I was given a few of these old vintage army boxes that my sister & brother-in-law were getting rid of. They sat in my workshop for a long time trying to decide what to do with them. So here’s what I came up with for this one. I’d always liked the style of industrial furniture and this vintage army box gave me the opportunity to create a piece of my own industrial furniture, here’s how I did it.
I had some MMSMP in Kitchen Scale left over from a workshop we held on the weekend, so I started painting the box inside and out, mixed up some more, and gave it two coats. I then added castors to the base to make it movable, and adding to the industrial feel.I knew I wanted some kind of graphic to go on this piece, and was thinking something Australian. Couldn’t find something I liked, so I cut my own stencils after printing out our Aussie capital city names in a stencil font.I love this little wax/stencil brush from Websters. Such a great size for waxing small areas or stencilling. Brisbane – my home town! I was born here and lived in SE Queensland most of my life, apart from a small stint living in the USA before and after I was married.Here’s what it looked like after the stencilling, but it was looking a bit crisp and new, so I sanded to distress very lightly …And then I began to create an aged patina by using some Miss Mustard Seed’s Furniture wax and Antiquing Wax to finish off the look.And here’s a good bit of chippy aged paint (below). The colour differences you’ll see in the photos is the different lighting I’ve taken the pictures in. Some daylight, some at night. I have found this colour especially, is really difficult to get an accurate picture of.
And here’s the inside. The front comes down and can be taken right off to be used as shelves.
I have two more of these army boxes to make over – I’d love to hear your suggestions for the other boxes in the comments below.
Also, if you noticed the little Vintage Can label in my pictures, I have a collection of four (4) labels that I am giving away in our GIVEAWAY competition (click the link below). There are a few ways you can enter including subscribing to our blog via the right hand side of our website. All the best!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Hey there! I have about 10-15 of these army boxes too! I’m trying to figure out what the original numbers mean on the side, have any insight? 😊
No, I have no idea what the numbers refer to. You’d have to ask an Army expert.