Good Questions: Recovering This Footlocker?

I have an old footlocker left over from my college days that I would like to update and put to better use. It's the standard blue with black trim and brass hardware (see picture) and certainly isn't much to look at so it has been hidden in the spare room for now. I think it is constructed of plywood covered in some sort of vinyl. Does anyone know of a good way to recover the blue vinyl on the trunk with decorative paper or fabric? Is there a good adhesive for this purpose? I was also considering painting it or contact papering it if regular paper or fabric don't work. It probably won't need to stand up to extreme abuse, just light use for storage and maybe a platform for the cat's bed. Has anyone tried this or have any better suggestions? Thanks for your help, Jenn

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Anyone?

Comments (12)

I find that E6000 glue is good for a variety of crafty projects. If you are artsy, you could also consider painting the trunk. I once stripped an old ships trunk and repainted it into an arty way and 15 years later it still looks good.

Oh Jenn, I have the same exact item/problem, only mine is primary red. I was thinking of contact papering it in the next few weeks, and then if that doesn't work I was going to switch to paint. I don't think you can take it apart to re-cover it, or I would do that. I'll let you know how it goes, or if you do it first, let me know!

I have a similar, trunk, although it appears to be in worse shape, that my dad took to college in the 60s. I have been thinking of doing the same thing with paper and mod podge. Look at the mod podge website and you should get some ideas (http://www.plaidonline.com/apMP.asp).

I think paper would be better than fabric, because you could cut around the trim and locks without worrying about frayed edges. I was just going to do the inset parts, i think that should be easiest.

Good Luck!

I just covered mine with a tapestry. I didn't like the trunky look anymore. You can tuck (think hospital corners) the tapestry in a way that doesn't look too college dormy/tablecloth like and the stuff you're storing in it is still accessible.

You can also just make a new slipcover over it; then you don't have to re-tuck each time you take something out.

I did this! I had the same box only in a cube shape and covered it with a white contact paper. Then I took an Exac-O knife to cut around any hardware. I painted it with regular craft paint in a sponge pattern years ago. Just recently I decided to change the look again and painted over that with a dark red wall paint and a brush. While the paint was still wet I used a foam stamp to imprint a pattern in the paint. It looks really cute and we now keep blankets it it. Let me know if you would like to see some pictures of how it turned out!

http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com

I have this same style trunk and have spray painted mine a couple of shades of grey. I liked the consistency of the paint- very smooth and streak free.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/35073764@N08/

After painting the body of the trunk, I highlighted the brass fittings with some "antique gold" paint I found at a craft store. It gave it a richer, older look.

The only drag was masking the trim.- but not a major drag. Good luck! It's a fun project!

I'm kinda with KTG on this one. It will be such a pain to tape off all the little sections and is bound to not all that different (still a trunk just now not the original color). I say either cover the whole thing, use it as concealed storage or sell it and use the money to get something you want to display.

I covered one of these with contact paper once, leaving the trim and hardware alone. It was pretty easy, and though the result wasn't really anything special, it did look kind of cool when I was done.

I say try that first, and if you hate it, then at least you're only out the cost of the contact paper and you can peel it off and start over with something else.

I'm the original poster...

It's not that I mind it looking like a trunk, the color just doesn't go with anything else in the house. I plan to recover the panels with some sort of tissue paper to mimic a wrinkly leather effect or paint it a better color (rinconia - what type of spray paint did you use?). I'm just looking for advice on the best way to go about it. I'm glad to hear that both contact paper and paint are viable options. Once I'm done with the panels I will probably use some sort of antique bronze to tone down the brass hardware.

I'd love to see more examples from people that have done this before!

Hi JLEbean,

I used Krylon spray paint. Easy to find, most hardware stores should have it. I like a glossy look, so I used high gloss finish. I've painted my trunk a few times, to go with different decorating schemes. Such a cheap way to transform the room...

Hi, I posted yesterday about the cube I painted and if you check in and read this again, I posted about it with pictures on my blog. Thought that was a good project to post. So you can check the pictures out here if you like:
http://makemineeclectic.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/cube-redo/