This Is: A Cedar Chest

This is a Lane cedar chest.

This is a sander.

This is wood filler.

This is stain, paint and paste finishing wax.

This is a "new" set of legs.

This is a refinished cedar chest.

This is a cedar chest I picked up from my brother. And before you get on me for pulling off most of the detail work, let me just say, some of it was going to be hard to salvage and other pieces were broken.

Like the one foot. It had chunks missing on two sides. I only had one side to put back on. I figured it would be nearly impossible to find another one of these feet on the open market, so I needed to put on some new ones. Luckily, awhile back I had picked up a set at the Habitat Restore that I hadn't gotten around to using yet. They were new old stock, so I had to buy them.

I had to cut them down with the chop saw, but they actually worked quite well. Here's the rest of the chest with most of the trim work stripped off.

A little wood glue, wood putty and a lot of sanding later, it was ready for refinishing. Because of the extensive repair work, I knew I'd have to paint it from the start. But Gretchen and I decided that it would have a little more pop if I stained the few remaining accent pieces, not paint the whole thing gray. She of course said this knowing I'd be the one painstakingly staining them and painting around them.

But It was worth it. It looks pretty sharp with the grayish-blue paint.

And the inside smells beautifully of cedar every time you open it. It should make someone very happy.