One for the Road

interior design | home design | diy

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Issue 45

The Escapes Issue

Cook perfect pancakes
Build a modern rustic bench
Sew new life into a vintage dress

One for the Road

Transform a forgotten travel trunk into a rolling bar.

WHO
Dane Holweger, age 45

WHERE
Los Angeles

WHAT
Transform a forgotten travel trunk into a rolling bar.

DAY JOB(S)
Prop/Set Stylist

WHY
“The idea posed itself so clearly in my head I couldn’t not make it.”

SITE
daneholweger.com

“I had just experienced the end of an almost eight-year relationship and found myself renting and redecorating the tiniest ’20s-era bungalow in Silver Lake. I was using DIY as a form of therapy—refinishing floors, building a miniscule side deck, and trying to maximize every square inch of space. This idea grew of necessity since I needed a compact set of shelves to serve as a TV stand and bookcase—and on occasion, a movable bar.”

Draw a line around the face of the trunk 2½ inches from each outside edge with a pencil. Cut this piece out with a jigsaw.
Drill holes for casters in the four corners of the trunk to serve as the bottom of your new bookcase. Attach casters.
Cut a -inch piece of birch plywood 1 inch wider and 1 inch longer than the opening you’ve cut into the face of the trunk.
Cut two pieces of ½-inch birch plywood the depth of the inside of the trunk and the length of your -inch birch panel, and two pieces the depth of the inside of the trunk and 1 inch shorter than the width of the birch panel. Assemble these pieces into a box with the -inch panel as the back, using the 1½-inch brad nails.
Drill -inch holes for shelf pins where you’d like shelves.
Remove any lining from the trunk. Glue the back of your newly assembled box to the inside back of the trunk so that when you close it, the edge of the box lines up under the opening you’ve cut.
Trim the edge of the opening with aluminum corner channel cut at 45-degree angles.
Insert the shelf pins.
Cut the ½-inch birch plywood into shelves the width and depth of the inside opening of your bookcase. Finish the edges with birch finish strips, cutting with the X-Acto knife.
Sand the wood using fine sandpaper, and wipe clean with a piece of cloth.
Finish all wood with polyurethane. In between coats, lightly sand the wood again and wipe down with the cloth before applying another coat of polyurethane. Insert the shelves into the trunk.