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Industrial Faux Aged Metal Box- Monthly DIY Challenge

How to get a faux aged metal look with metallic craft paint #monthlydiychallenge

Happy February! It's time for the best part of the month! February's Monthly DIY Challenge is metallic paint. I gotta tell ya, I had a lot of trouble coming up with an idea for this one at first. But then we finally started working on our laundry/pantry project again (phew!), and it reminded me of my love for that old industrial look, and I was suddenly re-inspired! I decided to make a faux aged metal wooden storage box that will probably end up sitting on one of the pantry shelves. I love it so much, I may make one for recipes too!

If you're not familiar with the Monthly DIY Challenge, the second Wednesday of every month, some of my blog friends and I get together to each create something out of a common item or theme. We've been doing it for over a year now, and it is so much fun! We've had some really awesome challenges like the wood slice challenge and the wooden crate challenge (a couple of my faves!). You can see all of the past challenges here.

9 Creative Ways To Use Metallic Paint

Alrighty, so to make one of these faux aged metal boxes, you will need....
(Affiliate links included for your convenience. See my disclosure policy for details.)

-Wooden file box
-Black acrylic paint
-Silver metallic paint
-stiff brushes (such as a stencil brush)
-kraft paper

I found my wooden box at Michaels (find many other sizes and shapes on Amazon). 

How to get a faux aged metal look with metallic craft paint #monthlydiychallenge

I gave it a quick coat of paint with some black acrylic craft paint

How to get a faux aged metal look with metallic craft paint #monthlydiychallenge

Then I used a dry brushing technique to give it an aged metal look. I used a stencil brush and a cheap chip brush from Home Depot to dry brush in a cross hatch pattern. After dipping in silver metallic paint, I lightly dragged the brush in one direction and then the other. 

How to get a faux aged metal look with metallic craft paint #monthlydiychallenge

Dry brushing means to just barely dip the brush in paint and then lightly swipe it across the project surface. You can achieve some really great looks with this method (like my awesome DIY bar cart or the purple and grey chalk painted dresser). 

How to get a faux aged metal look with metallic craft paint #monthlydiychallenge

Then I searched for a great typewriter font to help achieve that old vibe I was going for. I plan to store important instruction manuals in this box. So I printed the word "Manuals" on some brown kraft paper. I cut it to size and inserted it in the metal label holder. If the box you purchase doesn't have label holders, you can find some here. You could easily attach them with super glue!

How to get a faux aged metal look with metallic craft paint #monthlydiychallenge




I can't wait for you to see the other great metallic paint projects! Click the links below!




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*This post may contain affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy.

10 comments

  1. I love the finish on this! It looks like metal (and so much better than the plain wood box it started as!)

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    1. Thanks so much Jenny! I was really surprised with how the finish turned out! I'll be using this technique again for sure!

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  2. This is seriously so cute! It would be fun to make a bunch of these to keep travel memorabilia from different trips or for recipes or movie stubs. Love it!

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    1. That's a great idea! I think I might make some more to use for other things throughout the house!

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  3. This is great! I have this same unfinished box sitting in my basement. It's been there for a year because I didn't know what to do with it. Thanks for the idea!

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    1. You should totally make one! I love those unfinished boxes! So many possibilities!

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  4. I love how you dry brushed the box to make it faux metal. It turned out really cool. I think I'm going to try that on a shelf I'm making. Thanks for the idea!

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  5. The finish is so pretty on this, Nicole! I really like the typewriter font tag too.

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  6. Love this box, Nicole! I'm always looking for places I can hide things :)

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    1. Thanks so much, Jamie! I think I might make a few more to hide more of my junk!!! ;)

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