I love the distressed look!
This was my first “reclaimed” project. I found this kind of beat up, dirty, little wooden box 8"x5"x12" and immediately got a visual picture in my mind of it being used as a cute container to store or display things.
A good power washing left it nice and clean and I decided to leave the nails sticking out of the top to give it some character.
DIY tip: If you're going to power wash anything wooden, be sure to let it dry a couple of days before sanding, paintng, or staining.
Next I gave it a coat of a pretty, turquoise blue paint and let it dry for 24 hours. Latex paint actually dries quicker than this but I like to make sure it’s really dry before glazing.
To achieve the aged look, I dipped a clean, cotton cloth into my can of Olympic Burned Raisin color glaze and working in small sections, used long, wiping strokes to apply a thin coat of glaze. I immediately wiped off just the excess glaze with a clean, damp cloth. Take off as much as you want to achieve the look you like. I let the glaze color pool a bit more in the corner sections, on the edges, and around the nail heads to give it a more aged look.
Oh, and be sure to wear rubber gloves for this step :)
After the glaze dried for 24 hours I used a fine grade sand paper to sand the areas I wanted to look distressed. Not too much, just until the wood showed through.
Hmm, I liked the box but was thinking
it needed a little PIZZAZZ!
Luckily, I found a medium sized glass door knob
in my stash and chose a big, shiny
silver bolt to secure it.
Wow! This was exactly what it needed!


