Restored Camel Back Trunk
I found this camel back trunk at an estate sale for $75. Someone had partially spray painted it silver. Very disgusting ! But the tin was in great shape and I have a soft spot for these beauties so it came home with me ! Leather handles and lock were gone but all hardware was in good shape.
As you can see, it needed lots of TLC !
I used Orange Peel to strip it. It was gentle on the tin and took the silver paint off the wood straps too ! I tested it in a back corner before using it all over. Sanded down the wood and re-stained it.
I then covered the wood strapping and hardware with blue painters tape and painted the entire trunk with Krylon semi gloss spray paint, twice. While all this was going on, I had newspaper, baking soda and coffee grounds inside the trunk trying to get rid of as much old, musty smell as possible.
I found liquid pewter at Michael's and hand painted the hardware and even touched up the heads of the nails in the wood strapping. The black paint really made the faux alligator stamped tin pop and look like real leather ! I also spray painted several coats of clear polyurethane over the entire trunk at the end.
Side view of the hardware. Couldn't believe how good the condition of it was considering it's over 100 years old !! There was one small crinkle in the tin on the back side at the bottom. No rips or tears.
The inside tray was in wonderful shape. Most of the paper inside the lid had disintegrated but I was able to save a little of the outside border. I watered down some Elmer's glue and painted over it to keep it in place. The musty smell did not leave entirely so I decided to seal the entire inside with several coats of polyurethane. As you can see, it's now my crafting trunk !
I keep all my crafting things in here ! Fabric, patterns and cutting pad is in the bottom. Paint brushes, glue, etc. is in the tray. Above the trunk, I have an old Coca Cola bottle flat hanging on the wall that holds all my paint bottles.
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 60 comments
-
I'm so happy thou shared this! It's exactly the color scheme I was going for.
-
Great Trunk! I rescued one from neighborhood trash pile. Just couldnt let it go to the dump grounds. Lined the inside with cedar. Smells great!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?