Young House Love

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How To Spray Paint A Wood Box

This week’s first project for my little self-imposed Dude Get On That Already challenge is small – but it’s not animal related (so that’s something, right?!). It actually involves a fifty cent wood box that I found at Goodwill about three months ago and then… you guessed it… stuffed it into our playroom, never to be seen again. Until now. Here’s the only before picture that I shot with blue spray paint in it before deciding not to go blue…

Box Before

Nope, I didn’t go gray either- that’s just primer.

Box Spray Primer

Yup… I went yellow!

Box1

I still had some leftover from this horse head bookend makeover of yore, and I thought it would look like a little burst of sunshine.

Box2

I actually bought this box with function in mind. Every night I flop onto the sofa and immediately have to take off my watch and earrings and any other jewelry I’m wearing so I can truly relax/write posts/watch The Walking Dead/etc. And I thought if I had a pretty little box to put those things, I wouldn’t keep forgetting where I left them (on the stack of books, on the arm of the sofa, on the ottoman, etc). You know, they’d have a little zone for me to check back for them (before Clara gets to them and throws them under the sofa or into the couch cushions, both of which have happened).

Box3

So now I have a happy little jewelry drop box that lives on the ottoman (or the console table – he gets around).

Box4

It’s not where I store things for the long-haul (I have a jewelry tray in the bedroom) but it’s great for the stuff I have on for the day (and if I want to wear it the next day I know where to find it).

But my other little Dude Get On That Already project is animal related. Of course it is. Who is surprised at this point. Anyway, this isn’t a proper before pic because this guy was orange with brown spots when I found him at Goodwill last fall for ten cents (he’s small and wooden and I thought he might be fun for Clara – heck, he’s fun for me too). Then when I had the white primer out for another project about five months ago I gave him a little spray-spray (that’s how I imagine Tom Haverford from Parks & Rec would say it). Then I forgot all about him and he ended up in my giant animal pile-up in the playroom. Imagine that.

Giraffe Before

But since my odd little Dude Get On That Already challenge is apparently some sort of intervention from the universe (ok, ok, so I could probably stand to “adopt” fewer faux animal figurines) I decided to embrace the crazy (that’s pretty much our MO over here in general) and paint him gold. That’s right, I gilded the guy with $2 craft paint from Michael’s in Antique Gold.

Giraffe1

Momma likes. And Clara likes too. Right now he’s hanging out on the desk in our living room, which is nice because I can gaze at him from the sofa. Sometimes he comes down to play with Clara, but he’s too dapper to get squashed into her toy bin when she goes to bed, so back up on the desk he goes. Until he becomes alive and hangs out with his animal friends when we all go to bed a-la Toy Story.

Giraffe2

What? You guys don’t think that really happens? Whatevs. It totally does.

Giraffe3

So animal by animal (and other random object by other random object) we’re clearing things out of our playroom so we can actually enjoy them (and we’re inching closer to another empty room for us to tackle). What little projects have you guys been up to? Sometimes it’s those easy little upgrades that make things like the entire desk area in the corner of the living room look sweeter. Which isn’t helping my animal problem (now I want one on every surface).

Giraffe4

It could be worse. I could be addicted to buying cars or expensive shoes, so little cheap-o thrift store animals probably aren’t even my biggest vice. Spray paint could be. No wait, puns. It’s puns. Biggest vice for sure. What’s yours? Did you gild anything lately? Do you play with your kid’s toys? Let’s chat.

Comments

  1. Meg says

    I recently made my first white ceramic animal purchase and though if you guys – and it was a giraffe! two actually. I LOVE decorative kitchen gadgets and got olive oil and vinegar giraffes. I love having my little animal friends hanging out in the kitchen (my salt cellar is a chicken) I don’t want to put links on your blog – but the giraffes were from Boston Interiors.

