DIY VINTAGE SUITCASE SHELF

       

     The cool DIY project for today was to create a fantastic looking Vintage Suitcase Shelf. I got the idea from a Pinterest post (love Pinterest!!) and decided to give it a try. I'm absolutely in love with the way it turned out! I plan to keep looking for cool vintage suitcases and I'll probably make several more of these. Here's what I did:

   --I bought this old suitcase from one of the local antique stores. It was a Samsonite and it was in really good shape so I felt kind of bad about what I was going to do to it! (But I did it anyway!) 

  --I decided that I wanted the shelf to be about 6 inches wide, so I marked a line all the way around the suitcase at six inches back from the front. 

   --I used a razor blade to cut out the material inside of the suitcase and used a hammer to knock loose any metal hinges that were in the way. 

  --Next, I used painters tape along side where I planned to cut. Just in case the wood tried to splinter. The tape helps prevent that from happening.

 
  
















  --I used one of my husbands air powered tools to cut the suitcase one side at a time with the suitcase open. It easily sawed through both the wood body and metal trimmed edges of the suitcase.

  --It works best to then put the top and bottom pieces together and close the clasps. I also put a couple pieces of painters tape on the inside to hold the back part together too. 

  --You will need to drill four holes of the suitcase. One on each of back corners on both the top and bottom so that you can secure the suitcase to the 2 x 4's that you will use mount it to on the wall. 

  --I pre-drilled holes in two 2 x 4's that I had cut to the length needed to fit inside the suitcase. I also pre-drilled the holes into my wall where I wanted to hang the shelf.

  










--The suitcase shelf was then slid
right over the 2 x 4's. They were
spaced exactly right and the suitcase fit snuggly 
onto them.

 --I'm lucky enough to have my 
darling hubby help me install the last four screws that secure the suitcase to the 2 x 4's.  He's a sweetie! 


  --That was the last step to make my shelf! I've decided to use this shelf to display three of the vintage cameras I've begun collecting. Here's the finished project. If you like my DIY projects please leave a comment! Thanks again for reading my blog!