Paint and Stain Makeover – Jewelry Box my Grandparents’ Made

This little jewelry box has been waiting for me for a long time. Like with so many things I have around here many of them I’ve been keeping for as long as I can remember. Whether using them, living with them or decorating with them because I love them. Or, in this case, because one day I wanted to finish them. My grandparents retired from owning a dairy farm and converted their barn into the wood workshop of their dreams. They were very talented wood workers. They built dressers, hutches, end tables, you name it. They were particular and careful and very good with molding and finishing.

If there are levels of wood workers where 10 is being able to build a gorgeous dresser and 1 being able to put up a wall and maybe build a bench that won’t collapse then I’m a 1. I’m proud of being a 1 though lol. Maybe I’m not giving myself quite enough credit but the sheer patience and time it takes to build something as complicated as my kitchen hutch really humbles me.

But oh how I respect the wood workers who do it!

My grandparents also made small things like this jewelry box. I’ve been holding on to it forever but it wasn’t until it came out of my guest bedroom closet with all of my tools that I got inspired. I knew it would be lovely in my new guest bedroom. The only problem was that I really wasn’t sure how I wanted to finish it.

You guys already know that I’m not fond of paint if I can stain. It is absolutely due to my respect for wood… and it is also absolutely due to my total laziness.

Stain is super easy and often turns out beautiful.

This jewelry box is at least 30 years old and in all that time the wood has dried out entirely along with the wood putty my grandparents’ used to fill in any gaps. Which means the wood putty has split and cracked and I am almost certain it will not take stain at all.

So, I decided to do a stain and paint combo. The bottom trim and feet are in good shape along with the lid so I decided to stain those in my go-to dark walnut stain by Minwax. After that I went through my leftover paint and landed on Flannel Gray (by Valspar) that I used in my office.

When I looked up inspiration for painting jewelry boxes I’m sure it won’t surprise anyone that they are all super feminine. The leading colors are pink, pink… and maybe purple. This combination is going to be masculine which I really like as a contrast to what you would expect. I started out by staining the entire piece, inside and out.

After letting it dry I sat down and carefully painted the body of the jewelry box.

I love this color!

This is still a jewelry box and my car, a stool of mine and my closet bench are all sporting this adorable little flower decal so I thought it would be lovely right here as well.

(Its also less than $3 so how could I resist?) My only struggle was whether to put it on the top, on the front or under the lid as a nice little surprise for anyone who opens it.

I decided to put on top and after that I put two coats of a semi gloss poly acrylic over the entire piece. I sanded between coats really lightly so it came out super smooth. I think it looks great as a centerpiece for the dresser in my guest bedroom and I think my grandparents would be happy with how it turned out!

That’s it guys I have finally finished my guest bedroom. Next up is the reveal!