The first home I bought was a wonderful bungalow built in 1950, of which I became only the second owner. When I took possession, I found a trunk in the basement. I always liked the trunk and took it with me when I eventually sold the home.
The original wood stain was so dark, that it nearly looked black. In fact it was too dark to suit the airy bright feel of the nautical oceanic theme I have in my new home. So I decided to paint it. This was a difficult decision, because I had qualms about altering the original condition of the trunk.
To alleviate some of my remorse I knew I could not simply slap some paint on it and be done. It had to retain some character and be unique. I finally came up with the idea to stencil the top. But, again, this could not be just any stencil. The design had to add a touch of elegance. I didn’t want the trunk to end up looking too Arts & Crafts. Additionally, I wanted something that held some meaning for me. My favorite oceanic creature is an octopus. But I felt like creating an octopus stencil would be too complicated. I imagined myself staring at it day after day picking out all the mistakes I had made. Ultimately, I chose another cephalopod. One of the most ancient creatures in the ocean… a nautilus. But in order to get just the right size and style I would have to create the stencil myself. So…
I began by drawing the nautilus on a piece of white vinyl I had. After that, I had to cut out the design I had drawn with an X-Acto without cutting through the backing. Once I did that, I removed all the vinyl in the spaces where I wanted the paint to be. Next I covered the entire thing with masking tape.
When held up to the light, it looked like this. The dark grey of the nautilus and outline is actually the vinyl.
Next I thoroughly sanded the trunk, then wiped it down with a damp rag. Once the trunk was clean and dry, I taped the stencil, along one edge, to the trunk. Then I flipped the stencil open like the cover of a book, peeled the backing off, closed the “cover” and squeegeed the vinyl down onto the trunk. Before painting I removed all of the masking tape, leaving just the nautilus and border.
Time to paint!! I used furniture chalk paint. It took me three coats to cover the dark stain. When the paint was completely dry, I sanded lightly to distress it, using dents, divots and joints as natural highlights. My daughter enjoyed helping with the distressing part!
Then, she helped me to peel off the vinyl, revealing the nautilus in the trunk’s original dark finish. Finally, we wiped it down thoroughly with bees wax as a protectant and sealer.
I am extremely happy with the result. For me, I love owning a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture. And it’s functional! It serves as a table and is useful for storage.
I hope this inspires you to find use in an old possession that has perhaps lost is luster or doesn’t quite seem to fit in since the remodel. I sure had fun, and it was very satisfying to create something personal to me. My next project? A makeover for a black coffee table that has a smoke mirror top and gold edging…yikes!
pajama wisdom 