Treasure Chest Rescue
by
Mindi
$50
3 Days
Easy
My 12 year old son loves to thrift shop with me. One day he spotted this treasure and just knew this would make a great project for me. A price tag of $6.99 and many people looking at it, he sat on it until I walked the store to find him just so nobody would take it. Turns out the shipping labels were very worn down and hard to read but they were dated from the early 1900's. I decided it was time to give my husband his own space to store his seasonal clothing and keep it stylish too. Our new treasure chest was born...
Trunk before my work began.
The first time I used Americana chalk paint and personally I prefer making my own. It was very chalky and did not go on as smooth. I used their turquoise then thier white to do a white wash and dry brush coat as well as some sanding for aging. Again, thanks to The Graphics Fairy, I borrowed some french typography graphics and hand transferred and painted on the graphics. I topped everything off with a dark brown wax to give it more of an aged look.
Side view of graphics and as you can see the leather handles are still in tact and in good condition too.
Another side shot. Sorry for the dark picture but the sun was not making it easy to photograph.
The inside of the trunk has seen better days. Still in great shape given it's age but the paper in some areas was bubbly and peeling obviously from some dampness through the years.
By far the hardest part. I searched high and low for the perfect wallpaper that did not cost an arm and leg with no success, so I settled with this printed contact paper. What a pain in the butt. Very slow proccess with alot of frustration due to bubbles forming. Luckily I am a fairly small person and could sit inside and work with it.
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2 of 7 comments
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i have alot of old trunks im going to give this a try i bought some contact paper already to do it but was afraid i would ruin it now im im going to try it thanks for the conformation
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I inherited two old military trunks from a dear friend that I want to utilize for pillow and blanket storage. What did you use to clean the inside of the trunk before applying the contact paper?
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