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Wednesday, September 8, 2010

My New, Old Hope Chest

My mom gave me this hope chest when I got married.  It was hers before she got married.  It is great for extra storage, but as you can see, it was needing a facelift.

The top was the worst, you can see the finish is so worn.  At one point a couple years ago, one of my kids (I don't remember which one) had gotten a green marker and traced their handprint on the top.  Of course when I first saw it, I was upset, but I never washed it off, thinking that one day I would see it and remember how small the kids once were.  Sadly, it has worn away and no longer there.  So now I was free to paint or recover it without regret of that little memory.



First I called my mom to make sure she would not be upset it I painted her hope chest.  She said of course not, it was not hers anyway.  So I got down to business.  First I picked up some fabric I loved, and found some paint to match.  I took off the top and all the hardware.  This was my first attempt at upholstering anything, and I must say it really was easy and I love the way it turned out.  Then I primed and painted the whole thing and gave the hardware a coat of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint.  That stuff is beautiful!


It is black, but has specks of metallic in it, almost like a hammered look.  It looks better in real life.  And please forgive the quality of these photos.  They were taken with my phone, because I couldn't find any batteries for my camera.

Isn't that a huge difference?  I love the way it turned out.  It is now sitting at the foot of my bed.  It was supposed to function as a bench for putting on shoes or whatever, but mostly it just holds laundry baskets full of clothes waiting to be put away.  But at least it looks pretty while doing it!


I have some of this fabric left over, so I'm thinking about making some pillows with it and freshening up my room a bit.  If I ever get around to that I'll let you know.  And if I ever get batteries I'll take some real pictures so you can see what it really looks like. 

My next post is going to be my new Fall Wreath I made.  I'm in love with it.  But first I need batteries.  Thanks for stopping by!

Linking up to Transformation Thusdays @ The Shabby Chic Cottage and Miss Mustard Seed's Featured Furniture Friday.

4 comments:

Debilou ~ Mississippi Mama said...

Love the way you spruced up the hope chest. It looks great

Unknown said...

it looks great! And who couldn't use some useful storage that's pretty too?

saw this linked up on my repurposed life.

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

I think your hope chest turned out great! I love the fabric.
thanks for linking up to catch-as-catch-can!
gail

Twila said...

Wow, you did a great job on the chest! I see you're still coupon crazy. ( : and good at it!