The Super Cool Mexican Pirate Chest

You never know when you're going to come across a really cool piece to work on and restore. Take my latest project for example.

Isn't this the COOLEST looking wooden chest?!

I stumbled upon it at one of the Habitat for Humanity ReStores near me. It had a metal plate on the back that read "Hecho en Mexico". Not only was it super cool, it was made in Mexico.

I nicknamed it the super-cool-Mexican-pirate-chest in my head as I was working on it. It had a rusty elaborate latch on the front with the key still attached.

The original metal handles were also still attached.

The joinery on the sides was beautiful!

The trim on the bottom was wearing some dings from age, but I thought they were completely charming.

The chunky round feet won me over too.

I knew I wanted to use Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint on this piece because milk paint is a total boss on raw wood furniture. It soaks in like a champ and gives you color without laying on the surface. It's hard to describe, but when you've painted a piece in milk paint, it just looks authentic.

I mixed up some Ironstone and watered it down a bit. I wanted to apply a color wash and create a driftwood effect.

I've learned that my leftover gelato container works perfectly for mixing milk paint. Hey, use what you have, right?

Just as planned, the Ironstone brushed on like a wash.

It dried quite light, but I didn't mind. Like I said, my plan was to layer, so I followed up with another coat of watered-down Ironstone and then I dry brushed on some Trophy.

Here's a look at the effect before I started waxing with Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Wax. See how it looks kind of like driftwood that has aged over time? After I waxed with Furniture Wax, I followed up with some White Wax here and there.

Here is the chest all finished and staged on our balcony. I'm sure the siding doesn't make the prettiest of backdrops, but our apartment is a bit overrun with furniture projects at the moment (love you, Marc!). Outside was the easiest option for this little photo shoot. (Plus, it gave the neighbors something to talk about!)

I staged the chest with two pretty lanterns, a copy of an 1800's hymnal, a cowbell I was so happy to find on my last antique shopping trip, and an antique linen tablecloth.