Welcome to my happy place of DIY, homemade, homegrown, handmade, nourished & crafted, whole hearted living. Finding magic in the mundane & growing some roots in the process.
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My sweet friend moved a while back and, in the process, she dropped off an old chest she didn’t want anymore. The hardware was busted and the paint was worn off. Then after sitting in our playroom for months, the whole thing looked pretty beat up and definitely needed a little love.
As I said, the original hardware was broken and tracking down a match to replace it would have been a major task, so I decided to take the chest in an entirely different direction.
A toy box.
After removing all the existing hardware, I gave the whole piece a good sanding, filled the holes and cracks with wood filler, and then sanded some more.
I also cut down a piece of scrap underlayment to reinforce the inside of the top. The underlayment was glued and nailed to secure it. This probably wasn’t necessary but since I envisioned this piece for a little boy, I knew it needed to be sturdy so it would be safe for sitting on. And, possibly jumping off, because… kids. What can I say, I’m the mother of 4?
Oh, I also cut, glued, and nailed another piece of scrap wood to layer in the bottom. A toy box can never be too sturdy, right?
I painted the entire box, inside and out with some navy blue furniture paint that I had in my paint hoard. After that dried, I taped off some stripes with painter’s tape then painted the stripes with one of my favorite greens. Once the stripes were dry I lightly sanded just the chalk paint stripes to even them out. Then I sealed the whole thing with poly.
Next came installing the hardware. I got the simple brass hinges to attach the lid at my local hardware store and the toy box lid support hinge at Ace. For the life of me, I couldn’t find the lid support hinge on their website, but if you go in and ask for one they’ll know what you need. It has a little circle you can spin to lock the hinge and keep the door from closing while a kiddo is using it.
The finishing touch was a little evergreen tree gift wrap to line the bottom of the toy box.
I got pneumonia (and was knocked down for a month) while working on this project so what should have been finished in a few days ended up taking a whole lot longer. Full honesty here: the piece did NOT turn out completely up to my normal standard. There is a little stain on the back from what I’m guessing is a splattered tomato (thank you, children) and the wood filler shrank due to sitting in my garage during the unseasonably cold spell we had. But after a month of awful sickness, I’m going to give myself some grace and say done is better than perfect.
So, without further ado, here he is.
My Evergreen Toy Box.
And, now for my favorite part…
the pine tree paper.
After all is said and done, this cute toy box turned out so fun! The green stripes and the pine tree paper make the simple piece feel special. And the brass hardware coordinates handsomely. I think I am going to add 2 brass handles to the outside of the box so it’s easier to move around. It’s a pretty big box and a bit awkward to carry so adding handles should up the convenience level.
I wish that Spoonflower hadn’t have discontinued making matte gift wrap. The stuff they made was so thick and never bubbled. It was PERFECT for lining furniture and I haven’t found any to equal it. Remember the honeycomb inside that red console table from 2017? You guys! Anyway, I have been hoarding what little paper I have left, so it took a lot for me to use up this pine tree print. But, I’m so glad I broke down and cut it up because, oh my goodness, it just fits! Love love love.
Lastly, after trying to finish this piece while sick and really struggling, I’ve realized I push myself too hard and need to learn when to back off. I should have moved the box back to the basement until I was completely well. It’s just incredibly hard for a girl with ants in her pants to sit still for a month! Sigh. Oh well, live and learn.
From hand me down to navy and pine. I hope this fun toy box corrals treasures for some cute kid for many years to come.