Decorate a Box with Upcycled Material

Happy new week everyone! Today I feel particularly well rested and the reason is simple. Yesterday evening I closed my phone for few hours. It is surprising how much energy an open phone can take. I tend to browse it quite often, check the weather and time, see whats happening in the social media, write messages, read some news etc. If it gives a sound I will go and see whats up, usually a new e-mail is in question and then I begin to think what ever is the subject of the message. You know how people send e-mails in weird times even though they would be living in the same time zone. Before these phones I saw the messages when I first went to computer in the morning. Now those might wake me up at 2 a.m. Also I guess that the thought of being online all the time uses our energy unconsciously. Smart phones are great for connecting and getting inspiration and support from other creatives. It saves time not to be forced to open the computer all the time. But then the opposite side  of the coin is that immediate reaction is required. And that readiness state consumes energy. 

I have been drawing and writing a special summer bullet journal. I made a mind map about things I want to do this summer. Most of the things I listed where relaxing and offline activities. I want to read books all day, bike, craft and, what really woke me up, to spend a weekend with no plans at all. These days it is challenging to have a weekend without plans in advance. Always someone sends a message and demands a meeting when you have planned to spend a day without responsibilities. I don't dream about spending the whole weekend doing nothing or meeting no one. I dream about empty space I can spend as it feels like in the moment. That in the morning when I wake up I don't have a booked calendar but possibility to read til afternoon, go to thrift stores, attend to an event, call friends, pick flowers or clean the house if I choose. These empty spaces are easily broken. First there is one meeting, then a task and another. This is a question about personality too. I am an introvert and need days when I can load batteries without a need to be social. Some might get more energy when they know they can fly from meeting and task to another. It is not being selfish or difficult if you say no when you need time to relax and go according to your own plans.

Getting inspired and doing creative work consist of stimulation (for example object, material, picture, voice, scent), time to ponder and hard work. When one of these factors is working an idea might be born but to get it finished is quite impossible. To turn a rough idea into a diamond I need all these three. This is a second DIY post where I use the same material, wooden shade I found from garbage. I have plans to make a third post too. In the first post I showed how I made a Nordic Style Plant Wall. Today I show how to use the left over material in a smaller project. Smaller just in it's physical form because this project requires more time. In the third project I will use left overs of this material. Material should be appreciated and used well even though it is upcycled and I want to provoke thought how many inspirational uses there are for a very common product when it goes broken. So the stimulation for this project was an object/material I found from garbage. Then I needed some days and empty evenings to look at the material and test it to process the ideas that occurred to my mind. I had and idea about a wooden box that could be decorated with the wooden pieces from the shade but how will I make it? Then it was hard work to go through ideas, choose one and make as neat finish as possible. I am very pleased with the end result. 

I had this wooden box that I had bought seven years ago. Back then country style was very fashionable but after the trend the box has served as storing box in the closet. I have been keeping Bullet Journal for an year now and thought it might be practical to have all markers, pencils, stickers, rulers, post-its etc. in one box that I could easily reach from table and spend few hours drawing. The box had to fit my home decor so I don't need to hide it back to a closet. Old box was perfect what came to size but it looked a bit silly with my current style. I wanted to give it a makeover and use upcycled material.

This is how the box looked before. I took the pieces apart and began to work with the box first, leaving the cover to wait. I measured the height of the box and began by sawing pieces of wood with the same size.

Then I used wood glue and glued the pieces side by side to cover the sides. When the work was dry I sanded the uneven ends.

Then I took off the framed chalkboard from the cover. I sawed a bit shorter pieces that matched to the cover better. I draw a line in the middle and glued the first line of herringbone. Then I worked the sides. Little gaps in the edges I filled with small leftover pieces. Then I let the work dry properly.

After the work was dry I sawed of the parts that went over the plate.

Almost ready. I still wanted to change the color of the frame to fit better to my home and it's colors. I used leftover coconut paint and painted three layers. Then it was time to put the pieces together. 

I am pleased how beautiful and stylish this box looks like in my living room. It hides the pile of BuJo equipment but keeps it near so I can anytime spend an hour of two drawing. Writing letters is trend these days so this box could also work as a keep for envelopes, papers and pencils. Or you could store in remote controllers, tissues, keys and all sorts of small stuff that lies on desks and on top drawers. Handy and pretty!

Hope you found this post both  inspiring and thought provoking. I wish you an inspiring summer week!

Sannu