Folk Art Painted Trunk or Coffee Table

When you clean out your house ( see last week) you’re reminded of all the projects you’ve been meaning to get around to but just haven’t found the time or the motivation for.

Such was the case with this 2 part midcentury liquor cabinet I rescued from Goodwill a couple of years ago. At the time, I only needed the bottom portion, so the top got tucked away. You know, save it for a rainy day.

The bottom part of the cabinet is now a coffee bar. But the top half has just been sitting around the house hoping I choose him for my next project. Well the rainy day has finally arrived. Or maybe snowy day 😀 .

This is what I’m starting with. Really just a box, meant to sit on another piece of furniture. All his fanciness comes on the inside with a beveled mirror and the old linoleum. I’m going to leave all that intact.

And now for a little internet inspiration. This one is pretty intricate.

This one is more my speed. That’s it for my research, on to the makeover!

Before tackling the painting I wanted to lift the box off the floor to look more like it could be a stand alone piece of furniture.

I’m adding 2 long , 2″ wide pieces of wood that stretch the length of the trunk. Two more 4″ wide pieces form the ends and 2, 3″ wide pieces of scrap wood sit flat on both ends of the trunk.

Before I attached my end legs, I designed and cut out a pattern with a scroll saw to give the legs a little design detail. Make sure you sand the cut edges.

Use wood glue to attach all the pieces to both the trunk and to each other.

Use wood screws to screw the pieces that lay flat directly to the trunk.

Use finish nails and/or a nail gun to attach all the side pieces to the pieces you screwed down and those long side pieces to the fancy end pieces. Let the glue dry.

With some reclaimed molding I’m covering up the place where the original box meets the added (grey pieces) leg structure.

Once again glue and nail in place with finish nails.

If you followed me on how to make corner molding for cheap and still have some leftover, feel free to use it here.

Alternatively, you could also extend the molding to the corners and miter the ends.

One more smaller piece of molding covers up the seam in the front. I couldn’t use the thicker molding as it would impede the fold down door.

Once again, glue and nail.

For the top, I’m getting rid of all the old scratches and water stains with a complete sanding.

I’ve painted the entire bottom of the piece with black chalk paint. Some of the areas will remain black, the remainder will provide a little layering when I sand.

Stain the top with the color of your choice. This is Provincial. Apply with a rag and rub off the excess.

If this style matches your decor, you could stop your transformation right here, though I would add a second coat of the black paint and wax.

I left the newly acquired legs black as well as the trim. The remaining parts of the trunk got a coat of dark green chalk paint with the exception of yellow inside the picture frame front.

Time to start the folk art painting. I’m using a light green on the dark green background and the dark green on the yellow background.

Try to keep your painting somewhat symmetrical. If you add a swoosh on one side, add a similar swoosh on the opposite side. The vine swooshes do not have to match exactly.

I found it easiest to start from the middle and work my way to the sides.

At the ends of your vines add some brightly colored flowers. I’m only using red and yellow but where they meet and mix you’ll get orange. Again, try to keep them somewhat symmetrical.

Finish up with leaves.