Before & After: a vintage suitcase table? why yes, please meet bambi.

it's true. fly the flags, hang the banners. i've finished converting the grimy green vintage suitcase into a sleek entrance table. after months of tweeting about it, i say it's about time!

i found this suitcase on the side streets of my neighbourhood, all lonely and dejected, just sitting in the misty rain, awaiting someone with vision who could see all it's potential. i couldn't help but almost (almost) say out loud 'come in off the street old friend, i have an amazing idea and a home for you.' so in she came and the ideas began. given the large size and awesome shape i didn't want to just make a dog bed out of it (the next thing on my list), i wanted to see if i could make a cute table. as i got brainstorming and googling away, i was flooded with a whole host of colourful combinations and options. there were so many options that i soon found myself considering wacky combinations, none of which i would really like to have in my own home. after much deliberation and procrastinating i realized that while i love colour, i wanted classic, sleek and vintage for this piece. so i went with that.

after giving it a thorough cleaning, with trusty rust-oleum spray primer in hand, off i went, and 2 coats later i was ready to start painting. i chose a glossy black. i had taped off the hardware and the handle, thinking i was going to paint them a contrasting colour, but in the end, went with all black. i considered adhering fabric to the top as well, but decided to go back to basic black, knowing i can alter later. i think i did 3 or 4 coats of black, simply because there was stitching to do, various sides, and details that need to be filled in by multiple coats. so shiny! so smooth! easy peasie!

next, legs. home depot seemed to have some basic varieties, so i grabbed 4 legs, 4 angled brackets, and that was all i needed. once i checked out how some of the other angled-legged furniture was constructed around here i mapped out the base where i would attach the brackets. done and done.

the legs i chose are long, making her look a little like Bambi through the leg, so hence the name. i wanted a high table for my entrance way, so i decided the longer the better. i'm also a big fan of function and storage, so i started to check around and found a perfect piece of pine to use for a shelf.

knowing nothing, i decided to turn the table over , approximate where the shelf would sit, and figured how much of each corner of the shelf i would need to remove so it could sit on pegs, all comfy and snug like. i winged it, basically. I measured equal distances where the shelf would sit, and screwed in small screws on the inside of each leg, forming a peg ledge the shelf would fit on.

next, i took a jigsaw to remove the corners so they fit around the round curve of the leg. i then drilled a hole on the edge of each corner, making sure to break through the bottom of the shelf, making a perfect slot to slide over the nail on each leg. you get it, right? i should have taken photos of THAT! lol. a process, if i do say so myself. i then sanded the edges and primed and painted the shelf. then fit it in place by loosening legs, and tightening them once the shelf is in place.

so now, she sits in the entrance way. i threw this together for the picture, but think the mirror needs to be lowered etc., but for now, i love it. we've needed something like this inside our front door for a long time. yay! oh bambi. how i do love you.

so that's my vintage suitcase table b&a! i think there are more in my future. with stripes. stay tuned. so fun!

♥ leel ♥