Junk to Weathered Trunk

Ruth
by Ruth
6 Materials
$5
3 Hours
Easy
I Honestly alway give a treasure on the side of the road a second look, and when I saw this old trunk with rope handles I jumped on it. Being that I was in the south along the coast I knew it had to match my other decor. So I lugged it home filled with trash and all. Because I believe if someone left it out there for me The least I can do is respect them and take trash with me and not throw it in their yard. So all I had to do was empty out trash And wipe it down.
Rough
It was homemade and obviously got a lot of use because it was beat up quite a bit.
Drywall mud
Because I was away from home and my craft room I had to use drywall mud to fill in the large gouges. Rather then run to the store I use what I have around.
Lightly sand
Once my drywall mud dried I used a washable sanding block to smooth out all repairs.
Cleaned and ready to go
I used a light gray as my base because it was a paint and primer and some of the box had grease and grime on it that I could not scrub off.
Taped off
I taped off the rope handles and the outside Hinges with painters tape but when I painted the inside I free hand painted which I was a little surprised how well I did.
Finished coat
Here is my base coat of grey now I can start my dry coat layered paint job.
Applying acrylic paint
When I weather a paint job I use as many colors as I can to create dimension to my project. So I use blue, white, black, brown, red and turquoise paints.
Layered paint
I use paper plates and use a chip brush and lightly stroke the different colors of paint over base coat.
Adding clear coat
Once I felt it was completely covered with weathered coats of paint I went over the whole thing with a clear coat of polyurethane.
Applying clear coat
Once the clear coat was dry I removed painters tape and got it ready for casters.
Rolling casters
I found these nifty little casters at harbor freight and they were only .89 cents each and super easy to install.
Casters
I used four casters and angled each one in the bottom corners
Casters on
You can see how dirty the box was by the bottom. All four casters are On and secure then I flipped it over and Bingo
Weathered coastal trunk
Here is my completed junk to trunk weathered coastal road side find. It turned out amazing just need to find a place for it. I hope you enjoy and this has motivated you to take a second look at a piece of junk. Let me know your thoughts! Thank you
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Eric Eric on Feb 15, 2020

    You just gave me a great idea for a couple of small crates my wife wants to put on our wall for shelving. We’re 10 minutes from the beach and this weathered look will look fantastic!!!

Comments
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3 of 34 comments
  • Ruth Ruth on Feb 22, 2020

    Thank you Shirley, I used what colors inspired me.

  • Michelle Michelle on Mar 01, 2020

    Cool find and nicely done... and it does give me ideas for stuff painted in the grandkids play area.

    • Ruth Ruth on Mar 01, 2020

      Thank you, hope it turns out wonderful.

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