Beautiful Painted Antique Trunk

Pretty in barely peachy pink chippy paint and a whole lot of character and charm- this antique painted trunk was a major find.

We have been out in the wild doing a bit of work (and some relaxing) so I didn’t get to properly style and photograph this treasure yet- but I did take a few quick snaps so I could share more about it and the story it has today.

Antique Trunk Love

Yes, an antique trunk like this one does equal love. I mentioned we have been doing quite a bit of junking, thrifting, yard sale shopping recently. And yep, those treasures can easily turn into a stockpile. But it is a stockpile of fabulous vintage things right?

This particular thrifting day, we stopped by a neighbors sale. It was mid week but they put signs up on the road and so, we took a run over. First fun fact- both of our boys used to work as farm hands at this neighbors home. First my oldest worked for them and then when he moved, my second son took over and started working with them. They did all the odd jobs, took care of the animals, built fences, gardened all the things. We didn’t really know the neighbors-though had met briefly once or twice before but over the years, I would get a phone call on occasion from them asking how the boys were doing. So, we were kind of excited to stop by and say hello and formally introduce ourselves after so long.

When we told them that we were the boys parents- they were so excited they were almost in tears. The talked about the projects they had helped with, the funny things they would say and told us thank you for raising such wonderful, respectful & hard working boys. Which of course, then had me almost in tears. I showed them photos of the boys with their babies and wives and they were just so happy for them. It was a fun heart warming conversation and one that really made me so happy. A proud mom moment for sure.

The History of this trunk

While we chatted about the boys and the crazy winter we just had, we also talked about some of their treasures. We spotted a large wooden trunk that looked like it might be just perfect for our attic project- and then we heard all the story behind it. It was built in Hawaii during Pearl Harbor- Bruce’s family had built it to ship things over to California and get out of the area. When his family arrived here- they were going to settle in a different part of California but drove through this area and saw the farmhouse that they live in now and knew it was the place for their family. Bruce was a child at that time but he grew up in the area and even now lives in the same old farmhouse he grew up in. He said he used to ride his bike up and down our little dirt road all the time. When we told him which house was ours- he said he remembered it and always wondered why no one had lived there for so long.

Anyway, it is a total side story aside from the trunk. But back to this beautiful heavy wood treasure- it is incredible. All the history and everything – and just the fact that it has lived close to our house all the years and is staying in the area- well I love that.

Chippy pale pink paint Goodness

It is the loveliest shade of pale peachy pink- almost like a nude ballet slipper with less sweetness. And of course, that chippy goodness just talked loudly to me. We were looking for something to place in between the two twin beds in the attic and this fit the spot perfectly.

It is actually a huge trunk as well. We had to take the lid off to even get it up the narrow staircase we have. It has a couple layers of old paint and then a dark original wood finish.

Does anyone want to guess how much this trunk was before reading further? (price details below)

It has old hardware, wide boards and big chunky dovetail construction-it is really such a treasure. They suggested I strip the paint off and refinish it – but you know me. I am completely Loving that chippy paint and so that paint is not going anywhere. So far I have just cleaned it up, wiped off the loose paint bits you can see and swept the inside and then left it open for 5 days or so to air it out- but it has a bit of a moth ball smell even now so I am not sure if that will go away. If anyone has any tips for getting rid of that smell- please do share.

Price details

They had $20 on it- which we were totally good with and were adding the tag to our pile (yes, we bought a few more things from them) and when we brought the tag up to them- they said they forgot to update the tag but had discounted it to $10 because the hinge needed some repairing. We insisted $20 was totally fine but they were insistent on $10.

What do you think of this pale pink beauty? I am in.love. You can find more junking inspiration in this post HERE and if you want to see another charming find- a vintage table Here

Coming your way tomorrow and this weekend-the first fun giveaway celebrating my new Christmas Book- and a little bit of autumn inspiration!

Get the look

Happy Thursday everyone!