From Drab to Fab: The Vintage Trunk Makeover

My mother-in-law gifted us a vintage trunk. Painted a dingy cream color with the interior covered in a yellowing wall paper that was peeling and crumbling, this thing had definitely seen better days.

I loved it as soon as I saw it! I knew that with a little TLC, this trunk could be a fabulous way to store the girls’ dress-up clothes.

They already loved it, regardless of the dismal shape that it was in. They piled their dress-up clothes in it as soon as we got it home.

And that’s how it stayed….for 3 years!

During the Covid lockdown, I finally made the time to refurbish this vintage trunk and I LOVE how it turned out!

Here is how we took our old steamer trunk from drab to fab!

The Supplies

• old steamer trunk
• orbital sander
• 120-grit sanding pads
• mini paint roller
• paint tray
• painter’s tape
• wrapping paper
• Zinsser Bullseye 1-2-3 Primer
• pretty paint (I used Sherwin Williams ‘Waterscape’)
• hammered bronze spray paint
• peel-and-stick wallpaper

DEWALT Random Orbit Sander, 5-Inch (DWE6421),YellowGator 5-Inch 8-Hole Hook and Loop Red Resin Multi-Surface Sanding Disc 120 Grit 50 PackKingorigin 4 Piece 4 inch Mini Paint Roller Covers,4 inch Mini Paint Tray,4 inch Foam Paint Trim and Touch Roller kit,Home Repair Tools,Tools,Tool kit,FROGTAPE 1358464 Multi-Surface Painter’s Tape with PAINTBLOCK, Medium Adhesion, 1.88ZINSSER 1 qt 02004 White, Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water-Based Stain Blocking Primer/SealerKrylon K02787007 Fusion All-In-One Spray Paint for Indoor/Outdoor Use, Hammered Dark Bronze 12 Oz.HAOKHOME 93005-2 Floral Wallpaper Peel and Stick Watercolor Cactus White/Pink/Green/Navy Blue Vinyl Self Adhesive Prepasted Decorative 17.7in x 9.8ft

Step 1: Remove the Old Handles

The first step in refurbishing the dress-up box was to remove the old handles.

At one point, this vintage trunk had leather handles attached to the sides by metal hardware. The leather straps rotted away long before we got it, so we removed the metal hardware that attached the straps to the trunk.

A task that sounded easy, but was so much harder than we anticipated. After a lot of unsuccessful prying, my husband finally removed them by using a punch and a hammer. He essentially hammered the trunk nails out backwards (from the inside of the trunk).

Step 2: Sand It

The next step of refurbishing this vintage trunk was sanding.

Using an orbital sander, I went over the whole trunk using 120-grit sand paper. I sanded the wooden parts, as well as the metal hardware.

I didn’t sand it down completely, just enough to make the surface rough enough to hold paint.

Step 3: Coat with Primer

After sanding, there were several dark spots on the trunk. Apparently, the trunk was originally black.

It took 2 thin coats of primer before it was ready for paint. I applied the primer using a mini foam paint roller, covering the whole trunk, metal hardware and all.

I used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Interior/Exterior Primer, which I use on almost all of my projects and it works great!

Step 4: Paint the Wood

The next step was to paint the wood portions of the chest.

Using the same mini rollers, I painted the wood portions of the trunk. I tried not to get paint on the metal hardware, but if I touched it a little it was okay – the hardware paint would cover it with no problem.

I let the paint dry overnight.

The paint color is Waterscape by Sherwin Williams, if you’re interested! We used this paint color on our vintage medicine cabinet too.

Step 5: Tape It

Hands down, this step was the most tedious and time-consuming part of this project.

In a perfect world, I would remove all of the metal hardware in order to paint the trunk and hardware separately.

However, this is not a perfect world and there was no way to remove all of the metal and hardware from this trunk without potentially wrecking it. Trying to pull the metal strips off would have bent and possibly cracked them, not to mention the corner pieces and clasps.

So, I was stuck taping around all of the metal pieces on the trunk. It was extremely time-consuming and used up 2 rolls of tape.

Using a box cutter with a sharp new blade, I was able to cut the tape to hug the rounded edges of the corner pieces and lock.

I used to leftover Christmas wrapping paper to cover the middle of each section. It looked crazy, but it worked!

Step 6: Paint the Hardware

FINALLY, after hours and hours of taping, we were ready to spray paint the trunk’s metal hardware.

I knew I wanted a darker metal (but not black) and something that would hold up to our kids playing. A hammered bronze spray paint was the perfect complement to the light blue of the trunk.

I sprayed it on the hardware in 2 light coats and then removed the tape while the paint was still wet.

Step 7: Apply Paper to Interior

The final step was to address the ugly interior of the trunk.

Inside, the trunk was covered with deteriorating printed paper. We chose to recover it with a floral peel and stick wallpaper that we found on Amazon.

This paper is the same kind we used inside our vintage hardware cabinet and it works great! It is truly a removable wallpaper, as we had to pull it up and reposition it SEVERAL times to get it right.

I won’t give a tutorial for applying this wallpaper because it was truly a trial and error process for us. It was hard and aggravating and we cussed through most of the ordeal, but it was SO worth it!

We are planning to put new handles on the trunk, but haven’t found any that we love yet. Eventually, we’ll come across the perfect ones.

Refurbishing this vintage trunk was a long, tedious process, but I am obsessed with how beautifully it turned out!