How to Bring Life to an Old Trunk

Sometimes I see a piece and I fall in love with it. That’s what happened with my trunk project. I saw this trunk online in this condition:

I knew this trunk had to be saved and just needed some hard work and love. First, I took off all the knobs and I cleaned off the entire surface with my go-to cleaner, Murphy Oil Soap.

I had to go over the inside of the trunk about three times with this stuff but it even removed the smoke smell!

I sanded the entire top of the trunk to get rid of the stains.

Then I used a white gloss spray paint that had a paint primer in it. This took about three coats to get a good coverage but it’s spray paint so it went fast! Note: When spraying painting don’t hold the spray paint too close to the piece and don’t go too slow. If you do this can cause drips on the paint.

Once the spray painting was done and the inside was shining again it was time to install some new knobs.

That’s it! This one was pretty simple and had such a dramatic difference. I ended up selling this piece because I didn’t have a spot for it but it is still one of my favorites and I was so happy with the end result!