    Reply

  3. Amber Wallace says

    I love the yellow box! It’s so happy! I think I need to self impose a dude get on that already challenge for myself, stat. Maybe a 30 things done before I turn 30 in 6 weeks. It would probably make my hubby happy to get some stuff done :)

    Reply

  4. angel p says

    Very cute! I have a vice as well but it’s fabric. I’ll walk through Joann’s and there is always at least one fabric calling my name and I must have it even if I don’t know what I want to do with it. I do try to control myself and usually only get 1/2 yard of it and if I really love it a whole yard. Thankfully almost all the projects I do call for very little fabric. My craft room though is now overflowing with fabrics and other craft items so I need to find a new storage system and soon. I have actually used up some of the older fabrics recently so that helps.

    Reply

  5. Ginny says

    I’m 17 weeks pregnant and last night I dreamt of painting ceramic animals! Now I’m on a mission to find some :) Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  6. Sandy says

    I have been reading your blog for a few weeks now and I have always been scared to do anything around the house preferring to pay someone to do anything that needed done. After reading your posts I am going to paint the inside of my house. I feel I have no ..I don’t know..color sense . So, I am painting my rooms the colors of your first home’s walls. We will see how it goes. There is a lot of stuff I want to do now just from reading how you have done things and it was all okay. The earth did not tip off it’s axis if you made a mistake.

    Reply

  7. Tracy says

    I can only say that your Goodwill has WAY more cool stuff in it than mine does. Don’t get me wrong — I give you tons of credit for being able to see the potential in odd little items. But there’s no question that I have never seen anything with the kind of potential you seem to find at Goodwill on a regular basis! Kudos.

    Reply

  8. Corie says

    OMG, it totally does happen! And whenever I see Woody and Buzz laying around, I stop and say “Aw, what happened, guys?” like I actually feel BAD for them or something. And then I’m all “You’re a TOY!”.

    But then I take pictures of them. Like enough pics to start a “Who left Woody and Buzz where?” blog o’ pictures.

    I have MAJOR problems. But I think you’ll like that I shared them with you. And you’ll like that I like your box and your shimmery horse. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Haha, we have little figurines of Woody, Buzz, and Rex – and I get waaay too much of a kick finding them lying around! Haha. I’m the girl who used to see a doll at the toy store and whisper “I’ll be back for you, I promise” to it.

      xo,
      s

    • Chrissie says

      A lady I know has a Buzz Lightyear in the house who decides to start talking of his own accord when no one else is home… I guess he doesn’t realise anyone’s there!

  10. Kristen says

    Where did you get your gold watch? I’ve been looking for one, but they are usually oversized and huge. Yours doesn’t look that big.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh it’s big! Haha. But I love it! It’s by Michael Kors and I got in on amazon.com (it was my you’re-a-mommy-present after Clara was born to help me track her feedings). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  11. Erin J says

    I’m also loving pops of yellow! But my latest project was sanding, priming, and spray painting a little bench on my back porch a pretty blue. I think I inadvertently have gotten on the Dude Get on That train!

    Reply

  15. [email protected] says

    okay, i’ve got to ask. how on EARTH did you manage to spray paint that box all along the edges without coating the inside and making a huge mess?! hahaha. also, the animal is awesome. i have this itty bitty wooden elephant that i bought about 25 years ago while i was traveling with my parents. it sits in my china cabinet in my bedroom (yes, i have a china cabinet in my bedroom, haha – i’m the queen of repurposing furniture).

    Reply

  16. Kim says

    Love this pop of sunshine! Quick question, is the box hinged? It kind of looks like it the way you are holding it in the open shot. If so, did you tape over the hinge when spraying?

    Welcome back! You were greatly missed but so glad you guys decided to treat yo’self!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes it’s hinged! But I actually just kept the box closed and primed and sprayed it with very thin coats. It doesn’t seem to hurt the hinge function, but removing the hinge or taping it off can work too!

      xo,
      s

  21. Papagayita says

    I love the earrings in the box!Could I ask where you got them? I had a very similar pair from world market bought years ago that just broke and I desperately want to replace them with something similar.

    Reply

  22. Annamae says

    Love that box! Super cute and such a fun spring color. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for such treasures to spruce up in future goodwill trips.

    Reply

  23. Tamsen says

    Hey Sherry!

