A TRUNK CALL

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This trunk is another of my Facebook buys At £15 I didn't expect much, and certainly when I got it home, I was right. It was covered in coated hessian that had split and didn't look like it could be recoated. I was dubious about removing it because I knew it went under the brass studded banding, but there seemed no option.

A sharp craft knife showed that any glue that had been used to stick the hessian to the wood had long since dried out. I was able to simply make a slit and rip it off. I used the craft knife to cut as close to and in fact under the pine banding, and it worked. Filling, sanding and then painting produced a very sad Cinderella into a very nice Princess. I intend to line the inside with a fabric from William Morris called Vine, which has the colour of the outside in it. I will post when its done.

The metal banding was rusty and despite sanding, looked shabby. I then found a gilding wax on Amazon in pewter. What a revelation. Just paint it on and leave it to dry. No buffing and it has transformed the metal to what it would have been like when it was new.

Below is the inside, finally lined with the Sanderson Vine fabric. This is recycled from  curtain we had when we lived in Croydon. One was used to cover dining chairs in my present house. Another pair are the dining room curtains here too. Lovely quality fabric.

And here it is finished.  I am now keeping hats in it in my bedroom.