I like old junk.  No Really, I really, really do.  I like the challenge of reworking a piece of junk into something better (and I don't believe in filling landfills up with useful things...it's wrong). Anyways, I've had this wood trunk for some time, we used it on our old porch where we used to live.  It was a rust red.  I needed things to paint

for our livingroom (and a Frogtape contest).  I decided it would be a great coffee table/project.

 

I sanded and primed it (don't prime things white that you plan on antiquing.  I used this really good, non-tintable primer, though).  I then painted it with a grey paint I had already mixed for another piece.  I know grey and tan's not real exciting but it looks good in this space and with other finishes around the house (and the color combo is a way to tone down the bold pattern).

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I've seen this pattern on various furniture before (probably all inlaid antiques).  It made a good candidate for a cool paint job witht the help of painters tape.  This alternating, quad, stripe pattern was pretty simple really.  I first divided the front panel into four equal parts by measuring 

and drawing perpendicular, crossing lines through the middle.  I began visualizing the stripes first by crossing two pieces of tape diagonally in the middle.  Leave them on, one will remain in place and the other will be used as a template to place pieces of tape on either side. <<< I did that and continued placing pieces of tape using another strip as a spacer.  Once finished with a section, you simply hold a straight edge on your drawn line and lightly score (with a razorblade or exacto knife) through your tape along the edge of the straight edge.  I then removed the excess tape that crossed my lines.  (If you score the paint finish beneath, you will end up having to do tiny touch ups, I did.)

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After you've taped off all four sections (I also masked off the rectangle) you press your tape down at the edges to be sure the tape has good contact. Brush or roll on your paint.  It's important to remove the tape while the paint is still pretty fresh or your new paint could pull off too.

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I also did part of this pattern on the ends and masked and painted a rectangle on the top.  I then roughed it up a bit with a sanding block to make the paint job match the beat up trunk. Now the only problem is I'm too attached to this trunk.  I really like it and will have a hard time making myself upgrade from what was probably originally just a crudely built tool chest..... Obviously, I went a little pattern happy with the frogtape in here, you can see that accent wall here.

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Thanks for taking the time to visit!

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