Painted Trunk Blends With Decor

Read about how a trunk got a face lift with wall paint to blend into the decor a bit better.

Time: 2 Hours Cost: $0 Difficulty: Easy

• 

After having some of our interior room walls repainted due to sheet rock issues, I had to remove all the artwork from the walls and then rehang it back up after walls had cured.  With the paint cans sitting in the mudroom to be stored back down in the basement, my eyes went to the trunk that holds some of my excess dishes, and seating in our photo studio, and I thought it just needed an fresh updated look.

The details on the trunk are really lovely, and I appreciate the worn areas that validate the age and adventures it must have been through- the wooden slats and nail trimmed leather strips framing the edges and all the metal hardware that were a bit lost against the dark background color.  I didn't realize that most of the trunk was actually a canvas fabric, so, could I paint it with the same paint as our accent wall?  Why not?

My first thought was to paint the whole thing, but fortunately, I started one row up on the side and after painstakingly using a fine artist brush to paint around all the little spaces of the hardware, I thought...."I think I'll paint every other row then the top."  I actually was glad I decided to leave some of the original color on the trunk for the new paint color was much lighter and really enhanced the details on the trunk much better than before.

• 

Such an easy update, it dried very quickly and I wiped on some leather cleaner and wood conditioner and it now has quite the face lift!

The trunk blends in much better with the wall color and the items set upon it.

• 

Funny how inspiration will hit you....from repainted walls to paint cans waiting to be stored away....a beloved piece  gets a fresh look and blends in all the better now!