Wednesday – guess what day it is?? That’s right, Bagel Day! It was actually cool this morning in the 60s, so we wore long pants for riding to breakfast. The deliciousness:
That coffee is a 20 oz coffee, too. The only way to start the day! 😀 😀
That new account for work has been keeping me hopping. My company got hired on to help another one get caught up on their dications. Somehow, they let themselves get behind by around 2000 files – a month’s worth of files. The account was 1 month behind when we started and it is supposed to be a 24-hour turnaround. Holy crap – how did they let it get so bad before getting help?? So, there is plenty of work and after a big learning curve it is going well. The client is happy with my work, but booted off 2 of the other MTs because they couldn’t make the grade. Bad news is that I cannot get them caught up by myself – even if I typed 24 hours a day. It’s impossible, so now my company has to move some others to the account. (Glad that isn’t my job). I am not sure how long this overflow will last past catching them up, which means I will be low on work again. I actually have another job offered to me and I have to think seriously about whether or not to take it. Lots on my plate right now on that front.
Anyway, I *finally* finished another trunk. It was a rainy evening last night, so I got the last bit done. This is the trunk as it first came to me:
As you can see, it has an embossed metal covering, which was quite rusty. It’s an alligator skin printed metal.
The inside smelled musty and the paper covering was pretty well shot.
The one was different than the other trunk because I didn’t have to remove the outside covering, but I did have to scrub off the rust. Then I used some Rustoleum Aluminum to go over the embossed metal and black over the other hardware. Then I did an antiquing glaze and sealed it with satin polyurethane.
For the inside, I scraped off the paper, sprayed the inside with vinegar and water and gave it time in the sun, which reduced the odor a lot. Then I sealed the inside with Kilz primer and painted it. I actually used the same gray paint as our living room walls as I wanted it to kind of go with the silver look:
The antiquing lets the print of the metal come out nicely:
I put on new leather handles. The old metal caps are somewhat fragile from rust, but I decided to keep them and let the new owners know they really are only for show and not to lift the trunk by them:
The best dating for this trunk is from between 1880 to 1910. That was when embossed metal trunks were made. Based on the style of lock on this trunk, probably on the earlier side of that.
Again, it still looks old, but now nice enough that you would want to use it for storage and keep it on display.
Hopefully someone will buy it! I will be putting it on my vintage lists this week and see who is interested. Now it is on to the next one.
A last shot – there was a rainbow this evening when we were downtown.
That means good luck, right?
Beautiful rainbow!
And the trunk turned out great, you are really good at renovations.
Too bad that the workload is so heavy at the moment but I always like it more when I know it’s busy than having too little to do.
Hope it sorts out soon. Is the job offering for the same work as you do now?
The job would the same work I do now. It would be nice if I could do trunk refinishing as my job, though 😀
Exactly Lori! Thats exactly why i love your trunks… They are nice enough that someone would want to use it and display it but they haven’t lost their antiqueness .. Ok spellcheck says that is not a word but you know what i mean.. 🙂 Hugs! deb
Antiqueness is a valid word LOL!
You must have a great eye or are just dang lucky to find so many great trunks. They all look so wonderful when you finish with them too.
Actually, the northeast is great for finding trunks. A lot of them are in bad condition, but there are some good ones.
I love the refurbished trunk! You do gorgeous work Lori!
Thanks Lisa!
Funny that you used red for the handles. I was thinking, as I scrolled through the post, that red would have been a nice accent color the trunk. Nicely done!
The handles look a little more red than they really are in real life. They are a reddish tan. The company I get them from sell them in tan, brown and black.
Holy cow, I can’t believe a month behind! I was always so impressed with the Mayo Clinic when we were there – if a doctor came in the afternoon on one day, I could log on and see all his notes the very next day.
Love, love, love how the trunk turned out – maybe I’ll look out for trunks now and try to be crafty!
I know – a month behind can put them in danger of being fined daily while they are behind!
The trunk came out really nice! It seems like you approach each one that you refurbish in a unique manner, kind of like you treat them as individuals with distinct needs. Looking forward to seeing your next trunk. 🙂
I think each trunk is pretty unique and I want to keep the original character of each one while updating it. I haven’t come across too many metal covered ones, so this was interesting. I have my Jenny Lind up next – the one I am keeping!!
The trunk turned out BEAUTIFULLY!!!!!!
You are doing such a good job on the trunks. I love the embossed metal on this one. Where is the vintage list you talk about? Is it a Facebook group?
The vintage groups are FB groups of local people. One is a vintage group and the other 2 are antiques. It’s maybe a 50 mile radius or so around here of locals that buy and sell this stuff.
OMG the finished product is STUNNING!