In my quest to find ways of recycling some outdated, castaway items into cherished treasures and giving them a second life, I have been working on giving my bathroom a new look. It’s a little bit country with the warm colors and a little shabby chic with the tins and painted furnishings and definitely vintage with the many collectibles.
I needed something to replace a shelf that I had above the toilet that held some decorative items and also doubled as a towel rack. I thought I wanted an old vintage medicine cabinet but was having a hard time finding one that I liked and was in my budget. I have a collection of Trash to Treasure books by Leisure Arts and when I need inspiration, I leaf through them. I came across a project where they turned an old suitcase into a shelf. I liked the idea but worried that it might be too big for the space. Nonetheless, I set off looking for the perfect suitcase and I found it at the Allen Antique Barn, one of just many places to shop for antiques in Allen, Michigan.
I am thrilled with the suitcase and how the renovation turned out. The inside of the suitcase had a really pretty burgandy silk material that was in very good condition. It had loose pockets on three of the sides which meant extra material that I could use. And I did, to cover the wood shelf that my husband made
to hold my collection of various vintage items … from hat pins to old nail polish bottles to my grandmothers pretty vanity mirror. And then there are some old razors and razor tins, some perfume bottles and some pill containers. What I like is that there is still room to add more goodies as my collections grow.
All of this for $12 … that’s right, the suitcase cost me $12. My husband had the wood for the shelf in the barn and I reused the material that was inside the suitcase.
This was a lot easier than I thought it would be and I can’t be happier with the way it turned out. If you are thinking about a project like this look for a suitcase with pockets so that that you will have extra material to work with. In my next post, I will share other updates to this bathroom and you will see that silky burgandy material show up again and again. 🙂