How to Turn an Old Milk Can into a Side Table

Do you want to learn how I turned our old milk can into a side table?

You’ve come to the right place!! 😊

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It seems like those old milk cans are everywhere!

We have had a few at our house collecting rust and dust for a very long time.

So when it was time for our Farmhouse makeover, I knew that I needed to drag one out and give it a new life!

My son needed an end table to sit next to his chair that didn’t take up too much room.

So out came the old milk can!! It was the perfect shape and size for what we needed.

Today, I’m going to give you the step by step instructions on how we turned this old milk can into a side table.

STEP 1:

Wash the can with soap and water, let dry.

Then wash it again with water and vinegar to get as much of the rust off as you would like.

If I was going to set the table on the porch, I probably wouldn’t have tried to get a lot of the rust off.

I also had to hammer the bottom of the can to make it flat (or flatter since I couldn’t get it completely flat) because it was rounded so it teetered when I put in on the floor.

I’m going to keep this process in step one because you won’t have to do this with most of the old milk cans.

STEP 2:

Spray paint the can with whichever color that you choose. I chose Tropical Oasis by Valspar because it matches my living room decor.

STEP 3:

I used a stencil that I made with my Silhouette Cameo.

I chose this design because I wanted a Farmhouse theme and I figured that our grandson would love it too!

If you don’t have a Silhouette, you can purchase many cute stencils from Amazon.

STEP 4:

We were lucky with this milk can because it had a lid with it. So we screwed the table top to the lid. The lid could then be removed if needed.

But before we worked with the lid, I stained the table top with my favorite stain, Jacobean by Minwax.

Look how dark and pretty it is when you apply it!!

Then we screwed the top of the lid using 3 screws to make sure it was sturdy.

We put the lid with the table top back into place in the old milk can.

That’s it!

Basically 4 steps and they were so easy!!

 

But if you would rather just by one, I have a few more that needs painted. When I get them done, I’ll put them in my shop so stay tuned. 😊

I would love to hear what you would do with an old milk can!

Let me know in the comments below 👇

 

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