Junk [in the] trunk

My trunk, in my trunk. 

This is more of a "how I did it and you should probably do something different if you decide to" than a "how to." Watch and learn, folks. 

Well, it's finally here. Finally done. The project of my summer. My trunk is finished!!

I bought an antique steamer-type trunk at a flea market in Mississippi. 

Originally $85, got it for $65. Winner. 

It was in good shape, but definitely needed some TLC. 

Nope, sorry, not you guys. 

So the trunk being all black and shiny doesn't really go with my aesthetic, not to mention the grody teal wallpaper lining the inside wasn't really conducive to storing things in the trunk. I didn't take a picture of the blue wallpapered inside, because I'm a dummy/I was too dirty from cleaning it out to stop and take pictures. 

It had these handles that the guy at Lowe's obligingly accidentally broke off for me. Under the handle is an example of the tealish wallpaper on the whole deal. I got really cozy with my scraper. 

I had to replace the bottoms of the drawers because they... well, they looked like this. 

So I painted the drawers and nailed some plywood on the bottom. 

Why there are fingerprints on it, I have no idea. 

Then I varnished the inside after it was all cleaned out and smoothed. 

Squeaky clean!

Then, I decided to paint the outside brown and do the trim in copper to give it some contrast and get it back closer to the original metal look. 

This meant I had to tape everything off. I am NOT good at this. 

There has got to be an easier way to do this. 

But it got all taped off and trimmed...

I'm obviously not so good at spray painting without a lot of overspray, either. Whoops. 

And this is where I just gave up taping. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

Then, I taped off what I had just painted and painted the rest a deep brown. 

Yup. Look at that pro finish right there. 

And then took a small brush to touch up basically every edge on the whole deal. 

Thank goodness that worked. 

And then it looked way too shiny and new, which is not what I wanted. So I made it look old and well-traveled, which it is, with some antiquing glaze. 

Fix it up and make it look new to make it look old. Men won't understand this. 

I finished up the drawers by putting fabric on the front and snazzy new drawer pulls. Getting the original handles off was a pill because they were barbed into the wood. 

Also not pro. But I also don't care. Hot glue ftw.

I hand-drilled holes for the drawer pulls. I do not recommend this. 

I do, however, recommend making a hole in the fabric instead of forcing the drawer pull through. Trust me. 

Yay finished drawers!

Put the drawers in...

Then I cut foam and covered it in fabric with hot glue. Then I glued the foam pieces into the lid to make it look padded and nice. 

My mom said it looks life a coffin. I dunno, you be the judge.

And it's finished!

So here's the completed inside:

Going to use it to store blankets and games and stuff. Also useful for hypnosis. 

And here's a few shots of the finished outside:

Bam. Trunk. 

I ended up spending around $100 for it total and many hours of labor, so I don't think I'll be doing this again any time soon. I could probably sell it for a good bit, but it's too much work to do that routinely. But I'm proud of my investment and work. It's definitely not perfect and I made a lot of mistakes, but I like it and that's what counts. 

So now all I need to do is 0) pray for a miracle, 1) get a job, 2) get an apartment, 3) move, and then finally, 4) use my awesome new trunk as a coffee table. Woo!