So my grandma had to move into a nursing home and she gave me some great heirlooms. One, was a real silverware set. It is a beautiful set, however I have had it shoved in a closet. The box really wasn't anything to right home about and I really didn't want to buy a new one. I wanted to keep it original, the way she had it as much as possible. So, I decided to see what I could do to improve the look of the box.
I did this a little free form. I haven't done anything like it so I just went for it!! It was fun and I like the way it turned out. Now to really fix the box up right I would have had to bondo the missing strip, sand down, and paint a solid color. I really didn't want to go through all the effort if I am being frank so this is what I came up with.
So this is the original box. Beaten up and tired looking.
First step was to strengthen the box. I used fine nails and secured the corners and the bottom.
The next step is to clean and paint. I used acrylic paints that I had lying around. Now to have a more natural look, I wanted to blend in various different colors. Since I don't have a variety of browns pre-made, I had to make they myself. You can add in red to get more of the mahogany look, and tone down the brightness with some green. I used black as well to darken up the colors. I thined the paint here and there with water in order to let the original wood shine through in a couple areas.
Let this be free form. If you try to plan it all out it wont be very organic in look. Wood is very variable :) so don't worry just keep working in darks and lights, reds and browns in order to create the most natural effect.
I didn't photo the final step, but I sprayed on some clear enamel. Rust-o-Lem makes the one that I used, it is great. It gives the project a nice glossy look, and helps blend the brush strokes.
Never mind the ugly paint color in the background. We haven't painted our new house yet. But ehre is the finished product in place. Looks nice enough to put out. And with it out, I am more likely to actually use the silverware!!
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