Refinished Yard Sale Trunk

Do you ever need a little motivation to help  rise up and bring one of our latest finds to life?

I do. And it’s nothing like blog friends to get you going!  I finally refinished an old trunk III bought at a yard sale over three years ago. Today it stands sits proudly with a new coat of paint & a little pizzazz.


But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. When III rescued this hidden treasure at a neighborhood yard sale she looked something like this. Could you pass her up? What if I told you they only wanted $5.00?
A DIYers dream.

And at the foot of bed after bed she sat…collecting long lost treasures that include Third Eye Blind CDs and favorite sweatshirts, until one day I saw a little pinspiration that provided the much needed motivation to refinish the trunk.

Isn’t this piece beautiful, the perfect combination of clean lines and distressed charm. And just like that I had direction. After taping off the leather and nail head trip I sponge rolled the chest in a pure white…before it dried I went back over things with a sanding block. Aged perfection that only took about 20 minutes.

After painting and sanding I used this chevron stencil I made using my Silhouette and stencil film to add a monochromatic chevron pattern to the top of the trunk. I used the same white as before but painted a solid coat. I have to tell you that III was quite puzzled as I embarked on this part of the transformation. He sweetly asked what I was doing here…as in “Is it suppose to look like that? I thought you were making it look old, but chevron is new???” I’m not sure I’ve won him over on the pattern just yet…but chevron is working it’s charm.
For both the number 717 (our anniversary) and to refinish the brass I used Martha Stewart’s line of gilding finishes. I love the extra pop the fresh gold provides against the white.

(I used my Silhouette to cut the 717 stencil).

And just like that one person’s junk became our house’s treasure.
Have you upcycled a great find lately?

I’m also joining a few other parties,  including The Dog Days of  Winter are Over, which are always a hit!

TDC Before and After

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