’t take a stage photo of the finished tea box.  All I have is this photo from the box in my display at Paris Flea Market back in October.  Wasn’t really a good idea… to put a black box on a black shelf.  It didn’t show up very well at all.
Even though it doesn't show up well in the photo above, I still love the painted black finish of this box! Now I'm looking for more boxes and jewelry cabinets from thrift stores, garage sales, and flea markets so I can paint them black. Let me know if you've painted any furniture black. I'd love to hear how it turned out. And don't forget to come visit our blog to see all our other thrift store makeovers!
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Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim
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 3 comments
  • William William on Mar 06, 2018

    It's an antique tea box. Possibly English or French. Looks like Rosewood. Not complete with the inserts. Great color. Distressing looks good. Nice work.

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