SK On Elderberry: SK's Fridge to Vintage Steamer Trunk

With the amazing photo talent of Carole Marie my vintage steamer trunk comes to life.

Most of us have them. In fact I could just bet everyone in the United States has at least one. They are a complete necessity. But not the prettiest spot on the block...

A Refrigerator. And no matter how new and complex, they just look like an old refrigerator. a huge silver, black, almond or white blank spot. Maybe even Harvest Gold... With a few or many magnets. For decoration I suppose.

I have always hated magnets and fridges. Just looks messy to me. So I thought I would make a really big mess and see If I could do any worse than fridge designers do. So here goes. I can see eyebrows lifting across the nation. Maybe even across the world.

I'm not a fan of stainless steel. It looks nice, but I found it miserable to keep clean and not looking smudged most of the time. I found my self polishing daily to keep this expensive big momma clean.

So I got a black one. I purchase my black fridge from our trusty local Kelly Appliance Center One that is fingerprintless. Or textured as they call it. It was as uninspiring in it's own way as the stainless. Just one big black spot with the inevitable hated magnets.

We have to have one so what to do to make it special? A touch of Steam Punk? Anyone?

I sanded the fridge lightly and painted it with a bonding primer using a small foam roller. This little roller is great to keep those odd roller marks from appearing.

Using Wood Icing as my sculpturing compound. I used a damask stencil adding several 3-d damask designs. I also use the Wood Icing for the belts and sculptured buckles. Tricky but such fun.

I painted my first coat of paint a deep chocolate. Let er'dry.Then I did a crackle wash of deep scarlet. Let er' dry and crack. When this coat was dry I added more crackle paint to areas of the surface and then painted a deep red. Let er' dry.When this coat was dry I started using my stencil to cover the entire surface with a lighter and darker red damask. Drying. Again.

This surface has nine coats of paint. As I progressed I found I could use the last coat of painted design as it seeped through. Red is a very transparent paint. The previous coats kept showing up and I started to like this look. I continued.

The straps and buckles were made from the Wood Icing and then painted with Modern Masters Metal Effects Paints. Rust and Copper. This made for some fun effects. The more metal effects I used the older my work looked.

As a farm girl I remember dad doing everything possible to keep rust from his precious equipment. Not me. I love this old rusty and copper patina. I'm sure he is turning over in his grave as I actually try to make stuff look old and corroded.

As I concluded I must be about finished,(because I was tired) I used a mat coating on the old straps and buckles. And used a rubbed wax on the red damask. I heard someone call this color brothel red. Hmmm.

After many hours of "man what a mess" to"wow I love this". I am finished. I now have my very own steamer trunk. I have never been to Paris. But I'm ready to go.