50's Blond Sewing Box Gets Re-deaux

I came across this sewing box from the 50's. It was stained "Blond" which was very typical of 50's furniture. I saw the potential to reinvent this piece into an end table with lots of storage so I took off repurposing it. Here's how I did it:

I took off the knobs and began the sanding process to remove the finish.

Love my Black & Decker Mouse Sander!

Once everything was sanded, I used KILZ 2 tinted primer to get started.

I chose to paint it black and white so I painted the body with Eggshell Black from the Home Depot.

After two coats of paint, the body was done.

In order to turn this into an end table, I needed to add legs. I found these very 50's style legs at a yard sale and went onto priming & painting mode.

Notice the plates that hold on the legs. You can put the legs in straight (example on right) or at the angle (example on left) you often see in 50's style furniture.

I used Zinsser 1-2-3 Spray Primer on the legs since you can paint right over the finish without sanding at all! Great step saver. Notice I covered the leg tips with tape so I could repaint them silver later on to match the knobs.

Here are the legs painted and ready to do the tips.

I took the knobs and screwed them into a piece of wood to hold them while I painted them.

I used Rust-oleum bright silver metallic finish (Can't see the cap color in the picture but it is silver!).

I sprayed the knobs and the end caps of the legs and let everything dry while I gave the drawer fronts two coats of white paint.

Here is the finished product!

BEFORE

AFTER

If you find an interesting piece but can't use it as is, consider repurposing it by adding to it and changing its purpose!