Paint a Thrifted Box

Welcome back, friend. Don’t you love when you pop into a thrift store and find something that you know would look amazing transformed? I’m not sure what goodies were kept inside this Just Chill box, but it sure has a lot of potential! Learn how to paint a box like this one, and then I’ll show you how to make it even more special with a raised stencil.

When we finished building our new European Country style home, I tried lots of white and off-white paint samples for our front brick – which means I also have a lot of samples leftover. I decided to use Sherwin Williams Shoji White on this thrifted box, which is actually the same color I ended up choosing for our house exterior.

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I painted three coats of the latex paint for full coverage with my trusty Purdy paint brush. To paint a box, start with the sides and the top. Once that’s finished, open the box and paint the inside too. Be careful of any drips that run over the sides.

Afterward, I decided to add a stencil – but not just a regular painted stencil, a raised stencil with texture.

I grabbed the spackling and putty knife that I normally use for raised stenciling projects (see how I used it on a table makeover here). Center the stencil where you want it, and apply a thin layer of the spackling over the stencil. Try to get it fairly smooth, but some texture is fine.

I can’t remember exactly where I got this stencil, but you can find similar crown stencils here.

Below you can see how it looked after applying the spackling. Let it dry for at least a couple hours.

Carefully lift a corner of the stencil to make sure the spackling isn’t pulling up. Work slowly to remove the stencil from your project.

Next I lightly tap all over the area with my finger to press the spackling down and smooth it a little more. (Then I washed the stencil really well before it could dry and harden more.)

Then lightly sand over the area with fine grit sandpaper to smooth it more. Since this is a small area, I just blew the sanding dust away.

The spackling is almost the same color as the paint, but I went ahead and brushed a little Shoji White paint over it just so everything looked the same.

Finally, I used my handy paper cutter to easily cut a piece of paper to line the inside of the box. I just laid it inside in case I decide to change it later.

And here is this elegant yet understated Goodwill box all pretty now:

I just love how it looks like a place to store treasured keepsakes now. It’s come a long way from the Just Chill beach vibes it had before!

And there are so many practical uses for a painted box this size. I’m thinking maybe special watches or bracelets.

Here’s a look at the paper lined inside:

Here’s another look below at the Before and After photos of this project. Please feel free to share this project with a friend or pin it to easily find again later.

Here’s a raised stencil project I painted for my book Amazing Furniture Makeovers. I used white, turquoise, and gold paint and it shimmers so pretty. I call it the Embossed Nightstand: