$15 Coffee Table Trunk

Trunks used for coffee /end tables or stacked up just for décor is a look I’ve seen in every magazine recently. I absolutely love this look! Of course all the stores and magazines I’ve seen this in are asking hundreds or thousands of dollars for these trunks. 

Restoration Hardware $1,795.00...are they crazy!?

Pottery Barn Josefa distressed trunk $499...seriously?!

 

Wandering around Second Chances, one of my favorite furniture and materials warehouses (if you live in the Baltimore area go there!), I stumbled across this ugly looking thing. It was a flat topped trunk which had clearly seen better days. Trunks used to be wrapped in fabric, and the cloth was still on this one, but it was dry rotted and falling off in bits and pieces. The majority of the trunk was covered in rust, and it had also been painted a ugly dull orange color. Honestly, it looked gross. I didn't even want to touch it.

Yes, that is bird poo

I continued to walk around the warehouse, but came back to the trunk twice. It looked rough and needed A LOT of work. I was hesitant to buy it, but under all that mess it had such character and potential. I had to have it! The warehouse was asking $5o for the trunk, but I was able to knock down the price to $15 after pointing out what terrible shape it was in (aka me kicking it and the top falling completely off its hinges).  

Once the trunk was loaded into my car I began to notice a gross musty odor. Already I was starting to have buyer’s remorse. When I got home I dumped the trunk in my backyard and stripped off all the rotting cloth and sanded off all the glue that was underneath. This greatly improved the smell. Next I sanded off the ugly orange color and rust that covered the trunk.

Such a huge improvement already!

I really liked the way the tin looked, and toyed with the idea of leaving it like that. Unfortunately, some parts of the tin looked better than others, so I decided to paint the handles black. Next, I stained the trunk a beautiful dark brown that I had left over from staining my floors.

My own coffee table trunk for just $15!

I was intending on putting the trunk between my couch and chair to use as a table, but the space between them was too large and it didn't look right. After all that work too! Lesson learned, measure things before you buy them! I ended up selling the stained trunk, but I found a WWII officers trunk at Goodwill the other day I think might work. Still unsure what I'm going to do with it. Any suggestions for color or design?

Any suggestions for color or design?