Easy Steampunk (Patreon)

I didn't think to take a "before" photo but when I found this in a thrift store it was flat black. I'd planned on painting it pink because I always forget how much time painting actually takes. So, while I was priming and painting the wood that would eventually be the shelves in my craft room, I started working on this. By this time I'd been reminded that painting things is actually a long and annoying process and getting this ready to paint made me realize just how damn annoying it would be in this case. There were 12 of those little rectangular bits that I'd have to unscrew and prime and paint and probably paint again. That meant 28 little screws and 56 tiny washers I'd have to not lose in the process. I unscrewed four of them before realizing that this was insane. But I didn't want it to just be black. And any solid color would have the same problem. But then I realized that black base+mottled metallics=Steampunk! It was done in minutes and I'm pretty damn proud of it. If I ever want to make it more ornate I can always add more layers of detail, gears, stencils, whatever. But since it's just a decorative box that only has to please me, this is fine. Also it felt really nice to make something easy on myself for once.