I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of painting toolboxes.
I totally enjoy the process. Well, most of the process. I don’t enjoy the initial cleaning. They tend to start out pretty gross; rusty, greasy, dirty, and smelly.
But after I give them a good cleaning with Dawn dish soap (or you could use any grease cutting cleaner), a light sanding to remove any flaking paint, and a coat or two of Dixie Belle’s B.O.S.S., we are good to get started with the fun part. Painting and embellishing.
One of my favorite paint combos on a toolbox is Dixie Belle’s Sawmill Gravy and French Linen.
These two colors pair up beautifully, and it’s easy to add a wide stripe to the outside of a toolbox using some yellow frog tape.
Lately I’ve been loving a more floral look on toolboxes as well.
Most of those are I.O.D. transfers, although the floral portion of the one on the bottom right (and below) is a re.design with prima transfer.
I personally prefer the more muted colors of the I.O.D. florals …
But that’s just me. I know there are those of you that love a vibrant, brighter floral as well.
My go-to favorite neutral for toolboxes is, of course, Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth.
I just love that warm white shade, it has a very vintage look.
Even though I keep these Drop Cloth toolboxes neutral on the outside, I really enjoy adding a pop of vibrant color on the inside.
I find this a great way to use some of those gorgeous colors without feeling like it’s going to limit the marketability of my piece (top row colors: Peony & Flamingo, bottom row colors: Blueberry and Mint Julep).
I often line the bottom inside with decoupage paper.
I find that the Decoupage Décor Tissue Paper from re.design with prima is the easiest ‘paper’ to use for this purpose. I put ‘paper’ in quotes because this stuff has a texture similar to dryer sheets. It’s not at all like a flimsy tissue paper. It doesn’t tear easily (in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever torn it), and it doesn’t wrinkle when you decoupage it. I use the Dixie Belle flat clear coat as a decoupage medium, but there are lots of options out there including Mod Podge, Fusion’s Decoupage and Transfer Gel, and others.
I don’t always keep the color on the inside. I’ve painted color on the outside of a few toolboxes too.
Does black count as a color? Well, maybe not. But it isn’t white so I’m going to count it.
I didn’t always keep the tray inserts with my toolboxes, but after one of my favorite customers requested that I paint one up I decided why not?
They aren’t that hard to paint, and they do add more functionality to the toolbox. Especially if you’re using it for artist paints and brushes, or a glue gun with glue sticks. Plus it adds another layer that I can decorate with transfers, decoupage paper or stencils.
I’m currently working on a couple of toolboxes that I’ll be sharing here next week. Both came with trays that I’ll be painting up to match.
This one was one of my friend Sue’s finds …
And this one came from my friend Annie …
Both will be for sale locally, so if any of you locals are in the market for a toolbox be sure to stay tuned next week to see how these turned out.
As I was putting this post together, I realized just how many toolboxes I’ve painted in the past and decided that I needed a ‘category’ on my blog devoted solely to toolbox makeovers. So if you want to see the details on any of these, just look on the right side of the page (if you’re viewing this on a computer) and under ‘sorted.’ where it says ‘Select Category’ simply choose ‘toolboxes’. I think I may have missed a few, but for the most part you’ll see all of my toolbox makeover posts there.
So tell me, do you have a favorite from amongst them all? If so, do share in a comment!
q is for quandie 
Love, love, love the IOD flowers! So beautiful!!
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I agree, they are pretty!
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Love them all!
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Thanks Melissa!
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I have always loved your tool boxes! They are such an inspiration!
Smiles, alice
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Thanks Alice!
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I love all of your tool boxes that you have done. Your creativity with each one really amazes me. You always come up with great ideas. Having a category to find them all on your blog is a wonderful idea. Thank you. 😊
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I was always going back and trying to find them myself, so it will be nice to have them all in one convenient category 🙂
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I like the floral monster at the very top of this post, though I picked that particular one because you asked for a favorite. I would be happy to have and use any ot the ones you’ve decorated. I have a small tool box from my days of potting (throwing on a wheel) and I may just have to reinvent it.
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I loved that big floral one too, it was gorgeous thanks to that I.O.D. transfer. I say you absolutely should give your tool box a makeover 🙂
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I love everything you create but especially your tool boxes. I am always watching for them now, as a result! Thank you for the fun and lovely inspirations!
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Well, keep your eyes peeled, there are going to be two more coming your way next week!
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I love all your tool boxes. If forced to pick one favorite, it would probably be the first one at the top of the post. The way the flower transfer pops against the sawmill gravy is eye fabulous and you placed the flowers perfectly. But really, I love them all. I love the “Bloom” box because the color and the cosmic roses transfer are personal favorites and the way you add pops of color inside kind of does it for me. So yeah, I’m not tired of toolboxes either and I’m pretty sure I never will be.
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That’s good, because you’ll definitely be seeing more of them 😉
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Way too hard to pick just one. The calm, neutral side of me loves the Herbier General with the surprise blueberry interior. Blue, white and gray, how can you go wrong? Now the more exuberant side of me most definitely loves the giant one with the IOD June transfer. Swoon! By the way, I think you must be psychic because I was just doing an inspiration search on your site about a week ago for your toolboxes and now you have a category. I’ve been keeping an eye out for toolboxes while thrifting ever since I found your blog and went back and read all your older posts. They don’t seem to be as common in my area so I was quite excited when I finally ran in to one and snapped it up faster than a heartbeat. Now, if I could only decide on how I want to paint it, I would be all set🤣😜 Thanks for the great resource!
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Well, you should definitely peruse that category to get some ideas for your own toolbox makeover!
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Each toolbox is lovely Linda. I’m partial to the black ones. All the black ones.
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I should do another black metal one. I’ve done more black wooden toolboxes, and I didn’t really include those in this post (here’s a good one, and the one at the end of this post was one of my favorites!).
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Toolbox art . . . I’m loving it!
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Thank you!
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Miss Quandie! I never get tired of seeing your toolbox transformations! Of course the Drop Cloth with dark lettering are my favorites and I just LOVE them…….but I also love seeing the floral ones because I like seeing what you do with all the things and how well you do it 😀 Also, tool boxes feed into my life-long attraction to boxes in general!
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You and me both Connie, I love a good box 😉
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Love your`toolboxes! where do you find them? Do you have to pay a premium price? `
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I mainly find them at garage sales, and that’s because I won’t pay a premium price for them. I only grab them if they are $10 or less, and often find them for just a few dollars at garage sales. They are usually priced too high for me at thrift stores.
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