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All Suited Up (and somewhere to go...!)

© Karon Goodman

Sometimes, there is a piece that give you true inspiration, and it becomes far more than it ever was before. That's what happens when you recycle an old suitcase into a storage table. Click here: http://www.mindspring.com/~billgoodman/s... to view one that was recycled for a little girl's room.

It looks intimidating, but it's not. The basic steps are simple enough, but the type of finish you choose will determine how long your projects takes. I found these two suitcases at a flea market for $5. You may already have one that you can recycle. The other costs are in the legs and support piece (unless you use scrap wood for that) and the materials you use for your finish. No matter what, it's an inexpensive, unique project.

First, remove any linings from the suitcase. If there is a cardboard piece that lays flat in the top and can be removed, save that for later. As always, start with a good cleaning of diluted bleach water and remove any stickers, tape, etc.

For the legs of the table, either purchase legs from a home improvement center or make them yourself from scrap wood. Use a size in proportion to your suitcase, probably no less than 12 inches and no more than 18 inches high. Also, buy or cut a piece of wood, 1/2" or 3/4" plywood, in a rectangle that you will screw each leg of the table into, judging the size of the piece of wood and the placement of the legs according to the size of your suitcase. Then screw the piece of wood to the bottom of the suitcase by screwing four 1"-long wood screws through the inside of the suitcase down through the wood piece and into each leg. You may want to secure the legs in place before you attach the support piece to the suitcase.

You can prime the suitcase and the wood before or after they are joined together, your choice, whatever you think will work best for you. Either way, prime the entire suitcase, inside and out, except that if you have the cardboard piece from the top, you don't have to prime or paint that area. Prime the legs and one side of the support piece as well. I recommend a Zinsser product such as BIN.

I used a couple of finishing techniques for my suitcase table. I used three colors of flat latex paint and sponge painted the entire table with a natural sea sponge. I used a caramel color for the base coat and then made repeated applications with the sea sponge using a