I have an old hope chest does anyone have ideas as to refinishing it.

Do you want to paint it or stain it?

How lucky you are! You could paint it, stain it, cover it in wallpaper, put padding on top to make a bench. The possibilities are endless.

I mod-podged the top of a hope chest with fabric and it was used as a coffee table.

My daughter took my mothers very old cedar chest and painted it. It looks amazing. The chest was so old that the varnish had crackeled the top, she did no sanding to it as she wanted the texture. Paint can make a huge difference in old furniture. Good luck!

Our daughter had a hope chest we bought her for Christmas 40 years ago. She moved around a lot and had it stored in a garage covered with her husbands ???

It was pretty beat up. She asked if I could fix it up. We had just moved into an older home we bought. It had a lot of restoring to do. I stored it in my garage for 20 years. One day I was caught up and drug the hope chest out. I removed the broken pieces and bought new wood and used the old for patterns. I sanded it all down. Place the new wood designs on it and ordered new china knobs for it. It has a padded seat that was still in good condition. I shampooed it and put 3 coats of stain on the chest. It turned out beautiful. When she stopped buy. I took her to the garage and she had a fit at how it turned out. Now 10 years later it is still covered up in my garage as she can't find room in her condo for it. LOL. What we do for our kids..

Could you refinish a cedar chest for outdoor seating?