Toy Box Refurbishment

URGatorBait

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As some of you may or may not know, the wife and I have a baby on the way.
She will be born sometime in the next week and a half.

Because of this, I have a never ending list of projects...and virtually no one to help me :facepalm: :lol:

This is one I wanted to do though.
My stepdaughter is going on 18, and when she was just a baby one of my brother in laws built her a toy box.
Basic step looking toy box with 2 compartments.
Over the years, my stepdaughter decided to be an "artist" and draw and color all over it...luckily she's much better at art now than then lol
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As you can see it has a little wear on it in the trim, and that old crappy lid holder.

I took off all the trim and replaced it with the same type of trim, because that look of trim is actually in the bedroom/crib set that we got, and the whole point of this was to make this toy box look as if it at least goes with the furniture.

I did a heavy sand on all the areas that she drew/colored on to get all the wax off, and did a light sand on the rest just to rough it up a little.
The next 3 photos are post sanding and putting new trim on.
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Time to paint. The box took 2 coats and I used a semi-gloss paint so it would be a little easier to clean.
I took one of the draws from the furniture we got to Home Depot and they did a "color match". It isn't perfect because the furniture is an antique white with lots of color changes to make it appear more antique but still a solid finish.
The color came out very close though not exact.

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I then replaced all the hinges..4 for the small front lid, and then a long piano hinge for the rear of the box, that I kinda wished I would have done on the front too...and may go back and switch it out later...not sure yet.
I also replaced the handles to ones that are a little larger so it is easier to carry.

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On the inside of the box, I got 3 lid hinges.
2 for the top, heavier, lid and one for the bottom.

The lid can now stay put anywhere from closed to 65 degrees and does not slam down...which was a big concern of mine since it is wood and has some weight to it.

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Overall I think it turned out well, and matches the furniture about as close as I could get it.

It took a couple of weekends to complete.
I probably could have done it in a weekend but I had a lot of other things going on.

Now I just have to hope the new kid doesn't destroy it like the older kid :lol:
 

crosscreekcooter

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Congratulations on the baby Urg. Drill some air holes in the back, kids like to play hiding games. Other than that it looks great and should last a long time.
 

URGatorBait

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Congratulations on the baby Urg. Drill some air holes in the back, kids like to play hiding games. Other than that it looks great and should last a long time.
It's definitely not air tight. There are some gaps between the lids and the framing, but I can see what you are saying.
 

Thick&ThinG8r

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Looks great, I'm surprised the wax didn't cause more problems like fish eyeing or bleeding through the paint.
The furniture is probably a glazing and nearly impossible to match without the same product.
 

URGatorBait

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Looks great, I'm surprised the wax didn't cause more problems like fish eyeing or bleeding through the paint.
The furniture is probably a glazing and nearly impossible to match without the same product.
In some places it went through the original paint, but ai got it to at least fade pretty good with the sanding, and the 2 layers of new semi gloss completely got rid of it.
I thought about doing only 1 layer of paint, because it let some of the grain come through, but we decided to finish it off.

And I believe you are right on the furniture.
 

deuce

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Good job..... 1 question: Why didn't you paint the interior?
 

URGatorBait

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Good job..... 1 question: Why didn't you paint the interior?
Thanks.
Because it wasn't painted before. Stuff will be in and out of it, so didn't seem worthwhile to paint the inside as it will just get scratched up.

Also, my stepdaughters dad wrote something inside, and while it's silly and dumb, it is something that was between my stepdaughter and her dad...so while I am repurposing it for her new sister, I wanted her to feel like she still has a part of it...if that makes sense.
 

grengadgy

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Good job. On a project like this I always cut about 3/8 away from front & sides just leaving corner post. This eliminated pinch points for those little finger. This general location.
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URGatorBait

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Good job. On a project like this I always cut about 3/8 away from front & sides just leaving corner post. This eliminated pinch points for those little finger. This general location.
19938
That's actually a good idea and leaves a clean look.
 

grengadgy

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That's actually a good idea and leaves a clean look.
The only thing, if a child gets it's hand or fingers pinched at the post then there would be a lot more force. But on a lighter note there's a lot less area to pinch them.
 

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