Organizing Small Spaces: Revamped Chest

I found this great old chest at a garage sale for very little money. It smelled old and was lined with painted paper. I removed the paper by spraying it with a water vinegar mixture and scrapped it once the mixture had soaked in. I would have used just water but vinegar helps kill bacteria and reduces the mildew smell.

Once I removed the paper I left the chest to dry in a warm room. I also used a no damp - they are often used in the marine industry during winter. You can probably pick one up at your local marina or Canadian tire and it absorbs moisture. I left the chest for a few days.

I then used some odor eliminators made of bamboo charcoal and Kanberra Gel. Kanberra Gel is a tea tree based odor eliminator and bacteria killer. By the time I was done, the chest smelled as good as new.

The next step to transforming my chest was lining it. To do so I measured all the sides and cut Bristol board to fit. My measurements were a bit off so I had to trim here and there but eventually they all fit. I wrote where they belonged (LH side, RH side, front back, lid) on the front with an arrow pointing to the top. In the future I would write it in the back of the cut-out because I ended up covering the words with fabric.

Once I had all of the cardboard cut outs, I cut my fabric. I made it at least one inch wider on every side. I could have made a concerted effort to match the image so that it flowed but I chose not to. Once I cut out the fabric, I started gluing.

Originally I was going to use double sided sticky tape to attach the fabric but unfortunately my double sided sticky tape was single sided tape - which took me forever to figure out because I just thought it was ill made and hard to get the backing off. Double sided tape is also good for securing fabric to cardboard, in visible areas, if the fabric does not take well to glue.

Depending on where the piece went, I glued different parts. This was so that when I placed the final pieces in the chest, the edges of the first pieces would tuck under them to fill in any spots that may not have been otherwise covered where the edges met.

For the front and back pieces, I:

1. folded the top of the fabric over and glued it to the back

2. glued the bottom on the front side of the cardboard to secure the fabric

3. left the side pieces unsecured - you could tack these to the front with a bit of glue, if you like

By not folding the bottom and sides over and gluing them to the back, there is fabric to tuck under the bottom and side caps once you begin placing the lining into the box.

Next I did the end caps (LH and RH sides). To do the end caps I folded over all of the sides, except the bottom, to the back and secured them. I left the bottom unsecured so that it could tuck under the bottom insert when putting the chest together.

To do the corners, I trimmed off some excess fabric, by cutting diagonally, and I folded them like I would when wrapping a gift. I made sure to use extra glue on the corners. I wanted it to get to all of the layers.

The right side piece had an additional cut out for the arm, that stops the lid from falling all the way back, as I could not remove the arm and place it on top of the completed lining. I made the cut out a bit longer than the arm, when it was in the closed positon, so that it would not damage the lining when the box was opened and closed. To secure the fabric to this cut out, I snipped the fabric to the corner, folded over the edges and glued them to the back. I then dabbed the corners with glue so they wouldn't fray. Depending on the fabric, you may not want to do this as certain fabrics such as satin do not look the same with glue on them.

I don't have any pictures of the bottom insert but to do this piece, I folded all of the edges over and secured them to the back.

The lid was the exact same as the main box. For the front and back pieces, fold over and secure the top to the back of the cardboard. If you like you can secure the bottom to the front of the cardboard. To do the end caps (right and left sides) fold over and secure the top and both side to the back of the cardboard, leaving the bottom unsecured. The final insert, the top of the lid, will be glued on all sides.

In my case, my end caps for the lid were slightly curved. To stop the fabric from wrinkling, when secured on the curved side, I made snips along the curve that went almost all the way to the cardboard but not quite. I then secured the fabric as I would have with a completely straight end cap - fold over and glue to back.

Once all of your pieces are covered, you want to install them into your box. Start with the pieces that have the most unsecured sides, in this case the front and back. Cover the backs of them in glue and put them in place. Be sure that the unsecured sides are in front of the insert, running along their respectable side. I made this very bad diagram to give you a visual. I hope it makes sense.

Next, install the end caps making sure that the loose fabric from the sides of the front and back are tucked behind these pieces. Again, make sure the unsecured bottom of the end cap is lying in front of the insert on the bottom.

Finally, you want to insert the bottom liner, making sure that the remaining edges of unsecured fabric are firmly underneath. I would use a lot of glue.

Do the same with the lid to install it. Front and back, sides then top.

This is what my final product looked like.

To make the chest more functional, I made a wooden box to sit just on top. It is about 6 inches deep and sits approximately 2.5" in the box. To support it, I covered two strips of wood that were 3/4" by 3/4" by 16" (a little less than the width of the box). I then nailed these to the chest's sides and placed the box on top. I made sure the box was approximately 1" smaller than the chest on every side so that the lid could easily close. To line the bottom of the removable box, I just covered a piece of properly sized Bristol board and placed it in. I did not glue it in.