Refurbishing An Eighties Cedar Chest

Can you believe that after moving almost four years ago (and living in our home for a year and a half now) I just about finally have everything out of storage and put away?  There were so many things that I had moved, put in storage... and then when our house was finished, they either didn't fit or my style had changed so much I really didn't want them!

This cedar chest was one of those things.  It was a high school graduation gift to me from my parents in 1980!  And now, it basically was trash.

The wood was scratched, stained, and just overall disgusting.  (I'm almost embarrassed showing these pictures!)

The padded cover was rotten and ripped and of course very "eighties"!

I just about set it on the roadside for someone to pick and refurbish.  And then I thought, WHAT?  I can refurbish it myself!

It definitely is a solid chest with a beautiful cedar interior and everything that was broken on it I figured I could repair.

In thinking of a color to paint it my daughter suggested Annie Sloan Paris Gray.  After a little thought I decided she was right as I could brighten it up with pillows.  (I also figured it would look good with the gray floor and I was right.)

After cleaning up the wood a bit outside I carried it upstairs and got started painting.   (I did it very late at night so I didn't even try to take pictures of the process.)

  

There was a point where I was very unhappy with it, but that is one thing I've discovered about Annie Sloan paint (at least for me).  Every project I've ever done with her paint, there is a very fine line between "Oh yuck, I can't stand this" to "Oh.My.Word.  This is going to be gorgeous"!

Usually it is the dark wax that does the trick for me.  That's when I begin to love the result.

I dug through my fabric scraps and covered the top in new foam and this gray striped Duck Cloth.  I just love how it came out.  

Then I did some more digging in my fabric scraps to cover some huge pillows I had and pulled out these two fabrics that don't really go together... but yet for me, they do!

I scrubbed the interior, put new screws in the hinges and filled it up with all our games.  They fit perfectly.

I moved it into the dormer window of my craft room and was immediately so happy.  It just belongs there!  It works as a window seat for looking out to see who is coming up the road.  Or to just watch the cows walking by in the woods below.

Or for the grand-girls to recline with a book.

Final verdict on the cedar chest?  I'm so happy I didn't leave it on the roadside!

P.S.  Eldon finished the shelving and doors in my built-ins and I finally pulled together a few other details in my craft room.  More on that in a few days!