My Refinished Tool Box

First of all, thank you SO much for your encouraging words about our move to San Francisco. I get totally overwhelmed if I think of all the details, so your comments help me to slow down and just take one step at a time. We are meeting with our real estate agent later today, so I will keep you posted!

I've been thinking about all my stuff, and which items to keep, which to sell, and which to re-vamp for our new (slightly cramped) California lifestyle. A long time ago I told you about this antique tool box.

I bought this tool box for my husband eight years ago. I envisioned us, boyfriend and girlfriend at the time, stripping and refinishing it together. Instead, during stolen naptime moments, Brent and I finally finished re-building and re-finishing this piece and decided that it would be great to store our two kids' toys. Never thought the project would take quite this long, but it's funny to see how far we've come!

Anyway, here's the story. The box had some water damage, and my talented husband removed the damaged boards and replaced them with new pine. I stripped the old finish off of the box, sanded it, and re-stained it (so that the old and new wood would match) with Minwax Early American stain. For a more complete tutorial on refinishing furniture, check out my series from last summer, which starts here.

The cool thing is that the original marks and imperfections still come through. And those are the original handles on the sides!

I sealed it with three coats of polyurethane in a matte finish. This tool box, eight years in the refinishing, is ready to hold all the toys our kids can throw at it.

Just in time, since our move to California will demand that we use every inch of space available to us. I need to get really creative with my storage options, girls! I'm thinking that this tool box might be a better place to store the kids' toys than, say, the kitchen oven?

Have a great week!