Restored Love

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See my old hope chest? My parents gave this to me as a graduation present when I was 18 years old. A hope chest is what us girls all got as a gift around our 18th birthday so we would have a place to store what we would buy to prepare for our wedding and future household.

These advertisements sought to equate the ideal of domesticity with a Lane "Hope Chest," in which a young woman stored clothing or home furnishings in anticipation of marriage. This was summed up in the company's tag line: "The gift that starts the home."Lane advertisements reached a high point during World War II, persuading thousands of GIs leaving for overseas to purchase a Lane Hope Chest for the sweethearts they were leaving behind. Ads combined romantic images of men in uniform and their fiancées with patriotic slogans and the well-known face of national spokeswoman, and symbol of all things American, Shirley Temple.I have used my chest all of these years to store all my cherished items: wedding mementos, all my children’s special items and many other important memories. I still love my chest but knew it was past time for a makeover:

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This is the fabric I found earlier this month that I loved:

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Of course I wanted to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint- it makes the project so much easier! I choose the color Old White. No prep needed, I just unscrewed the top:

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Here it is after the first painted coat:

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I wanted to keep the antique brass hardware not only because of the cost, but I thought they looked good together with both the fabric and the off white paint:

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