Project: Trunk

I've had trunks on the mind lately. I've taken photos of trunks at antique stores, searched Pinterest, and concluded that I just might have to build one to get what I want.

Then... I got one.



It belonged to one of my uncles and had been sitting in my grandmother's basement for years. We found some newspapers in it from 1980--with articles about the Mt. St. Helens explosion! So cool.





Unfortunately there had been a leak in the basement at some point and the trunk had mold and mildewy grossness all over. Thank goodness we got it out of there when we did! I've seen trunks in much worse condition at antique stores--so I have hope.







So far all I've done is clean and assess. I want to preserve the trunk's character as much as possible, but also repair where needed, replace parts if necessary, and make it usable again.









I've done a little bit of searching online for trunk restoration resources and I've been pleasantly surprised by how much information is out there--plus part and tool sources!

So far this is how I am thinking of attacking this project:

• replace the worst metal corner edges


• repaint the metal bands and edges


• de-rust as much as possible


• replace the leather handles


• sand and re-coat the wood slats (probably with tung oil or something similar)


• repaint the outside (probably same or similar color)


• re-cloth the interior (or maybe add cedar slats?) and the insert


• replace part or all of the center lock mechanism (part of it is missing)

I've never done a project quite like this so it will definitely be a learn-as-I-go type of thing and the plan will certainly change. I might have to replace more of the hardware and may even decide to re-cloth the exterior... but that seems pretty ambitious. I don't want to take the trunk apart any more than necessary.