Vintage Military Foot Locker Makeover

I’m married to a superhero.

The kind that doesn’t wear spandex. (I’m sure he’d want me to point that out.)

Before I came along, before the lucky day when he sat down at my table in my restaurant, he was a Marine. Scratch that…is a Marine. Since that’s really a title that sticks with you.

Every now and then throughout the year, I love honoring my guy in little ways. And this time, he was my focus for Trash to Treasure Transformation Tuesday.

So the other day, when I spotted this old trunk for $5 at the thrift store, I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it.

Since we’ve been making over pretty much every room in the house, I’ve felt a little guilty about neglecting Robert’s military inspired office. We’ve had big plans for this space, but it hasn’t been high on the priority list just yet.

So for the past couple of years, Robert’s military memorabilia has just been shoved into a cardboard box in a closet… until I decided to transform the $5 trunk into a vintage military inspired foot locker.

Supplies Used:  (Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. For more information, see my disclosures here.)

• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Olive (I pick mine up at a local antique shop.)
• Purdy 1.5″ angled paint brush (My go-to for all my furniture projects.)
• Black steel hasp
• Letter/number stencils
• White craft paint
• Sponge brush
• Medium grit sandpaper

I had to give the trunk a major cleaning first with vacuuming, Clorox, and the whole nine yards because it was grody.

I sanded down all of the rough spots on the original black paint job, wiped away the dust, and swiped on two coats of the olive chalk paint.

Once it was dry, I gave the whole piece a quick sanding with the medium grit sandpaper, and then this gorgeous raised wood grain began to show through. Hi there, pretty thing!

I used my stencils and white craft paint for the letters and numbers, dabbing the paint on with the sponge brush, instead of swiping, for a clean crisp outline.

And I replaced the broken rusted hasp with a new one.

Good as new! Well, good as vintage.

This baby is now right at home in our home office. And even better, Robert loved it! Yay!

His old military books and gear can now have a life outside of the closet. Even if it is still in a box, it’s at least a cool box.

What do you think? Honestly, even if we didn’t have a military office, I think I’d still want this trunk in another room of our house, olive drab and all.

You can check out all of the incredible before and afters from my other Trash to Treasure friends too:

(Clockwise from top left): Prodigal Pieces | Girl in the Garage | Artsy Chicks Rule | Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourselfer

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