Steamer Trunk Ottoman

Mr. Mel is a sucker for anything nostalgic or historical. Any object that looks like it has a story to tell is right up his alley. For several years, he has talked about wanting a steamer trunk/case. We've seen a few we liked but, for one reason or another, they weren't right.

Recently I took a friend with me on one of my regular "treasure hunts" to some local antique and second hand stores and we found this:

We both loved it and, at $55, the price was right. I encouraged my friend to ditch her leather ottoman in favour of this trunk. Her response was less than enthousiatic. She threw at me a bunch of practical reasons why she didn't want to get rid of her current piece: that the trunk wasn't tall enough, that she didn't know how to make it work...that it smelled like mothballs. People, my friend lives in a charming character home in a beautiful area of the city with mature trees and historical neighbourhoods...this piece would have been perfect for her! Oh well, ya snooze, ya loose!

I brought this home, cleaned it up (which was no easy task, I assure you), vacuumed it out and Kilz'd and painted the inside to rid it of the eau de mothball.

I needed to make this piece a bit taller and easier to maneuver so I decided to add casters. I got those awesome walnut casters from CoolCasters.com. Doneski!

 

 

 

 

 

Cost breakdown for this project:
$55 for the trunk
$0 for Kilz
$0 for paint
$88 for casters

Total cost $143