Hi! Liz here, coming from the Redo Your Furniture (Frame and Frills) workshop with another fun project! This one is a very fun project that uses tons of colors creating a total industrial grunge vibe, perfect for this vintage trunk a friend gave me.
I’ve had this trunk in the storage shed for a while, trying to come up with a vision for it.
When I watched a recent Brushed by Brandy’s YouTube tutorial, I was filled with inspiration. What a perfect treatment for the gifted trunk that was still waiting for a makeover. (BTW: Look for Brandy’s YouTube tutorial at the end of this post)
I will of course be using all Fusion Mineral Paint products, which I stock in the Frame and Frills shop. (You can shop online or in person)
Prepping the trunk started with washing with Fusion TSP Alternative and then wiping on a coat of Fusion Ultra Grip, a bonding agent. The trunk is metal and faux leather, so to ensure good adhesion, Ultra Grip would be the ticket!
I like to wipe on a thin layer of Ultra Grip with a damp applicator pad. Although this project is all about texture, brush strokes created from brushing on Ultra Grip wouldn’t have been a bad thing… wiping it on with the applicator pad is so easy and fast.
After the Ultra Grip cured for a day, it was time to add some creative texture.
I mixed some Fusion Fresco into a bit of Ash Fusion Mineral Paint to create a thick mix that I then proceeded to spackle on in random spots over the outside of the trunk.
The existing faux leather had texture, but I wanted to mix it up and get more depth… going for a very industrial grunge texture.
The fresco mix dried overnight and then, using a workshop chip brush, I painted a base coat of Ash over the trunk.
At that point the layering and layering of paint colors began.
Here’s a tip… I found it took tons of layers of paint over paint to get the textured look I wanted. As I added each color, I had my hairdryer on hand and dried that layer, or the next color would mix with the one it was going over and just get muddy instead of a defined layer.
Soapstone on the top section shows how I was trying to work in a cross-hatch style of brushing.
Another layer of Ash, almost drybrushing it on, allowing some of the grey Soapstone to show here and there. This started to get some depth and texture in just those 2 shades.
More colors…
After the additional layer of Chateau on the top section was dry, I added a little Tuscan Orange followed by Prairie Sunset where the eventual blue (Champness) and white, (Chateau) would meet. I totally agree with Brandy, in her tutorial, that the little added orange and yellow brings some life to this color scheme.
Here is the trunk after the Champness light blue was added on the bottom with an addition of Midnight Blue over it.
Next day, I redid the layers, in the cross-hatch style, trying to not have complete coverage of the layers underneath, but adding depth. I did add a couple more colors to the top white part… Hazelwood, which is a darker taupe grey, along with a touch of Victorian Lace, a brighter white, to highlight the Chateau.
The hardware got a quick dry brushing of Metallic Bronze paint, purposely leaving some of the base paint colors peeking through for that industrial grunge look.
I found the right sized hairpin legs, bringing the trunk up to the perfect coffee table height. To secure the legs to the trunk, I attached some wood 1×3 strips inside the trunk bottom, giving the screws something to grab onto.
Here are all the colors I used for this industrial grunge textured trunk redo:
I told you it was a lot of colors! Actually, besides the Ash, and maybe Chateau, the rest of the colors were such a small amount, (especially with the amazing coverage Fusion Mineral Paint has) I used about the amount of a tester size for the other colors. (Shop fusion mineral paint colors here)
A couple of additional details…
I waxed the outside in 3 different colors of wax. I used Black wax on the darker bottom parts, and Liming wax on the lighter white parts. Then I used Ageing wax on the hardware. Using wax over the Fusion Mineral Paint for the textured trunk added a little bit of color depth and a softer feel to the paint.
A little fun surprise inside.
The final detail was adding some Roycycled decoupage to the inside of the trunk. The lid got the colorful Numbered Decollage paper, and for the lift out tray, I choose the Underwood Crate paper.
This is way out of my normal style, but it was so much fun creating it!
So that’s how my version of Brandy’s textured tutorial turned out… Here’s her original piece, isn’t it gorgeous?!! I love following Brushed by Brandy on YouTube, she’s incredibly talented and creative. Brandy is great at patiently breaking it down for even novices to understand.
Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and Instagram! I appreciate you reading along.
You can also find me at my shop, Frame and Frills, stocked with amazing DIY products like Fusion Mineral Paint, Stencils, Roycycled, Prima and Mint by Michelle decoupage papers, ReDesign with Prima Transfers and more! You can shop in person or online.
Here are more posts about redoing something:
