What Would You Have Done With It?

A couple of weeks ago, we came across this very old suitcase at a yard sale. It is SO HEAVY, I cannot imagine anyone actually carrying it when their belongings were inside.



But it really did capture our attention. Gabe and I (and Sarah-Kate!) love old suitcases. I probably wouldn't have bought it, just because it really was beat up. But, then we saw this sticker.


That sticker and the fact that the price was $1 made up our minds. Just think of its history! My mind just reels with questions. Who owned it? Where's it been? What has it carried? How long has it been around?

I'm not sure who thought of it first, but we somehow both thought of making it into a coffee table. I know what you're thinking.........a coffee table? What would make us think of that?

The bottom of the suitcase was not in good shape at all.

So, Gabe cut a piece of plywood to fit and I covered it with batting (another yard sale for 25 cents) and a piece of vintage-looking fabric (2/3 of a yard @ $1 a yard). I used hot glue.

The most expensive part of the whole project was the legs. From now on, I will be on the lookout for legs, spindles, and finials at yard sales and thrift stores!

The fabric-covered plywood did double duty. It helped make the inside look nice and it gave something extra to screw the screws into.

I primed the legs,

and then sprayed them with this.

You can see that it kind of globbed in a few places, but it really isn't noticible when they are sitting under the suitcase.

So, we attached the legs and here we are! A perfectly old, beat-up, funky coffee table!




With storage space inside.