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.

photo 1I 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.Army Box crate 1I 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.Army Box crate 2I love this little wax/stencil brush from Websters. Such a great size for waxing small areas or stencilling.Army Box crate 5 Army Box crate 4Brisbane – 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.Army Box crate 3Here’s what it looked like after the stencilling, but it was looking a bit crisp and new, so I sanded to distress very lightly …Army Box crate 6And 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.Army Box crate 8And 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.

Army Box crate 2 10Army Box crate 2 2 Army Box crate 2 6 Army Box crate 2 7 Army Box crate 2 8 Army Box crate 2 9Army Box crate 2 11And here’s the inside. The front comes down and can be taken right off to be used as shelves.
Army Box crate 2 12 Army Box crate 2 13 Army Box crate 2 14 Army Box crate 2 15 Army Box crate 2 16Army Box crate 2 17I 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