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A Stripey Makeover for a Vintage Suitcase

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9-Vintage Suitcase After and Bdrm Bench Before 040I love the look of old trunks and suitcases and I’ve been wanting to do a vintage suitcase makeover for some time now.  I must admit that mine in a knockoff of one I saw on another blog, but I can’t remember exactly where.  Can anyone help me with that? Maybe it’s you and I’d love to give you credit.1-vintage trunk redo 003The vintage suitcase I used came from my in-laws garage sale and it is exactly like one that my parents had when I was a child.  This made it especially appealing to me.  I started by taping it off for the stripes and began painting, using two colors of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Old White and Versailles.  The pictures that I decoupaged onto the suitcase came from The Graphics Fairy website, of course.  The number of my projects that have revolved around that website I can’t even say!

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To age the graphics a bit I dipped them in strong coffee and laid them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  I “baked” them at 200 degrees for about 4 minutes (watching them closely to avoid a fire) and then laid them out on a wire rack to finish drying.

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After Mod Podging the graphics in place I sealed everything with two coats of MinWax Polycrylic.  Funny, Mr. OTN liked the color combo and he thought it looked cool with the graphics applied but he was VERY concerned that it was no longer useful as a piece of luggage, “It will be ruined if someone uses it for travel!”  I patiently explained to him that this isn’t meant to be used as a piece of luggage anymore but as a piece of home decor. 

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“Why are you staging it for pictures like it’s going on a trip if it’s no longer luggage?”,  I can hear Mr. OTN thinking in his head.  I haven’t come up with a good answer for him yet.  If I don’t sell this I’d better find something to do with it in my home.  Maybe I’ll pad the inside and make it a bed for the dogs . . . that would make Mr. OTN happy . . . or it could be stacked with some other pieces of luggage and used as a side table in his office.    4-Vintage Suitcase After and Bdrm Bench Before 016

 I actually kinda like it just sitting in my front entryway looking like some interesting guests have just arrived for a stay. What are your ideas?  What would you do with this suitcase?  Does it even really need to have a purpose?

Blessings to you,

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Comments

  4. Oh I like it very much, I like how the end trims are still the original color
    I just love today how we can redo anything vintage and make it new again
    I also like that tuffed mattress thing in one of the pictures where the piece of luggage is on the floor in front of it

    Janice

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  5. So cute! I must say that I’m partial to suitcases… 🙂
    I’ve seen people use them stacked as side tables. Perhaps you could cut some legs off a thrift store find (or buy some legs at the hardware store) and use the suitcase as the “top”? However, you’d lose seeing some of the great graphics.

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  6. Love it! I have seen quite a few suitcases but I always pass them up because the color is always really wrong!

    Now, thanks to your creativity I probably won’t…Thanks for the inspiration 🙂

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  15. Thank you so much for linking this and your bench post to my first We Call It Olde Link-Up! Thanks to you, my first week was a success. I hope to see you there again each Tuesday with your antique, vintage, or history-related article. I’m following you on Bloglovin now, too 🙂 Take care – Dawn @ We Call It Junkin.com

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  18. Oh my goodness, this suitcase is SO cute! I love the graphics and I had know idea baking them would ‘age’ them. So creative!
    Thanks so much for sharing at the Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop! Have a great day!
    Katie

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  19. Oh, I am in love with your vintage suitcase! It is gorgeous!! I want one!! You did a fabulous job. Thank you so much for sharing at A Bouquet of Talent. You had one of the top views at the party from last week! Just pinned and tweeted, too!

    Hope you are having a fabulous weekend. 🙂
    XO
    Kathy

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  20. This caught my eye immediately – so beautiful! I recognized those graphics and new exactly where you got them from (I just finished a project using one of them). Thanks for the great tutorial on aging them – I must try this! I found you over at A Stroll Thru Life Linky Party.

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  23. Men are so cute — My hubby is the same way — way too logical! Your luggage décor is super adorable! Perfect for a travel themed wedding ~ I hope a bride buys it for her special day 🙂

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  24. I love the suitcase and have one that I have been wondering what to do with and you have solved that problem! One question, can you paint the chalk paint directly onto the suitcase or does it require a primer? Thanks again for the inspiration!
    Sarah

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    • Thank you Sarah 🙂 In reply to your question I painted directly onto the suitcase. No primer was needed because I used chalk paint. Thank you so much for stopping by and blessings to you, Patti

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  25. I love the green and white stripes and the decoupage stickers. I just bought a vintage case with some damage on it. I only paid 5$ for it so I won’t feel guilty about painting it or cutting it up. Thanks for the great inspiration.
    Traci

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