Tea Chest Refurbishment

This project is a little different to my normal kind of stuff that is on the site but I am very excited to get this project started.

I was away with my husband visiting his grandparents and we attended Kinross Sunday Market and car boot sale and we stumbled across this antique Tea Chest.  For me it was love at first sight although it was looking pretty run down and the interior had been painted baby pink so my first though was that has to go.  It cost me £15 (well I say me other half got it for me) which wasn’t to bad and I plan on giving it a bit of a makeover.

As far as I can tell the hinges are new also the locking system seems to have been replaced but the lock is functioning and the hinges are pretty sturdy so they will not be needing replaced.  My main plan is to get it all sanded down inside and out.  Depending on the condition inside when the pain has been removed I may have to repaint it (probably dark red) or if possible varnish it.  Again that depends on the condition of the wood.

As for the out side it is going to need to be sanded there is some scratches to the rear and chipped varnish so it will have to come off, sadly this means I will loose the rose on top but hopefully I will be able to replace this with a new one as I do like it having the rose on top.  But again depending how the chest looks when it’s sanded will depend on wheither this is added or not.

The key hole cover is currently heavily scrached and missing a screw so depending how it cleans up this will either be replaced or just have a new screw added.

Anyway here is a few pictures of my chest before my work starts.

Did I mention it has a secret pannel? (well not so secret now!)

And now to get out the sand paper and make a start!

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