Redecorate my newspaper box!

March 23, 2025 2:17 PM

I am now the owner of an old newspaper box, something like this. Help me turn it into something fun!

I’d like to turn this into a Little Free Craft Box, but first I need to clean it up and repaint it.

What’s the best way to clean it up? What’s the best spray primer to use? What’s the best spray paint to use? It will live outside, so sunlight is a factor. I’m on a shoestring budget with this, and time is also limited (thus the spray paint recommendation request). Decorating it is the easy part—I need a quick lesson in how best to prep it. Specific techniques and product recommendations especially welcome!

posted by MonkeyToes to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Hose it down to remove loose dirt. Dry it with rags. Peel off any stickers. Use 120 grit sandpaper to remove any loose paint / rust and scuff up any unblemished paint. Hose it again to remove dust. Dry it again. Use masking tape and newspaper to cover up any windowed areas inside and out. Use Rust-O-leum spray auto primer, grey, according to directions -- outside. Let dry.

Now you have a clean grey, reasonably rust-free metal box you can paint with other colours, either spray paint or acrylics or whatever you want. For more outside durability, after you are done decorating, spray or brush it with exterior varnish. Don't get any varnish on any clear plastic (newspaper and masking tape again), it will craze and yellow.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:02 AM on March 24 [4 favorites]

Rust-oleum is my go-to for outdoor painting projects. Prep as seanmpuckett described. For the final coat, Rust-oleum has a wide variety of colors and finishes suitable for outdoor use.
posted by mama penguin at 5:11 AM on March 24 [2 favorites]

I should add -- wear a mask when sanding and using spray paint, and wash your hands after sanding. This is shit you don't want in your lungs.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:16 AM on March 24 [4 favorites]

I wouldn't worry so much about "best" if budgets are shoestring, as much as "appropriate". So if it was me, I would wash the whole thing with soap and water and let it dry completely before painting. Any dollar store/pound shop should have affordable DIY kit, and if you buy a spray primer that has metal as one of its appropriate surfaces listed on the can you should be good to go, regardless of brand.

Same with the colour spray: you can buy extremely expensive spray paints with all sorts of great properties, but with cost constraints, honestly this low-end spray paint will be fine. If you can swing it I would also buy "top coat", that usually comes with adjectives like "crystal clear transparent matte finish", in order to help protect it from the sun and wear.

Basically what everybody else said!
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs at 5:39 AM on March 24 [1 favorite]

Best answer: (Hey, uh, isn't the pictured box made of plastic, and not metal? Even the file name includes the word "plastic" on the web page. So maybe the above suggestions of sanding are well-intentioned but not 100% useful -- instead, enthusiastic scrubbing should be good, probably with a Magic Eraser or other melamine sponge.)
posted by wenestvedt at 8:29 AM on March 24 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Maybe you can contact the person who wrote this piece, given that they include their LFL number? https://littlefreelibrary.org/2021/03/how-to-turn-a-plastic-newspaper-rack-into-an-adorable-little-free-library/

Alternately, these folks might have suggestions: https://impactracks.com/pages/about-us-v2
posted by wenestvedt at 8:37 AM on March 24 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If it is plastic, Rust-oleum makes a plastic spray paint that works really good for exterior items.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:58 AM on March 24 [3 favorites]

You might also check out Little Free Contentious Library.
posted by intermod at 7:36 PM on March 25