Garage Sale Treasure Chest

I had the greatest Saturday morning "free-style picking". Yes, I am a fan of American Pickers, can you tell? I would LOVE driving around the country (I'd settle for just CA even) looking for treasures to refinish and give new life to! I picked up this sorry looking cedar chest for a whopping $15, at a local garage sale! I was a little hesitant at first, but saw the great potential in it and if nobody else wanted it, I'd happily find a place for it in my home.

Cedar Chest in need of some TLC.

Top of the lid.

In refinishing this chest, I used the following items:

1. Glidden Satin Interior Paint (I used "Onyx Black")
2. Quality Poly Brush
3. 60 & 80 Grit sandpaper
4. Non-toxic Citrus Stripper Paste
5. 2" chip brush
6. Scraper (I used a 1" metal putty knife)
7. Latex Gloves
8. Minwax "Clear Satin" Wipe on sealer
9. Charms on a clip
10. plywood the size of the lid (I bought it at Lowe's & had them cut it to size there.)
11. Fabric slightly larger than the lid, add 4" to each side. 
12. About 3 yards of batting, folded to lid size
13. thumb tacks

It appeared as though someone had "tried" to strip this piece sometime in the past, but never finished it. So, I began where they left off. First, I removed the top and all the hardware. I noticed the lock and latch were present, but no key. After doing some research online, I was able to locate a replacement key (YAY!) for $8.00. A bit pricey, yes, but I felt it very important to have the option to lock the chest. Once the hardware was off, I painted on the stripper with a cheap chip brush. Time to wait for about 2 hours for the "magic" to begin...

I tested a small area and noticed it was coming off pretty easily, so the scraping began. Once the paint was gone, I allowed the excess to dry for sanding. Using my 60 grit sandpaper, I sanded it all down!

all stripped and sanded. 

As with all of my projects, I began painting, using long horizontal strokes. This paint went on super smooth! Overall, I used 2 coats, allowing some of the wood grain to still show through (I really like that look!)

I specifically left some of the original paint in spots, so when I lightly sand (distress) some antique white paint will peek through. Once I was done distressing, a little bit of white paint and raw wood appeared (again, another look that I enjoy!).

I painted the lid in the same fashion. Let's let it dry overnight... Now, onto the cushion...

plywood just under the size of the lid.

3 yds of batting & 1 yd of damask fabric.

layer the fabric, then batting, then wood. Pull the fabric & tack down

top side finished

underside all tacked down

Back to the chest... I used a soft rag and wiped on the poly sealer, using only one coat (don't want it too shiny). I allowed it to dry about an hour. Be careful when using the sealant that you don't allow bubbles or drips to dry! Once the chest was dry, I reinstalled the lock. I decided to "cutify" the lock and added some of my vintage jewelry charms to the key. Nice touch, I think...

lock with replacement key all charmed up

with finished sealant

finished top before adding cushion

The chest is now ready for the cushion. To attach the cushion, I laid the top side of the lid on top of the plywood side of the cushion. Pre-drilled a hole on each end and two in the middle. Using 1 1/4" long wood screws, and pushing down on the cushion (a helper would be great for this!), I screwed in the screws. I reattached the hinges and lid to the bottom of the chest. It's now ready to use! All finished!

Total investment: $38
Time investment: weekend