This was not supposed to be the 26th project. I had it all planned out, remember? But then I found an inexpensive wood trunk and realized that what I had intended to do for #26 would be WAY better if I waited for Paul to get home to complete it. So I'll still be making it and sharing – just not before my birthday.
And really, this trunk is the perfect project to end on. It's so classically me for three reasons :
- decided with little to no thought so there was no opportunity for second guessing.
- uses just two colors & simple shapes.
- perfectly imperfect.
I can usually tell when a project isn't right for me because it sits on my list and I hem and haw over how to complete it. The projects that I am meant to do are rushed and rarely thought through. That is exactly how this trunk came to be.
I bought this trunk on Saturday to use as a coffee table in our upstairs loft area. It was rad to begin with. I think it could have just been cleaned up a bit and worked as just a stained trunk. But I already have a stained brown coffee table. I wanted a bigger impact and I figured an $18 whim purchase was a good way to do it. If I grow out of this pattern or the color scheme no longer works in a year or so, I'll just repaint on top of it – OR – it will make a rad toy chest for our future littles.
(excuse the blurry & dark iPhone photos)
To get the look, I took off the hardware (except the hinges) and sanded the whole thing. I then painted two coats of ultra white satin finish wall paint. I let it dry then freehand taped off diamond shapes. I wanted the corners of them to be touching so with my thick tape I had to do them in stages. I added pink wall paint (I bought a small tester of Valspars Pink Burst at Lowe's) and then peeled up the tape and let it try again completely.
Then I added more tape to connect the corners of the already painted diamonds. When it started to look like that photo above I began to panic a bit. It looked like the diamonds were going to be totally wonky.
And of course, they are. But when you look at all of them together, they somehow work (at least in my head).
Once the top was done, I started going around the sides to fill it up. It wasn't too hard, but the corners got a little messed up because it was tricky to know what diamond points needed to match up.
I imagine it might seem a little odd? Crazy? Circus themed? But I am so pleased with it. Makes me smile and is totally different yet is going to fit with the rest of the place. (I think when there is more furniture in that room it won't be quite so loud.)
I have been having a hard time figuring out how to make the most of the space up in the loft. Now that I have a coffee table, my mind is whirling with ideas for the rest of it. I will share as progress gets made, but right now, I am waiting for our new couch to be delivered so our old couch can come upstairs.
And with that, I completed the 26 projects! I will be preparing a wrap up post to talk a bit more about all of them soon. Anticipating a question here… YES! I am absolutely doing a birthday project for 27. It's along similar lines but even better than the 26 projects. I'll be sharing the rules for it soon.
This is the final project!!
I decided to tackle 26 personal craft projects before I turn 27 on 02.22.12. You can follow my progress here on the blog or on pinterest.
See project 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 & 25.
enJOY it 
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