Garage Sale Redo: The Toy Box

If any of you know me personally, you know I am somewhat obsessed with garage sales and auctions. There is something about the thrill of looking through someone's junk and imagining all the possibilities in it!

I went by this garage sale about a month ago and picked up this super ugly toy box for $3.

I looked at it and thought, "This has potential to be a great toy box for Aiden!" I am slowly working on a firetruck theme in his room and I could see this toy box red and white to match the new theme.

I had some white paint already on hand, so started with painting the entire toy box white. I picked up this Rust-Oleum Sunrise Red paint at the hardware store for about $13.
I purchased some wooden letters from Hobby Lobby ($1.50 each) and used the paint to paint them red. I also painted the legs and handles of the toy box the same red color.
When I painted the top, I noticed how bad of condition it was in. The toy box does not have normal wood on the sides and top. It was almost like some type of textured particle board. Anyways, the top looked terrible, so I decided to make it a cushion. (Secretly hoping that some day my little guy would climb up on top and maybe curl up with a good book.)

I purchased some 2" foam ($7) and a yard of fabric ($6) also from Hobby Lobby (I LOVE that store!). I removed the lid from the box and cut the foam and fabric to fit the top.
Laying out the fabric, foam, and top-- I stapled the fabric to the lid.
The bottom looked terrible after the staples, so I used the extra fabric to cover up the rest of the lid. I adhered it to the lid using fabric glue (lots and lots of fabric glue!)
If I planned on my little guy sitting on this toy box someday, I knew those wheels would need to go. They barely wheeled around and I am pretty sure any weight on them would have broke them. So I needed to remove them. I removed two with ease, it's just a matter of pulling the wheels out of the holes, but two of the wheels were stuck in there forever! I worked on the wheels for hours and not one of the remaining budged! Eventually, I decided to take a different route and bring power tools into the mix. I used my angle grinder to saw off the remaining wheels.
I decided to install these wheels with a plate caster to cover up the holes from the previous wheels ($7 for the set).
Also, to prevent any smashed fingers, I installed a toy box hindge ($5).
I reattached the lid and glued the wooden letters to the box with some wood glue. The results were AMAZING! You would have no idea this was the same toy box I picked up at that garage sale!
Here is the toy box open and full of toys!
The before and after:
Total Cost of the toy box:

Toy Box ($3) + Paint ($13) + Letters ($6) + Foam ($7) + Fabric ($6) + Wheels ($7) + Hinge ($5) = $47.00

Not the cheapest redo project, but I still have foam, fabric, and paint left over for some other projects! And you know what, my son LOVES his toy box! It's the perfect height for his size!

I guess the moral of my story is, go garage sale shopping! You never know what you will find and with a little creativity, what you can turn it into!

Do you have any awesome garage sale redos? If so, I would love to have you link them below in the comment section!

~Beth