I love these quick makeovers that take just a few minutes and have a big impact – kinda like this old footlocker that i got about a year ago. This is one that is so easy that i almost didnt post about it, but i think its def worth sharing, because who knows who may have one of these laying around waiting for some inspiration to strike :)
Like i said, i got this about a year ago and havent done anything with it until a few days ago. Actually, i did give it a fresh coat of white paint, distressed it and then just put it away for a year. I didnt really have a vision for it, so i just pushed it to the side.
When i got it, the finish was perfect, but it was just really dirty and beyond what a good cleaning could take care of.
I gave it a fresh coat of white paint and then took my orbital sander to it to get it back to all that distressed goodness – an electric sander is the best and fastest way to get a super distressed finish on a flat surface.
After i finally got it out from storage to finish it up i knew i wanted something fun on the front, i was thinking about stenciling some #’s on, but i wanted something more than that, some type of stripes.
I grabbed some masking tape and random paint colors from my stash and just started taping off lines. I painted one color and then immediately took off the tape and started the next color. I didnt wait for any paint to dry before starting the next color because i knew that i would again be taking my sander to it so i didnt care if the tape took off some of the paint. I also didnt measure anything out, i just eyeballed where i wanted my lines. And i made sure i didnt do the best job painting, again going for the super distressed look.
After i got all my stripes painted, it looked like this…
After my stripes were dry enough i took the sander to it and gave it a super distressed finish :)
And when all done…
How cute is this inside?! This is the original paint, i didnt do anything to it.
As you can see i carried around my front stripes to the sides.
How cute would this be for a boys room at the end of a bed! I love those metal corner brackets, all the hardware and side handles are just awesome :)
I'm just a semi- regular girl that cant get enough of decorating and then re-decorating! Painting my house and then re-painting my house! Not to mention all the DIY projects, my furniture refinishing business and my family that supports me along the way. 
Don’t you just LOVE when you get inspired? You did a great job!
super cute!
It really came out great! Good idea for some rough pieces I have. Thanks
I LOVE this! I have two of these at home and painted one an off-white and have done nothing to it since. Something like this will be perfect for my older boys room! Thank you for the inspiration!
you are so welcome :)
LOVE this trunk! And I agree, it would look fabulous in a boy’s room at the end of his bed. Great idea!!
Love this trunk! I live on the East Coast, but am a huge follower of your work. You really inspire me….One question about dealing with old painted pieces — how do you handle them if there is lead in the old paint? I’m working on an old dresser for my mom, but there is an old layer of paint on it that does have lead (I used a lead tester to determine this). I am planning to paint over it, but would love to distress the edges. I’m just not sure I should do that.
if you will be sanding it, you must wear a proper respirator for lead paint. Then after you distress it and will be exposing the lead paint again, you need to seal it up with a polyurethane, a couple coats and you should be fine.
love the makeover, and the stripes look terrific on it!
you picked the perfect way to give it a facelit. I love it.
I love this piece. It turned out beautiful.
Vanessa
This is super cute!!!