Refurb Project: From roadside find to shabby chic

Every once in awhile, I make the joyous mistake of tackling a home refurbishing project. "Joyous" in its intentions and ultimate success; "mistake" in the amount of time it actually takes me, yet always worth it in the end. Years ago I rescued some chairs from the street and turned them from pea-green relics of the 70s to beautiful French/Parisian-style accent chairs with satiny, pale blue seats, delicate white trim and antique bronze buttons. Hmmm, perhaps I'll finally post the blog I always meant to for that project. More on that later.

Back to present: Two weeks ago, in the wake of Boston's "moving day" (known to some as "avoid going down one-way streets day" or "grab all the free furniture left behind day" or to those outside the city, simply "September 1st"), I rescued from a nearby curb in Arlington an old, battered trunk. This thing had clearly seen better days, with deep scratches, welts, and old stickers peeling at its sides. Before hesitating to consider what I would do with it, I quickly snatched it up, lugging it awkwardly back to my car like a pirate rowing back to the mothership with a chest of treasure.

And here we have it: Before...

The quintessential "before" shot.

And after!

...the "after" shot! Here's the trunk, pretty and painted, after hours of work and
$47 of supplies (including paints, primer, brush, and tape). Not bad all in all.
Photo: Merli V. Guerra.

Being a lover of history, I didn't jump blindly into my project, but rather took the time to fully document where my bruised old luggage had been. From its tags and where I found it, I can safely say it's traveled from coast to coast!—From San Francisco, CA, to Weston, MA, and from Wellesley Hills to Arlington, MA. 

Stickers helped tell its story.

...while painted words and initials helped tell the rest.

First it was time to clean it up. I carefully wiped it all down, turning my purple towel black with years of age. Next I sanded it down, taking extra time to sand off all the stickers to give it a nice smooth finish post-painting. (Don't worry, I still left in a few of its "flaws" to keep it true to itself.)

Who knew sanding it would take so much elbow grease...

Next, I found several blogs recommending using lemons coated in salt to naturally polish up the brass. I will freely admit that this appears to have done absolutely nothing in the long run, but hey—the living room has smelled lemony fresh ever since!

Sorry, internet. Your advice didn't seem to help this time.

Then it was time to tape it all down. Wow, this took forever. All those little metal nooks and crannies meant a refresher course in Patience 101.

I take everything back! I'll take sanding over taping any day.

Yet finally it was time to paint! After much deliberation with Sean—and a wonderful woman at the paint store whose opening words to me were "You're a 'Winter.' Let me get you your color wheel."—we agreed on painting the bulk of it Acadia White (Yes, I'll admit Acadia, ME, holds a special place for us...but honestly it's also just a fabulous shade of white!) with the top in a more durable Whale Gray.

First priming...

...then painting!

Then off with the tape for the grand reveal!

Et voila: A beautiful, fresh, contemporary look for this now "shabby chic" trunk. I'm in love.

From roadside find to shabby chic.
Photo: Merli V. Guerra.

And look how good it looks under that gorgeous
Larry Pratt photograph!

There's certainly more touch-up left to be done. No denying
that. But I was too excited to not document it post-tape peeling.

Old trunk; new look.
Photo: Merli V. Guerra.

Giving the past a modern home.
Photo: Merli V. Guerra.

So that's my latest project! Luckily, both Sean and my roommate Katie (who, by the way, deserves a huge shout out for awesomely helping me tape and untape this sucker) like it a lot, so I couldn't be more pleased. In the end, it is a bit too small to use as a coffee table, but it fits perfectly in the nook beneath my Larry Pratt photograph, and looks as though it was meant to live there all along.

I'd call this project a success. Do you?