Restore an Old Trunk

by Anne Charriere

4 Days

Medium

The trunk is now finished!
This one was the "linen" one as it has been covered with this fabric more than 10 years and the reason was to hide the ugly material glued on the wood.
A huge attention was needed: wood worn prevention, cleaning, oiling... So in acordance with the living area makeover I decided to go ahead with this new project and update a little bit..
The whole piece is now proudly standing in the living area and I am so glad about the natural effect!
Check out the BEFORE and AFTER as well as the whole process.

BEFORE

restore an old trunk, painted furniture, repurposing upcycling

I removed all the fabric and completely cleaned and treated the wood. As with the previous trunk, I had a lot to do taking off fabric and paper inside.. Aaaarrrrgghhh...

Once linen removed, I had to take off another fabric which was directly stuck on the wood but could manage quite easily using water and ammonia. I left the wood completely exposed and natural.

I then cleaned, treated and primored the inside and bottom sides. To end, I fixed 4 pieces of felt to prevent scratches on the floor.

The good thing is I could recue 2 old luggage stickers and put them back on it!

Heat gun with clear wax

This is the final result...

AFTER

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Frequently asked questions

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3 questions

Jenny Criswell on Mar 14, 2017

Did you happen to paint the inside or is it linen that I see?

1
Al on Dec 15, 2018

can you remove two coats of paint from a canvas covered trunk

0
Cheryl on Jul 17, 2019

Did you have leather handles? I’m restoring a teunk bur cant get the old handles off!!

0