I was given this old trunk 33 years ago by my parents to restore in my spare time. Must not have found any spare time since it languished in my basement for 33 years before I finally decided I had the time and tools to do the job. I bought a book on how to restore old trunks named
Antique Trunks Refinish, Repair, Restore by Linda Edelstein and Paul Morse
I learned a lot from that book! And I think my finished product shows it if I may brag a bit. Once I started, I became obsessed with finishing it. I spent all of Jan and Feb 2012 every day until it was done. Would I ever do another one or recommend anyone restoring their own? Yes! As long as they keep making great instruction books like above and that powerful Ready Strip, and easy to apply Rust-Oleum, a big yes. All you need is the time.The attached photos show my progress from start to finish. Every step was clearly explained in the book. Hope you enjoy seeing them.
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| Let's start |
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| Let's start |
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| Let's start |
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| Let's start |
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| First lots of Ready-Strip |
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| A little glue here and there |
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| Lots of blades used here |
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| Endless scraping |
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| Even more |
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| Some nice oak under all that |
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| Discouraging to start a new side |
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| Top almost looking good |
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| Now that is some nice oak |
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| Top finally done. A little stain, gold paint, Rust-Oleum |
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| Rust proofing the bottom |
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| Front done. Took twenty hours |
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| Looking nice |
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| Now for the interior |
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| Some necessary tools |
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| Keep it wet |
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| Endless layers on layers of old paper |
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| Sharp tools needed here |
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| And here |
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| Third paper layer and I see wood! |
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| Musty, moldy mess. You need a mask. |
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| Through the third layer |
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| Many pictures on each layer |
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| Many pictures on each layer |
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| Many pictures on each layer |
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| Many pictures on each layer |
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| Only one I was able to save |
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| The cleated nails need rust proofed |
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| All the seams were covered with old cloth strips |
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New ones added on seams and any repaired splits. They were originally to keep dust out.
Next thing to do is replace the original many layers of musty paper lining with some pretty new appropriate paper. I'll post photos of this phase of the project soon. Check back.
May 25, 2012:
OK, I’m basically done with this project. I’ve lined the trunk with a pretty floral wall paper. (Paper cost more than the original auction price of the trunk) I found this job more tedious than all the others. I’ve never applied wall paper to anything but a nice flat wall. Here, I found myself trying to do the topologically impossible. Fitting a 2-dimensional flat piece of paper to a three dimensional ellipsoidal shaped dome. Can’t be done without a lot of cutting and fitting. Got the job done eventually. Had to make the curved lid and latch for that little inside compartment from scratch as it was missing from the original. A little steam, a 1/16” thin piece of plywood, some clamps, etc.
Now I have to decide if I want to make it look like a lot of the old original period trunks seemed to look. They were rather gaudy in my opinion. See the sample photos I found of original ones below. I managed to reproduce the original theme pictures, ‘pretty lady” and “guardian and companion” using Photo Shop. They came out nice. I might install them as in the original. I’m ambivalent about the borders around everything that seemed to be popular in the 1880’s. I can add them or not…..decisions…..decisions. Anyway I’m finished...almost. I never want to see another antique trunk! Facebook comments/opinions welcomed.
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