Friday, October 14, 2011

Painting a Wooden Trunk

OK, I promised in an earlier post that I would write a post about the trunk which I painted and now have as our coffee table.  I have always wanted a trunk as my coffee table, and until I find a real one (preferably vintage steam trunk that is not being sold for thousands of dollars)...this was a little project that I took on for the fun of it.

I bought this trunk (really a chest made of wood and plywood hand painted by someone and with some trunk accessories added) at a thrift store for $25.  I thought it was kind of pretty but just not my style (it is also VERY sturdy and in excellent condition.)
I bought Glidden satin finish chocolate brown paint (which, if I could do it over I would not have chosen.  I think I would have liked semi-gloss espresso or black better.  But, you live and learn.)  And I got Martha Stewart vintage gold craft paint, some stencils, a medium sized paint brush, and a pack of 2 small stencil brushes.  This was all found very easily in the paint section of Home Depot.  It also cost a total of maybe $15.  I put 2 coats of brown paint on, let it dry to the touch, and then did the gold stenciling.  It was dry by a few hours later.  The inside lid was already white, so I left it and just put a little gold stencil inside.

After I finished, I thought the trunk looked fabulous.  But it looked too new, like it had just been painted.  (Probably because it just had.)  So I took sand paper and sanded the edges a little to give it some scuffs and make it look more worn in.  I like how the scuffs define the edges of the trunk better.
And here we go, now as our coffee table.  When we find a real vintage trunk, this one will probably become our kids' new toy box.  But until then, it's cute, and very functional.

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