Antiquing Wire Baskets

I realized when I was talking photos of these beauties that I am really into making new things look old and old things look new! I Have been looking for something that is not too intrusive to go onto the gallery wall in our entry way that will hold our mail. I found these baskets at Marshalls and loved the rustic look of them:

But the words on them were silly, so I sanded them off.

And now they hold fruits and veggies in our Expedit room divider.

I decided I wanted something similar looking in our entry to hold in coming and out going mail. I found these wire baskets in the bathroom section in Ikea and immediately thought they'd be perfect! Well, with a little sanding and staining :)

They were only $2.99 each! Ya can't beat that with a stick!

Here they are!

Cute, right?!

Here is a before meets after shot.

Up close you can see the spots that have been sanded. I used very coarse sand paper first, then went over it with very fine sandpaper, about 320 grit. The key is to not get all perfectionist on it.

I then took a sponge brush and dabbed on brown stain making sure to get in all of the little creases. I let it dry over night then sprayed it with Rustoleum crystal clear enamel to seal them.

Look how stark this baby was before I showed it a little love and attention. The white is great for perhaps a darker wall, or a different space. But I love the contrast of the aged basket to the cream color of my light wall. It looks more like art.

Now all they need are labels!

How do you store your incoming and outgoing mail?

I linked up!

Friday:

Simply Designing

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

The Shabby Nest

Saturday:

Funky Junk Interiors