DIY Week Post #2

 Cast your vote:  Trash or Treasure?

I've been so excited to share this project with you.  But it's taken me forever to get around to editing all the pictures.  FOREVER!
Remember yesterday's post when I told you I'd had my eye on two treasures?  This, my friends, is the second treasure (and this is the one that made me think of you, Julie!)

There were so many pictures that I had to collage them. (If you click on the image, they will get a little bigger.)  Here goes:  It's a vintage steamer trunk.

 Isn't it fantastic?  The sticker inside dates this trunk to November 1922.  And completely intact, including all the hangers and original velvet coverings.  And in PRISTINE condition.  I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.  But I couldn't think of anything I could do with it, so I left it at Qcumberz.

Fast forward ten days:  I channeled my inner Julie Johnson (great blogging friend who is the queen of creative decorating--loved her antique skis that she uses as a banister to her basement), and realized I had the perfect use for this.

Ben helped me haul it upstairs (pre-broken scaphoid), and I proceeded to clean--it smelled like 90 years of dust.  I vacuumed and wiped.  I Febrezed and sacheted.  I lined drawers with scented paper and hung cedar  bars.  Then, it was ready.  Wanna see what I did?

The trunk has become my accessory chest!

Drawers for earrings and rings. Drawers for pins and watches.
And the two big drawers on the bottom?  My ever-expanding collection of baseball caps and exercise equipment (iPod, yoga mat, stupid biking shoes).

The entire right side of the trunk--that's the BEST part. The velvet front cover folds up or down easily to protect its contents from curious little fingers. The trunk came with all of its original hangers, so I used the back hangers for my scarves, and the long U-shaped hangers?  I added S-hooks to the top and I hung all my necklaces from them.

Evie's already learning to accessorize!

The single drawer on the right side I reserved for all of my precious letters--from family, from friends.  A few from my man.  One day, I'll tie them all with ribbon and categorize them.  For now, they're at least safe.

After I'd spent an entire day organizing, I showcased it all for Brad. What was his comment? "It looks like an Anthropologie display." What does that say about Brad? #1--He knows how to give a compliment. #2--He's been inside Anthropologie. #3--He appreciates Anthropologie. He's mine!

One last collage of images:

Two different sets of initials on the top: VCN and V.I.C.  I think V.I.C must have married N.  That's my guess.

Your vote?  Trash or Treasure?

Thanks, Kelly.  I love the trunk. Never would have found it without you.  Thanks, Julie.  I never would have figured out how to use it if I hadn't thought, "What would Julie do with this?"

Think of the stories this piece has to tell.  Linking up to Sugar Bee's Take a Look Tuesday, Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, and anti-procrastination Tuesday.  Sorry it's taken me three weeks to get these pictures edited.  Hope it was worth the wait.