DIY – An Updated Jewelry Box

Now and then, I take on gratifying projects that are much smaller in scale but are just as exciting. Last month I began, in between E-designs and battling the flu, to work on restoring and giving a new look to an older jewelry box I purchased in my early twenties. (Over ten years ago!)

The Andover Jewelry Box

This Pottery Barn jewelry box is still going strong, with functional hinges that work as well today as the day that I got it and drawers that easily slide out so that you can see all of your favorite pieces with ease. Over time the jewelry that I have collected no longer fits, and earlier this year, I transitioned over to these pink Supersize Stackers to better organize my collection. They even had a Stacker option, that could hold up to 41 separate earrings sets, which was perfect. I posted a glimpse of my current set up on Instagram.

However, I couldn’t just throw the PB jewelry box away, so I resolved to restore it before giving it a new home. This box initially came in an off-white color, but after five years, I wanted a change and painted it a light grey. Since then, the wear and tear have become noticeable, and I wanted to ensure that I could make this jewelry box look as good as new. My friend Shakeya, a talented choreographer and dancer (Check her out HERE!), loves the colors gray and gold, so I decided to incorporate those into the new look and surprise her with the additional storage.

To begin, I sanded every part of this jewelry box to take off as much of the paint as possible and to create a smooth surface.

Afterward, I primed the box with a coat of Rust-Oleum’s 2x Ultra Cover Primer, gave it two coats of Krylon’s Fusion Paint and Primer in Glacier Gray and let it dry for a few days.

This Martha Stewart stencil was my favorite at Michaels, and I thought it would highlight the metallic wax from Craft Smart in the gold color. The stencil worked well and was a bit sticky, which meant that it stayed in place when I added the wax. This particular task required a lot of patience because moving the stencil and matching the pattern was a lot harder than expected, and I wanted to make sure not to rub off any of the work I had completed. After a couple of hours stenciling the sides of the jewelry box and adding the gold wax to the inner rim of the glass lid, I updated the silver knobs with the same wax finish.

Ta da! Right away, it looked great! I did notice, however, that when I touched the gold areas over some time, the color would rub off on my fingers. As a solution, I let the jewelry box fully dry overnight and then coated it in a clear Satin finish from Valspar.

This jewelry box is now beautiful, functional, and ready to last another five years or more. If Shakeya ever bores of it’s style in the future, a simple sanding session preps it for its next new look.