Cardboard Food Box Makeover to Solve Counter Top Clutter!

10 Materials

2 Hours

Easy

I hate counter top clutter. Our counter collects headphones, papers, bracelets, headbands, jewelry, etc. and it never finds its original home fast enough. So instead of looking at it constantly until it gets put away, I decided to make something to hide it all until I can round everyone up to put away their things. I made a faux metal industrial box for my counter top out of a cardboard peach box from Costco.

I started out with this peach box that held those little cups of peaches in bulk. Here is an initial before and after pic.

cardboard food box makeover to solve counter top clutter

I gave the box two coats of gray wood stain (I used this because I had it on hand) that I mixed with silver metallic acrylic paint and some baking soda to give it more of a chalk paint effect and get it to stick to the box better. I wasn't sure if the gray stain would work, but it went on just like paint when mixed with the baking soda. It's a pretty thick wood stain, though. I added a good bit of baking soda. So it painted on a bit gritty, which I didn't mind because it gave it an aged metallic look. I didn't use a recipe, I just mixed in baking soda until I got a thicker consistency.

After the two coats of paint dried (I painted the entire inside and outside of the box), I mixed glaze medium with white paint and dabbed this all over with a paper towel that I dipped into this mixture. I then rubbed it in with another paper towel, to give the gray a more authentic metallic look. The glaze allows you to rub in around a bit and work with it because it is thinned out and doesn't dry as fast. It causes the paint to blend well.

Next, I mixed glaze medium, bronze acrylic paint and black paint to get a rusty look I wanted. I dabbed this on with cotton balls around all of the edges of the box to give it a natural rusted/aged look. I only did edges around the box where rust would naturally first occur.

Lastly, I took some number cards I had from a scrapbook packet I had from another project and used mod podge to glue them to the top. I also brushed a layer of mod podge over them so they would blend in and stay on better. My husband asked me what the significance of '245' was and I told him they were the numbers I had on hand, no meaning whatsoever!

Here is my box on the counter and the picture below here is my box filled with all of the annoying odds and ends that keep cluttering up my counter top.

It's been so nice to have a decorative box to toss this stuff in and hide it, while it's waiting to get back to it' real home. Plus, a bonus is that it cost me nothing!

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3 of 9 comments

Kim Cozad on Dec 23, 2018

I was stunned when I saw it was not a tin box. It's great! Thanks for sharing.

2 Reply
- Dysko7710 on Dec 23, 2018
  
  Thanks!
  
  1
Melissa Mcconnell on May 26, 2019

Very nice

1 Reply

Cardboard Food Box Makeover to Solve Counter Top Clutter!

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Cardboard Food Box Makeover to Solve Counter Top Clutter!

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