    I love the wood box! What a find! But I’m wondering where you get all the design books you are always displaying. Do you buy them all full price from the store, or try and use book stores? I have been wanting to buy more buy the $30-$60 price tags always push me away. Any tips?

    Thanks!
    Tamsen

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I love amazon.com and wait for used copies to come up for cheap! I also have a local used book store (called Book Exchange) that I love. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  24. Sarah Gerke says

    Love both of the results!

    Ever since I started blog stalking you guys months ago, I’ve been a nut about redoing our one-bedroom apt and getting new stuff. My husband and I have been married for 7 1/2 years and have had the same bedding and honestly, I’m just bored with it now. So lots of projects up in the air.

    Tonight I’m gonna have myself some chicky chicky parm parm. ;) (love Parks & Rec!)

    Reply

  25. Olivia says

    Our Goodwill sucks! I can never find cheap little treasures like that. Anyway- that little box is genius! I, too, am always taking my jewelry off when I plop down on the couch after a long day at work. I don’t know how many times I’ve cleaned the living room and found that earring I’ve been missing stuck between a couch cushion, or a necklace under a pile of books. I will have to keep my eye open for a little contraption to store them in!

    Reply

  26. Kim says

    OMG! Another Walking Dead fan – yeah!!! My family and friends look at me like I have 2 heads when I say I love that show. And I totally am NOT crazy about zombies (although these zombies are done so well), but I love the ‘people stories’ behind this whole show. It’s really done well – and man, they don’t spare ANYONE – not even poor Sophia! Wait til you watch Sunday night’s – crazytown. I so want to get the graphic novels and read them, but don’t want to know the ending yet. Love that you guys are fans too!

    And I love that you see those little objects and can totally see their potential! Now when i go to thrift shops or our goodwill, I really try and look past the ‘ugliness’ (although you’re good will is WAY better than ours).

    Reply

  27. Lanelle says

    I’ve been channeling my inner Sherdog lately – trips to the thrift stores and lots of spray painting. This weekend I used the same Rustoleum blue she rejected to change two ceramic faux metallic gold/black pheasants into blue garden art. Who doesn’t love blue pheasants peeking out from under a shrub? There might also have been a frog and a turtle painted a nice kiwi green….

    Reply

  29. Shanna says

    I wasn’t sure how else to contact you other than leaving a comment, so I apologize if I’m not supposed to do this, but I remember reading that you like shopping at World Market. They currently have a 25% off sale: http://www.worldmarket.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=3846465. I’m not affiliated with them in anyway, so I’m just getting warm fuzzies out of this. :)

    I love your willingness to repurpose things. I also heart the giraffe, but if I woke up and saw it moving around, I think I would be completely frozen out of fear!

    –Shanna

    Reply

  31. Georgia says

    I’m loving these little projects that you do. I, too, love a good thrift store find. And playing with the kids’ toys? Hell yeah! After 3 boys, I actually bought my daughter some of those cool hip and funky barbies with the awesome clothes ( that look a bit like bratz but nicer) well before she was interested in playing with them. She’d sit on the floor and play with her toys (probably something of the boys), and I would play fashion stylist to “my toys”. Now all my kids are big and we never really have many toys around. Ecxcept for soft toys and I have lots of fun putting them in strange positions.

    Reply

  32. dana says

    sherry, a good tom haverford slang reference always makes my day. thank you, i’m off to eat some fry-fry chicky-chick with my food rake :)

    Reply

  33. Christina says

    First off – LOVE your blog and your ideas!! I’m trying to get all my projects done so Sherry’s Dude get on it already challenge is right up my alley!! I’m just about finished spraying a bunch of thrifted frames and I’m having problems with crackling. Cool finish if your into more of a country chic look – but I’m not! The first batch I did I realized I sprayed the ‘last’ coat after an hour, so it crackled. I sanded them all down, reprimed (was that needed?) and painted again, making sure to keep an eye on the time. This time it worked better but a few spots still crackled – the paint seemed a little thicker on those areas but not much. I used the Rustoleum Ultra coat and it was harder to get a thin coat (plus I’m super impatient) . Have you ever had problems with crackling too?? Any tips??

