Treasure Chest – X Marks the Spot

A while back I mentioned a treasure chest looking box I was restoring for a friend. I finally finished it and he was so happy with the way it turned out.

My advice to you is to avoid minuscule details AT ALL COSTS. Does this mean I’m suggesting you shouldn’t do projects with small details? YES. Are you going to want to do one anyway? Probably. In those instances where you (and I) are crazy enough to take on such a stupid thing, work smarter and minimize your frustrations.

At first I tried to work around the hardware because I thought I wouldn’t be able to get it off. Then I got really frustrated and realized maybe I should at least try taking it off. My life became SO much easier.

But anyway, here are some before pictures

 

 

A lot of people told me that they thought it looked okay beforehand. However, up close the stained areas look pretty whack and careless. The hardware definitely needed to be cleaned too.

Also, notice how the left hinge is missing and part of the felt in the box is messed up

The first thing I did was sand the box down really well. I didn’t bother going down to the wood because I figured the General Finishes stain would cover it up. This is what the box looked like after the first coat

 

Then after the second coat

I used a rag and tried to work around the hardware but I couldn’t get the stain to even out. At first I used q-tips to get the cracks (which I’ll admit was pretty resourceful), but it wasn’t getting the results I was looking for.

So then I said screw it and grabbed a screwdriver (no pun intended) and pried all the itty bitty nails off.

This is what the box looked like after I got all the hardware off and sanded it down some more.

Before I took everything off I tried to clean the hardware with a baking soda and vinegar paste. Needless to say that was a pain in the ass. But I found it hilarious that I was brushing the skeletons teeth :p

  

Once I took the hardware off I tried to soak everything in a baking soda and vinegar mixture then scrub the dinginess off. It wasn’t really achieving the look I wanted so I pulled out the Rub-N-Buff in antique gold. It looks soooo much better and still has some of the black showing through.

Once I got the hardware off I also got foam brushes to make the stain look even and get in the cracks.

 

I bought new hinges since one was missing and cut away the velvety liner along the two separate pieces to make it look cleaner.

 

Here is the box after I put it all back together.

This actually turned out to be a fun little project and I made some money on it which made it even better. Again I don’t recommend torturing yourself with tiny little detailed projects, but I GUESS it might turn out okay.

This summer hopefully I’ll be able to flip some furniture as well as doing furniture for friends and family on a larger scale than this box.

If you liked this post I would appreciate it if you would be so kind to pass it along.

See You Around!

Lauren <3