The Springfield, Ohio Flea Market…. awwwww… A distant memory.  Last weekend we were on our way home with our goodies from our second round of shopping.  And, we had a great happy hour and came home and made fools of ourselves on our Instagram stories while making tater tots in our air fryer.  ????  Have I mentioned we had the best weekend?

We picked up lots of little treasures this year at the flea market.  Including this wooden box that used to be an antique wall telephone.  Obviously none of the hardware was left but I love old items like this.  They come in so handy, and I can think of a MILLION things to do with them.  And they add that vintage look in my decor that I love so much.

Today I wanted to show you how we cleaned up the antique telephone box and a simple Fall decor idea using only a few items.  We cleaned up an antique cabinet a few days ago that smelled like a barn.  This piece didn’t smell but it sure needed some love.  Here is what we did.

Refurbishing the Antique Telephone Box

As you can see by the before picture, it was a little rough.  Some of the original finish was coming off, there were scratches, and even splatters of paint.  It looked dull and lifeless.

We started by sanding the entire telephone box with 80 grit sandpaper.  And then we worked our way down sanding again with 120, and then 220 grit.  We didn’t really pay much attention to the deep scratches.  They don’t bother me.  I just wasn’t liking how dull and terrible the finish looked.

We then took a we cloth and wiped it clean of all of the dust, inside and out.

And then, we coated it with two coats of Varathane just as we did on the Parker cabinet we bought.  It is a water based sealer and it is such a great product.  It brings the wood tones out and makes them so pretty.  We use Satin so it’s not shiny but it’s not dull either.  I’m very impressed with that product.  ????   AND… it takes 10 minutes to dry.

Also.. Deb rubbed the metal latch with steel wool and it shined it right up.

Different Uses for the Antique Telephone Box

I can think of SO MANY different uses for an antique telephone box, or any box like this with a lid.  I thought I would share them with you in case you have something like this and don’t know what to do with it.  You could set it on a table or hang it on the wall.

• Use it on the side table to hold remotes
• Add some shelves on the inside and you have an essential oil cabinet
• Little hooks would turn this into a jewelry cabinet for necklaces
• Drill a hole on the side and fish phone chargers in it for a charging station
• Use it on your bathroom vanity to hold makeup
• Perfect size to hide your tissue boxes
• Set on the back of the toilet to hold extra rolls
• Perfect to hold extra kitchen utensils

Let me know in the comments if you can think of anything else one could use this little antique telephone box for.

Simple Fall Decor

While I have your attention on the little telephone box, I figured I would point out to you that I decorated around it with a few simple items.  I placed a real pumpkin on it and added a few Fall sprigs.  It makes it look very Fall-y with just two little items.

So when you really don’t want to dig out all of your Fall items, or if you can’t find them in the storage unit like us, this is such a simple Fall look with two items.

You guys… it took Deb 5 minutes to sand it and it took me 10 minutes to seal it.  I even applied two coats.   It was such a simple and fun project.

What do you think of the antique telephone box re-do.