Matching Hardware & Trunk Organizational Theory

Trunk update!

I got my totally cool, really amazing monogram in the mail yesterday which meant that Dad and I compulsively had to affix it as soon as possible.  I wasn't 100% confident that a 14" diameter monogram was the right size but as soon as it hit the front of the trunk, I loved it.  Love love.

who's trunk is this?

 In real life the Monogram was a bit more copper than I had anticipated (I could have guessed from the "copper finish" I selected, but I didn't).  I really liked the color itself (and it compliments the wood nicely), but I didn't like the idea of the other hardware being mismatched in either stainless or brass for the hasp, handles, etc.  Both options seemed to clash or at the very least look a little back-yard-ian.

(hasp not attached yet..)

My Etsy Master had shared the paint finish he used for the monogram, and since it was a simple can of Rust-oleum (in Hammered Copper) my Dad just picked up a bottle (spray paint, so simple) and gave the rest of the hardware (and screws!) a nice coating to match. The result is lovely.  The paint finished remarkably evenly, and the tone is just perfect.  I also really like how it looked classy and understated, but just a little left of normal. Plus I like that if something ever chips or needs to be replaced I can just touch it up with spray paint!

sprayed to match handles

After plenty of Oooooooh-ing and Aaaahhhhhhhh-ing we got to work designing the cubbies for the lid.  While my "paint skills" leave something to be desired, my drawing skills are even worse so here we go..

Since the lid is so deep, there's lots of space for legit storage.  The primary question is how do you keep all the stuff in the lid still in the lid when it gets shut. Solution for that is a flap that fastens either up on the lid, or lets down like a secretary desk and can be used as a table of sorts.

Brown thing hinges up or down

Make sense? 

So if the secretary-desk-flap-lid seals the lid, we still wanted some smaller cubbies so that stuff wasn't just rolling around in the big lid and then tumbling out when you open the flap.

Because the flap either blocks the main trunk, or the lid I tried to think of things "you need at the same time" to keep in the lid.  Ideally, "things that go on last" or what have you. 

So, this became things like my tall boots, bridle, helmet/hairnet/gloves, shiny coat spray, and horsey boots. 

Our current division of space looks like this:

Lid is 38"w by 22"t and approx 8"d

Turns out my tall boots just barely fit in the 22" height of the lid, but they do fit nicely.  22" is a bit short to hang a bridle, so we ended up laying the bridle down and giving a long 9"x18" space for that.  Above my bridle space is a 10" x 13" cubbie for my helmet/gloves/hairnet stuff which leaves a larger space in the middle that is tall enough for spray bottles or perhaps horse boots.  Not sure.  all of these cubbies will have a front "lip" which will help keep things from tumbling out when the lid is up and open. 

Dad is putting the shelves in such that they are easy to adjust and change if we decide this layout is difficult or I really want something else in the lid. Some of this is hard to guess until I use it a few times.

Then just as a kicker, we plan to put a whiteboard and mirror on the secretary-lid-flap so that when it is up and fastened there is a mirror for hairnetting (or assisting horse slime removal) and a whiteboard for notes/courses/etc. 

Pretty bad ass, right?

Hopefully it will make it's big (literally, this thing is a monster) debut this weekend.