Mail sorter & key holder makeover

1. I unscrewed and removed each bin, then sanded the entire surface with fine sand paper. After removing the sanding dust with tack cloth, I painted on a coat of primer. When that was dry, I painted three coats of the same black paint that I used to paint the drawer unit (in the first photo).

Tip #1 Disposable gloves will prevent the tack cloth’s sticky substance from getting on your hands. That stuff doesn’t come off.

Tip #2 Use paint that’s made for wood. It will give you a harder finish, but will take longer to dry. I used Benjamin Moore Metal & Wood Enamel in Space Black (2119-10).

2. After removing the bins, I discovered that the bottoms were little more than ⅛-inch thick, which wouldn’t be enough to screw cup hooks into. So I found a scrap piece of wood at The Home Depot that was the perfect thickness. I cut a piece to fit in the bottom of the bin (with a coping saw because it’s the only saw I had on hand, but a miter saw would be better). Then I sanded it and painted one side with black paint.

3. When the paint was dry, I clamped the piece of wood to the bottom bin and drilled pilot holes in the spots I had already measured and marked. Then I screwed each cup hook into the pre-drilled holes.

4. After I screwed the bins back in place, I measured and marked where I wanted each label holder to go. Then, I pre-drilled holes and attached the label holders. Finally, I made “In” and “Out” labels on my computer and dropped them into each holder. All I had to do next was hang it back on the wall and let it fully dry over the next few days.