Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage

I completed my trunk table long before my blogging days, but I thought I’d share it with you since I receive a lot of compliments on it. This wasn’t a project I planned out and needed to go find the supplies for. I think the best projects aren’t planned because you find a piece of inspiration and just run with it. I found my trunk at Salvation Army piled in with some other luggage. It was $10 and I instantly knew it would be a killer table… with a lot of love that is (I typically buy things of this nature if you couldn’t already tell).

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

A photo I shared on Instagram that makes this trashy trunk look way more glam than it actually was.

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

The first photo was after I cleaned this beast and the second photo was after I slapped on a coat of chalkboard paint I had on hand. I thought about writing on it with chalk, but I decided that didn’t really go with my style. I also thought about painting the brown metal parts, but I didn’t have a good color for it and I thought it made the trunk look just shabby enough with the fresh paint. Still, I want to go back and clean it up a little bit more because there are some rusty spots that don’t look so hot.

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

The inside of the trunk had ugly contact paper and smelled mustier than a century old mummy. I scraped as much of the paper out as I could and vacuumed the rest. To get the smell out I put cat litter in the box. I heard that will trap all the smells and when you dump it out the smell will be gone. It worked I think but then it just smelled like dusty cat litter.

The new inside of the trunk is shelf liner but I totally bought the wrong kind. I bought the squishy stuff not the plain paper kind. I was in a rush and I really liked the design on it, but it cost like $10 and I ended up having to buy two rolls of it. Seriously a dumb mistake. I used mod podge to stick the shelf liner in so then my trunk smelled like glue instead of cat litter. I think that’s a good thing? Eventually I sprayed Febreze in it and it took the smell away. 🙂

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

An up close of the front hardware. This is one of my favorite parts about the piece.

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

I added this on so the lid would stay open while grabbing out blankets.

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

I measured how tall I wanted the legs to be based on the height of the couch. Then I stained them using the vinegar and steel wool technique except I used the kind with soap in it and tried to rinse out the soap. I don’t recommend that. You can buy plain steel wool at the hardware store.

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

Upcycled Trunk Side Table and Blanket Storage | Flip This Rental

So what do you think? Were my expensive mistakes still worth it?

See You Around!

Lauren <3