Ahoy! Vintage steamer trunk sails into 21st Century!

Last winter I bought a vintage steamer trunk. A classic beauty with a whole lotta history.

The vision:

To create a Pinterest-worthy S’mores Bar – slash – Picnic Pantry – slash – Glamping Closet, in our new Glamping Retreat in South shore Nova Scotia.

This little trunk had high expectations to live up too. She became my beloved winter crafting transformation project.

Here’s how we injected some serious TLC, to create a trunk that is…so much ‘s’more’.

Our Tools & Ingredients:

To house picnic napkins and cutlery in the top drawer, cups and condiments in a cabinet and have some space for board games, flashlights, and S’mores, we needed to re-design the internal shelving. I called upon a very handy carpenter friend who replaced the old drawers with new shelves and cabinet for us. For this he used plywood, his builder-stuff and some nails! Yep, that’s as techie as this glampy gal gets. I didn’t watch. See below for details…
8 Castors fastened to the bottom so she’s ready to roll!
Re.Purpose Chroma Colour Paint in a retro mustard colour that I somehow love to this day, despite having been tortured to wear mustard-coloured tights as a child.
Tape for covering hinges, drop cloth, paint brush
Sharp Scissors
6 feet of custom-chosen Spoonflower wallpaper, the peel & stick kind, in a vintage bicycle pattern

First we sent the trunk to Stewart, the handiest wood worker and carpenter I know.

Stewart “hates old junk”.

Lucky for me, his designing daughter is a kindred friend and together, we convinced Stewart that this project would simply be life-transforming! (not so much),

And fun! (not really)…

And that I would be in seventh heaven if he’d help me over this challenge (the truth at last).

This elixir dream paint went on beautifully and needed no priming on the brand new wood. LOVE it!

Two coats did the trick and it dried super quick. We purchased the paint, along with the steamer trunk at ReFound Furniture in Dartmouth, NS.

steamer_new_drawers — Fresh new cabinets. No primer.

Next Step: Wallpaper.

We chose a vintage bicycle print as it compliments the retro mustard shade, the gunmetal green tones in the outer trunk and suited our outdoorsy purpose for the trunk. Six feet was all it took.

You'll need scissors and an exacto knife. Spoonflower wallpaper comes with handy smoothing tool and instructions. — You’ll need scissors and an exacto knife. Spoonflower wallpaper comes with handy smoothing tool and instructions.

Final Stage:

A little decor. We left the outside the way she was for nostalgia and also kept some of the original paper in the back of the cupboard.

This Steamer Trunk will be beautiful at a Glamping Wedding, Picnic or near the campfire storing Ghost Stories, S’more ingredients, napkins, mugs for hot drinks and the hangers are great for campfire blankets and picnic blankets.