Industrial Metal Drawer Makeover – Thrifted & Relifted

It’s time to share a piece for our Thrifted & Relifted Link Up Party! The idea is to find a piece and give it a new life, a face lift or a complete overhaul! Be sure to visit my friends at the end of this post to see how they transformed an item. We’d love you to share your Thrifted & Relifted pieces with us too. Follow us on Instagram and post yours using the #ThriftedandRelifted tag or link up at the bottom of this post if you have a blog. Now read on to see what I did!!
It’s no secret that I love Industrial pieces. Someday I’m going to stumble upon a huge metal library catalog or apothecary style piece of my dreams. I love the countless little drawers, the industrial look, the endless possibilities!! For now, I’m happy when I find smaller versions of my dream piece. Take a look at how I dressed this little guy up.

It’s no secret that I love Industrial pieces. Someday I’m going to stumble upon a huge metal library catalog or apothecary style piece of my dreams. I love the countless little drawers, the industrial look, the endless possibilities!! For now, I’m happy when I find smaller versions of my dream piece. Take a look at how I dressed this little guy up.

It was rusty, dusty and old. But it had potential. One of my goals is to remember to take good “before” pics. I get so excited about the makeover process, I forget to capture the “ugly”. 🙂 You can still see the rough shape it was in from these pics. Just a basic box with drawers, rust, chipped paint…but lots of potential!

I cleaned it up, and then wiped some flat black paint over it with a rag. I could’ve given it a slick glossy black finish but that wasn’t a reflection of this piece. This piece has been through “life” and I wasn’t going to disregard that. By taking a rag with flat black paint, I quickly and sparingly wiped it down. Remember, we call rust “patina” these days! That’s fancy talk for wear and tear! 🙂 I wanted to show that it was a truly vintage industrial style piece. Why cover that up??? By rubbing the rag over it quickly, I was able to let some of the “patina” shine through for all to see!

Now it needed to reflect my style a bit more and so the grooming begins! I got out my new favorite tool! Rub’n Buff! If you don’t have some of this you need to get some! It’s so easy to use and so versatile. One tube will last you forever!

I used a Q-tip to carefully apply it to the handles. You do need to be careful when using this stuff because once it hits a surface it wants to stay. 🙂 So go carefully and slowly. Again, in keeping with the vintage look…I tried to wipe the gold on sparingly to look like it was worn.

Once the gold was applied, I was loving it even more. Time to add some more embellishments. I had some vintage mailbox tags from a project long ago. I got these off eBay. I thought these would work perfectly on this piece.

With a little help from my handy dandy glue gun. I placed them on the piece and instantly loved the mix of the vintage numbers on the industrial black. The gold gave it a modern touch that works great in the space and gives it an updated feel.

I thought about adding some feet to it but because it was metal and kind of heavy I decided against it. I also liked the low profile it had and who knows where it will end up in 6 months with me. I will probably move it around a few times. So “No Go” on the feet.

I decided to place it under my vintage wall canvas and decorate it with some of my various glass bottles. I think the mix of the canvas wall art, the glass bottles, and the black industrial piece work well. It’s a true reflection of my style. The great thing is that this piece is so versatile, it could end up in the laundry room, the kitchen, maybe even the back porch. I think it turned out great and I love that if I decide to change it again, I can. For now, it has a home here. 🙂

I hope you like this little makeover, I hope it has inspired you in some way to try something similar. Keep an eye out when thrifting for a little drawer piece like this one. If you find one and give it a “lift” please share it with me so I can see. Follow me on Instagram or here on the blog and tag me! If you find my dream piece…you know the large one with lots of drawers and oozing industrial charm….call me! 🙂
Be sure to visit these amazing ladies to see their Thrifted & Relifted makeovers! You won’t be disappointed!
Take care,
Holli

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