Decorative Trunks

I have a thing for old wooden boxes and decorative trunks. They create a lot of extra storage for any room in the house and fit well with any decor.

When I think about it, we have a trunk in just about every room in our house. In our bedroom we have a huge wicker basket trunk to store extra blankets. In our guest bedroom a gigantic cedar chest to store extra pillows, sheets and blankets. Also, a square wood trunk in our living room that's used as a coffee table and storage for scrap books and picture albums.

What's great about decorative trunks and boxes, they can double in use as storage and a useful pieces of furniture.

I recently made a pillow top for a small wood trunk that stores dress up clothes for the grandkids. The pillow top makes it a cozy little bench to sit on too.

The rustic burlap coffee bean bag works well with the worn wood trunk. It was a simple couple hour project that created a unique trunk bench.

Materials Needed;

• Trunk or Box with Lid
• Burlap Bag
• Jute Twine
• Needle With Large Eye
• Scissors
• Fiber Fill
• Wood Screws
• Plywood
• Drill
• Wood Saw

Instructions;

I used plywood to secure the pillow to the box lid. Measure the lid of the box or trunk and cut a piece of plywood the same size. Measure and cut material to fit both sides of board, cutting it large enough to stuff with fiber fill.

I lucked out, the width of the burlap coffee bean bag was the same length as the plywood I wanted to cover. I slid the plywood inside the bag placing it where the design on the bag was, placed fiber fill inside to give me some idea of how much to cut off. The two ends were already sewn, so I sewed the edges with jute twine to match the ends.

I sewed the pillow for the top of the wood box the same way I made the burlap floor pillows. Place burlap twine though the large eye needle and tie the same as using thread. Starting at one end of pillow, hand sew the cut edge. Do a wrapping motion with the needle and twine, if you start with the needle at the back of material, continue each time with the needle and twine at the back of the material. A thick edge will be created to match the other edges of the bag.

Attach the pillow to the trunk lid with wood screws. Open the lid and drill wood screws on each corner inside the lid, do not drill them all the way through. Extra hands are helpful to hold the pillow in place on top of the trunk lid. When pillow is in place, drill the screws the remainder of the way into the plywood.

The pillow top is now secure and will not slide off when the trunk is opened. This is a very easy way to transform an old wooden box into a decorative trunk and bench combination.