A method for making a housing for an electronic device, including steps of: providing a substrate; forming a base paint layer on an outer surface of the substrate; forming a metallic layer with a metallic appearance on the base paint layer; forming a chemical resistant protective coating on the metallic layer, the protective coating having substantially the same shape as desired patterns; chemically removing the metallic layer not covered by the protective coat, the remainder of the metallic layer forming desirable patterns; and removing the protective coat. A housing made by the present method is provided.