... lining for an old steamer trunk

While George and I were out for a run last summer, I spotted a sweet old steamer trunk at yard sale. We stopped and asked the yard sale proprietor if we could come back in a bit and buy it. We (quite literally) ran home and got some cash and the car - $12 later, it was ours (the yard sale lady threw in a little oil painting I liked for free - I love yard sales).

Hello, storage!

We are always looking for more storage in our little apartment, so this was a huge score. But before we could actually store things in it, it needed a little interior rehab. The originally lining was torn to the point of being unsalvageable and it smelled MUSTY.

Before: old lining, smelled like basement.

So we ripped out the surviving lining, I ordered some pretty cotton fabric with an appropriately art nouveau-ish print, picked up the spray adhesive and got to work.

Spray adhesive - the adhesive of champions.

Basically, I measured out each rectangle of surface area I wanted to cover and then cut a piece of fabric to fit - adding an extra inch or so all around. I sprayed adhesive on the area I was working on, pressed the fabric in and then used a straight edge to smooth out the bubbles and get the fabric into the corners.  I folded under the edges on the pieces that went in last for a finished look. I also went around the edges with a hot glue gun to shore up any spots that didn't adhere properly.

Working on the lid

Halfway there!

This was definitely a summer project - we had to throw the windows and patio door wide open to combat the aerosol adhesive fumes! But the result was worth the potential contact high - fully relined and with the addition of some cedar sachets, the trunk holds a variety of sweaters and blankets and looks pretty fly.

Done, and only a little lightheaded.

After: ta da!