How to Paint a Wooden Bread Box

Give that old bread box a new look! Get my tips for painting a wooden bread box with chalk paint and a stencil in this easy DIY project!

Every morning before school, I make my son the same lunch: a peanut butter sandwich (no jelly for him. He complains that it's too messy! Did I mention he's a picky eater?) In the mad rush to get out the door, the bread and peanut butter end up sitting on the countertop all day, contributing to the clutter in our small kitchen.

After completing my kitchen makeover this summer, I vowed to keep it neat and clean. This beat up bread box I picked up at the thrift store is a key to keeping that promise.

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Materials Needed

• Old wooden bread box
• TSP cleaner
• Latex paint
  • I used chalk paint mix to give my painted bread box a matte finish.
• Stencil (optional)

How to Paint an Old Bread Box

Clean the wood

When I brought this bread box home from the thrift store, my husband gave me a look that said "You're not seriously thinking of putting food in that thing, are you?" Admittedly, it was in pretty sad shape, with an unknown sticky substance outside and crumbs lingering inside. A good scrub with TSP took care of all the grossness.

This stuff will suck the oils right out of your skin, so I recommend using protective rubber gloves when using it. But it does an amazing job at getting tough surfaces ready for paint!

Drill hardware holes (optional)

I wanted to install a handle to open the bread box rather than use the little grab notch cut into the front. What was it about the 80's that made people refuse to put hardware on anything, including our kitchen cabinets!

I stuck a piece of painter's tape to the back of the drawer pull, and poked a pencil into the holes where the screws will go. Then I centered the painter's tape over the notch and drilled the holes for the new hardware.

Paint all the wood surfaces

I mixed up four tablespoons of a chalk paint mix with two tablespoons of hot water and one cup of dark gray paint I found in the "oops" section of Home Depot. You can certainly use regular latex paint for this project as well!

This was my first time using a chalky finish paint, but it's certainly not my last! I was amazed at the solid coverage and how fast it dried. I only needed one coat for the interior, but applied two to the outside of the bread box for a flawless finish.

Add a stencil (optional)

I decided to add a French bakery stencil to the door so it didn't look so blah. Yes, I know that a pâtisserie sells pastries and a bread box should really say boulangerie. C'est la vie. 🙂

I mixed up a smaller batch of the chalk mix in the light gray color I used for our kitchen walls. After finding the perfect placement for the stencil, I held it down with stencil tape.

Lightly pouncing the paint onto the stencil allowed a bit of the dark gray paint to show through and gave it a vintage look.

Apply a protective top coat

Chalk paint can easily scratch off without a protective top coat. I sprayed the entire bread box with Rust-oleum's Chalked Protective Top Coat in a matte finish. Hand-applied wax probably would have given it a nicer sheen, but this spray was quick and easy to use.

Attach the new hardware

Finally, I attached the new hardware through the pre-drilled holes. Usually I would go with something more modern, but the traditional details of this door pull were a perfect match for the fancy French script of the stencil.

The screws provided with the hardware were too long, but it was easy to find shorter ones to match the depth of the bread box door.

Enjoy your newly painted bread box!

This project makes me want to scour every thrift store in search of more items I can make over with paint! This is one bread box that I won't be embarrassed to display on my countertop!