Vintage Bread Box Chalk Paint Makeover

ByChelsea @ Making Manzanita Updated on DIY, Painting
I loved my little vintage bread box that I found at the thrift store, but it needed some more farmhouse charm. I gave my vintage bread box a chalk paint makeover. Oh, the power of paint!

I’m excited to be joining the ladies that do the monthly unique Thrift Store Decor Upcycle Challenge! Each month, we’ll be coming together and bringing you tons of thrifty upcycle ideas to get those wheels spinning. This month I decided to give my vintage bread box (one of my favorite thrifty finds) a little chalk paint makeover.

If you love this vintage bread box makeover, you should check out these other thrift store upcycle projects:

This vintage bread box post contains affiliate links, but nothing that I wouldn’t wholeheartedly recommend anyway! Read my full disclosure here.

Let’s jump right into my vintage bread box chalk paint makeover.

One of the major decisions during our home renovations was choosing our paint color. We decided to go with one paint color in the main living areas and one in the bathrooms for simplicity’s sake.

We choose Behr’s Fashion Gray as the main color in our living spaces (learn more about Behr Fashion Gray paint color here) and Behr’s Burnished Clay in our bathrooms. 

Although I absolutely love our paint color, it is an adjustment after living with only white and tan walls in the past. I now find myself leaning towards lighter-colored decor since our walls are darker.

A look at my thrifted vintage bread box before it's chalk paint makeover. This bread box is made with dark stained wood and has the word "bread" painted on the sliding door.

Logan and I stumbled across this awesome vintage bread box at Goodwill and a few years ago and fell in love with it. After bringing it home, Logan did some work on the base that was warped a bit, but then we left it as is….for three years.

When I got invited to participate in this thrift store challenge, I knew I wanted to tackle giving this bread box a little chalk paint makeover.

Vintage bread box makeover: video tutorial

If you love DIY videos, be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

Supplies for vintage bread box makeover:

Step 1: Paint the vintage bread box with chalk paint.

We'll use this bottle of Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in White Adirondack for our vintage bread box makeover.

I decided to try out the Folk Art brand of chalk paint and chose the color White Adirondack. We also used this paint on this farmhouse centerpiece project!

A close up look at the top of the vintage bread box, showing scratches and dents in the stained wood surface.

If you haven’t tried out chalk paint yet, one of the perks is that you don’t have to do any sanding before you start painting. This makes it perfect for upcycling thrift store projects and furniture makeovers – which usually come with their fair share of dings and scratches, like our bread box. This vintage bread box chalk paint makeover covers up all those!

Using a foam paint brush to apply the first coat of white chalk paint to the vintage bread box.

I used a simple foam brush to apply the chalk paint.

I wasn’t sure how many coats we were going to need on the vintage bread box. Here it is after one.

A look at the vintage bread box after one coat of chalk paint. The sliding door is open and the handle is covered with painters tape.

And after 2 coats…

A look at the side and inside of our vintage bread box after two coats of chalk paint. You can still see the darkness of the original finish through the streaky chalk paint coverage.

I decided on three coats.

Step 2: Distress the vintage bread box.

I distressed the vintage bread box using a sanding block. I lightly sanded the whole thing and then did extra around the edges for the distressed farmhouse look that I was going for.

Using a sanding block to lightly distress the vintage bread box for a more farmhouse style look.

Step 3: Apply the finishing wax.

I finished by applying Minwax Finishing Wax using a wax brush.

I finished off the vintage bread box makeover by applying Minwax Paste Finishing Wax with a wax brush.

I love how it turned out, what do you think? The painted vintage bread box really brightens up this little corner of my kitchen.

Our chalk-painted vintage bread box sits on a corner of our kitchen counter, next to the sink and hanging pots and pans.

I love our pot rack we added during our renovation of this area. There was a big, bulk corner cabinet there before. Removing the cabinet really opened up the space. (You can see more of the before and after home renovations of this project and more here).

We decorated the top of our vintage bread box with some farmhouse style trinkets like a mini faux boxwood plant, a metal deer head, and vintage bottles

I always get lots of questions about this sign when I post this area on Instagram, so let me save you the trouble. This adorable sign is from Hobby Lobby, but the last time I was there I saw it marked down on clearance and now I can’t find it on their site, so I’m guessing it’s long gone!

The vintage bread box sits on the countertop under a farmhouse style wood sign from Hobby Lobby that reads "for health and food, for love and friends, for everything thy goodness sends."
A vintage bread box painted with chalk paint sits on the kitchen counter, decorated with farmhouse style trinkets. Text overlay with an arrow pointing towards the bread box reads "vintage bread box chalk paint makeover"
How To Do A Vintage Bread Box Chalk Paint Makeover

How To Do A Vintage Bread Box Chalk Paint Makeover

Yield: 1
Active Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Estimated Cost: $5

Sometimes, you find the perfect thrifted vintage find, but it needs a little TLC. Here's how I gave this vintage bread box a farmhouse-style makeover with chalk paint.

Materials

Tools

Instructions

  1. Apply chalk paint.
  2. Distress the vintage box with sanding block.
  3. Apply the finishing wax.

Did you make this project?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

© Chelsea @ Making Manzanita
Project Type: Painting / Category: DIY
Chelsea @ Making Manzanita

Chelsea is the founder of Making Manzanita - a DIY and renovation blog - where it's all about making your house a home you love one DIY at a time. Chelsea and her husband, Logan, have been renovating homes since 2015 and have seen the sweat equity pay off. They enjoy teaching readers how to renovate with confidence. As an influencer, Chelsea has collaborated with brands like The Home Depot, Etsy, Behr Paint, DAP Products, Walmart, Frog-Tape, and Kreg Tools. Making Manzanita has participated in One Room Challenge and was a finalist in the Fall 2019 Jeffrey Court Renovation Challenge.

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

26 Comments

  8. I had seen something like this at the Salvation Army and passed it up. Went back and it was gone! I was so bummed especially now looking at what a great job you did! I’ll have to keep my eye out for another one!

    Reply

  13. I found this exact one at a local thrift store, I was planning to do the whole thing the distressed white but I really love the design you did. I may copy.. lol 🙂

    Reply

    1. That’s awesome! I am still loving our bread box years later. I thought about painting the whole thing white too, but I just couldn’t bring myself to get rid of that vintage charm with the “bread” design. Be sure to post a picture here or tag my on Instagram @MakingManzanita when you’re done. I’d love to see it!

      Reply