Simple Jewelry Box Makeover

After creating and filling up my jewelry display wall, I still need some concealed jewelry storage.  I have necklaces that I don't wear often that didn't make the cut, earrings that just won't hang on the mesh due the design of their posts, my ugly work watch, and some other random jewelry that I don't necessarily want on display but can't bring myself to get rid of quite yet.  I am currently using a wooden jewelry box that I've had for awhile.  There is nothing wrong with its function.  The only issue is the color.  Seth and I purchased new bedroom furniture a year and a half ago when we moved into our first house and the pieces have a very dark brown finish.  The jewelry box is more of a medium reddish brown.  Rafie (pronounced RAH-fee) wanted to introduce himself and demonstrate just how orange/red it is compared to the dresser that it is sitting on.

I considered spray painting it white or silver but I decided against that option for a few reasons.

• I wanted something smaller/less bulky on my dresser top so as not to detract from my jewelry display
• I wanted something a bit more modern (see those super traditional feet)
• I thought it would be pretty difficult to paint all of the wooden surfaces without getting paint on any of the lining (see pics below)

Can you spot the ugly work watch? 

Since I had ruled out spray painting my old jewelry box, I started looking around online a bit and laid eyes on these beauties from West Elm.

I maybe could have fit everything into the large one, but definitely not the small one.  I was thinking I might need a large one and a small one.  Wouldn't they look cute stacked on top of one another?  But at $49 for the small one and $79 for the large one, it just wasn't going to happen.   

Then, one day a few weeks ago, I was poking around in Marshall's and stumbled upon these.  

Not quite my style with the Asian-inspired silver accents but definitely the right color and price - $16.99 for the set.  I bought them and figured I could come up with a way to make them more my style later.  I used my putty knife to pry off the plastic pieces and was left with some ugly holes.

I thought about just trying to plug them with wood filler and disguise them with white paint, but I decided that a plain white jewelry box might be kind of bland and boring.  I pictured two pieces of metal (one on either side of the opening) that came together to make a square when the boxes were closed.   Kind of like the West Elm ones I was in love with or this one (but a square instead of a circle and without the key hole).

So I carried the little Asian-inspired plastic pieces around in my purse for a couple of weeks while I pondered this and browsed the aisles at Lowe's for something that might work. Last week, I came across sheets of metal in various sizes starting at around $5.  The problem was that they were not shiny and I wasn't sure how I would cut them, file them down to get a smooth edge, and still have something that looked decent.  So, I moved on.  Then I came across stainless steel door kick plates.  Another possibility, but again, not sure how I would cut them down to the size I needed and make them look polished.  However, I thought I'd give it a try.  With kick plate in hand, I went down one last row.  That is when I found the solution.  

Shiny, silver "exit" stickers.  They would be much easier to cut, no adhesive needed, and they were a little over $1 each.  I grabbed two and put the kick plate back.  

At home, I measured and cut down the stickers to the sizes I needed.  

Then, I stuck them onto the jewelry boxes, covering the ugly holes, and voila.  

Up close, you can still see the holes under the stickers since they are not flush with the rest of the box surface, but I don't really mind how that looks.  It almost appears as if that is where the "metal piece" is tacked to the wood.  And as you get further away, they aren't as noticeable.  

Can you see them now?  The glare from the flash reflecting off the stickers is helping disguise them.  Overall, I'm pretty happy with my quick fix.  I am still going to be on the lookout for a way to jazz them up a bit (maybe with some upholstery nails?), but for now they are getting filled with jewelry and placed on top of my dresser.