A '12th century painted chest'

This is a project I finished this summer.

How to make a "12th century painted chest" for those folks who have no tools:
Take the Ikea APA toybox: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20078031

Start by staining the wooden rails. Then paint the panels with matte finish spray paints. Painters Touch Decorator colors work well. For the panels that are pre-assembled in the kit, mask the different areas with masking tape and paper.

This design is my interpretation of a Tree of Life pattern from the doorways of early medieval English churches.

Cut a stencil out of thin posterboard. Save the inner pieces to mask unpainted areas.

Paint the green vines first.

Pull the flower shapes away to then paint yellow.

Hold down the cardboard so mist does not get under the stencil.

When dry, pull stencils sway carefully. Your spray painting is done! Outline shapes with a black matte enamel paint (like Rust-o-leum). Assemble the rest of the chest according to directions.

I lined the inside with felt. The inner surface of the panels is a rough textured pulpwood, and I wanted to hide that.

Your chest is almost done!

Add handles to the sides.

I also added nail-in chair gliders to protect the bottom of the chest. The lid is left as a lift off type, hinges will not work because of the rail shape.