Vintage Cedar Chest Refinish

Wooden chests - are they still used as

a hope chest, also called dowry chest, cedar chest, trousseau chest, or glory box is a piece of furniture traditionally used by unmarried young women to collect items, such as clothing and household linen, in anticipation of married life.

The term "hope chest" or "cedar chest" is used in the United States; in the United Kingdom, the term is "bottom drawer"; while both terms, and "glory box" are used by women in Australia.

I think the common use nowadays is linen and blanket storage. I also see many that have had the locking system removed and used as a toy box.

For whatever use I love to buy them when I see them as I think they have many uses.

I purchased this cedar chest by Lane (made in Canada by Knetchel Furniture) on a local buy and sell group.

I love the simple clean lines and walnut exterior.

The cedar lining makes it perfect for linens and blankets. The removeable lined sliding tray is a bonus for other goodies. This beauty also has the 2 original keys!

There were a few gouged areas requiring Dixie Belle mud.

EZ Strip paint and varnish stripper was applied on the top.

I love watching EZ Strip paint and varnish stripper at work. Watch my video above.

After the "gunk" was scraped off, the stripper is neutralized with clean water. Wipe repeatedly until the residue is all gone. The top was wiped with a dry cloth and left to dry well overnight.

Time to power sand the bare wood.

The solid wood base was removed after laying the chest on its back.

Subscribe to these Blog Tutorials ~ Visit my Etsy Store

Follow me on Facebook ~ Follow me on Pinterest

Follow me on Instagram ~ Follow me on Hometalk

Email me

The power sander had the corner detailer put on so sand the rounded edges of the top. But the narrow edge on the underside was not easily power sanded,

This area calls for my Richard Tools small carbide scraper.

These 2 videos show the small carbide scraper at work.

This little gem is amazing for tight narrow edges.

Another tight area tool is this super handy sander card. Check out this handy little card sander at work above.

On the chest front the small carbide scraper removed the excess white mud.

A Dixie Belle sanding sponge was used to smooth these mud filled areas. The entire body was scuff sanded with the sponge too.

The base was stripped too.

Then scrubbed with clean water to neutralize the stripper.

When dry it too was power sanded smooth.

The newest Dixie Belle Paint color cobblestone was brushed on the cedar chest body with 2" Dixie Belle synthetic brush.

Once the top was power sanded to 180 grit smoothness, a Dixie Belle sanding sponge (220 grit) was used to hand sand the sanded surfaces.

Dixie Belle Howdy Do Hemp Oil was hand rubbed into the gorgeous grained wood. The excess is wiped back with blue shop towel. Two coats were applied in total.

The same steps were done to the sanded base as well.

This is the look so far with the cobblestone base and oiled top.

I was not liking the combo so added brown Dixie Belle's best dang wax to the inner edges but it still was not the look I wanted.

I wanted a classic look. Dixie Belle Paint in Drop cloth - my go to warm white was brushed on.

So much better with the oiled walnut wood top, right? Above is only 1 coat. Two coats were applied.

The drop cloth paint was sanded smooth with a sanding sponge. The edges were lightly distressed as well.

All sanded and distressed.

The inner edges were given dimension with brown best dang wax applied with a dedicated Dixie Belle premium chip brush.

Above is my dark waxing video

You can see above brown wax on 2 left panels and plain on 2 right panels.

This is the perfect combo and finish now for this vintage chest.

Look at that gorgeous grain!!

The cedar lined interior has a velvet lined sliding removeable tray

I rehydrated the cedar lining with a light sanding sponge sand and Hemp Oil wiped on.

Links to the Dixie Belle products are for your convenience. My affiliation with this company does not increase prices on your end, your purchases via my links do however provide a small subsidy which allows me to keep providing these free tutorials. Thank you!

FEATURED ON