Big or small, restored or plain, I've always loved them. Yet, finding one that I could afford was a challenge on my limited budget. Plus, I couldn't decide whether a dome-top, camel-top or flat-top was for me, what colors I would want or even what size.
Late one Thanksgiving weekend night, I went looking on the Seattle Craiglist forums for a cheap (or free) end table to set next to my reading nook. To my surprise, a lady was selling a "vintage trunk in need of TLC" for just $35. I emailed her and hoped I'd beaten any antique dealers to the punch. Snohomish county is home to one of the largest antique communities in the United States and the largest in the Pacific Northwest.
I got lucky. She still had it and I was first in line.
So, this snowy afternoon, my fiance and I drove down to meet her and her trunk. I'd seen the pictures, they weren't pretty. It was worse in person. On the other hand, I could see the beauty it had once had and could have again. At this point, I believe it to be a classic flat-top trunk, most likely built between the late 1800s and 1920.
According to Debbie and Jeff, the trunk was last purchased by their grandparents and then stored in Jeff's storeroom attic for at least twenty-five years. At some point before it was stored, every inch had been painted flat white, from the canvas to the leather to the hardware. They had offered it to their eldest daughter, currently away at college, but unsurprisingly considering its condition, she declined. So, it was time for it to move on to a new home.
Now it's mine and I hope to restore it to something near its former glory.