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hmm, I’ve never had any cracking issues. Could it have been too cold? That’s all I can think of, because even when things are applied thickly they usually drip but don’t crack in our experience. Hmm, anyone have any tips for Christina?

      xo,
      s

    • Christina says

      I never even thought of that – it’s cold outside so I’m doing it inside our garage. I made sure it was warm enough, but now that you mention it I realized I laid all the frames on the garage floor … which is bound to be colder. I’ll have to try it on a table in the garage and see if that helps! Thanks!!

  35. Mary K says

    I too have been told I’m terrible with puns, but they’re so fun! The most recent incident was when my friend taught me to play the game Ticket to Ride (which is super fun and I definitely recommend it, but the small pieces don’t really make it toddler-friendly). We counted that I said three (3!) accidental train puns while playing, like “I’m totally on board” and “it was a little derailed.” I have problems I’m sure, but puns can’t be all bad.

    Reply

  40. Karen @ bellacarina.com says

    I have a couple things that have been laying around for a while now that could use a spray paint makeover…including a breakfast table and chairs! It’s getting close to me needing to tell myself, “dude, get on that!”

    Reply

  41. Catherine says

    Sherry,
    I was trying to explain to my husband how you guys “happen upon” so many animals, and then I thought it might be a fun addition to the blog organization to have a little spot where we could go and look at all your happy animals in all their happy homes all over your house (man that was wordy!).
    Just a thought. Love your giraffe!

    Reply

  42. Amanda J says

    I definitely missed your regularly scheduled posts while you were away (glad you had a good vacation though!) but the part in this post about the toys coming to life was so so great! That totally does happen! :D

    Reply

  43. Jo says

    I love the yellow box! I’d love to spray paint a bunch of stuff… when I get time.

    I can’t stop looking at the giraffe though… he/she totally needs a tail! A tiny strip of leather might look cool, his rear end looks a little naked :O

    Reply

  44. Maria says

    We just moved into a new house and I’ve been trying to stay focused on actually putting stuff away rather than acquiring even more stuff, but would you believe today was nice and warm and the snow melted enough off our back deck to reveal two lovely owls that are just begging to be spray painted and given the limelight somewhere in our new home. As soon as I saw them I thought of you. It will be a bit before I can get to them, but I’m pretty excited that’ve something so cool just left for me to discover!

    Reply

  45. Tara says

    Um, okay, this idea is brilliant – the box for jewelry idea! I am ALWAYS dumping my jewelry around my apartment, and my cat has recently decided that jewelry is fun to hunt and drag around my place, so I’m constantly waking up to the sound of a bracelet on the tile, or beads clinking against the sink (yeah, she gets everywhere…) Time to hit up Goodwill for my own living room jewelry box!

    Reply

  46. Erin @ The Great Indoors says

    I’m not sure if you and John have seen How I Met Your Mother, but I have a feeling that by now you would have gotten an intervention banner for your animal fetish. :-) Love the sweet yellow box and golden giraffe! Lovely and happy additions!

    Reply

  48. Lindsay says

    I know this is late and random, but goodwill and salvation army can’t take anything that has been painted by a consumer. That said, it’s great for finding raw projects!

    Reply

  49. Becki says

    Is it weird that I was more excited about the Parks and Rec mention than the awesome giraffe? I love seeing that other people watch my favorite show. I’ve seen Dexter mentioned a lot, but what other shows do you guys watch?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We love The Walking Dead, The New Girl, The Mindy Project, True Blood, Dexter, Parks & Rec, 30 Rock, and I’m probably forgetting a bunch more! hah!

      xo,
      s

  50. Evelina says

    How’s Mr. Box and Mr. Giraffe holding up these days? Do they have a fun new place to live in the new house?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      They’re in my little cabinet of vases and decorative objects. We had more finished surfaces in the last house so as we finish more rooms here I get to dip into that cabinet and break some new stuff out!

      xo
      s

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