Jewelry Chest Makeover

I was given a beautiful, standing jewelry chest and decided it needed a makeover to match my current décor.

**Disclaimer: I am not a professional and just used products I had around my apartment to do this.

As you can see below, it is a natural wood color and is pretty good size. I am not really a fan of the color, so I have decided to paint it black and change out the handles to make it more modern looking.

Before

I used some leftover paint from my dining table along with the sandpaper. I did buy the paintbrush from Menards and do not recommend this kind. I always use this brand of paintbrush but didn’t realize it was a nylon one. I didn’t find it as easy to use so I won’t be buying another one.

My first step was to clean up the surface a little bit. It was dusty and kind of dirty from being stored in an attic and garage for a while. I’m not for sure if this was necessary since I was going to sand the surface, but I always clean the item before painting, so I did.

After I cleaned the surface, I took the sandpaper and gently sanded the surface. I did this to help the paint stick to the surface but also to fix the little bit of damage to the front. Luckily that divot wasn’t too deep and came out easily. (I apologize that I do not have a picture of it sanded but I didn’t think about it at the time.)

After the sanding was done, I ran a dry towel over it to get the dust off so the paint would go on evenly. I bought a cheap shower curtain liner and taped it to my balcony so the paint wouldn’t go everywhere. I then removed the handles and opened the doors. I was then able to paint the first layer and was already in love with the new look!

First Coat

I am not the best painter so I knew that no matter what I would be painting a second coat. So once the first coat had dried, I did a full second coat. The doors were difficult due to the detailing on the front, but I think it turned out better than I imagined.

Second Coat

When the second coat was dried completely, I went in for some touch ups. Like I mentioned before, I really did not like this paint brush, and I don’t believe it covered as well as a normal one would, so I had quite a few spots to fix. This could be due to my first time using this kind of brush and not really knowing how to use it correctly.

Once the touch ups were dry, I was able to put on the new handles. The old handles had been removed but there were screws in the doors where the handles were attached. I removed those and had to drill new holes that went all the way through the doors for the new handles. This wasn’t difficult and luckily the old screws were easy to remove since I have limited tools at my disposal.

I bought the knobs from Hobby Lobby for $5 each (like the ones pictured below). They are simple but the gold accents are perfect for what I was going for.

Once those were installed the makeover was finished. I love the finished project and it works so well with my space. Let me know what you think!