Happy Birthday Angie! :)

I bought this trunk for my sister Angie and have spent the last few hours cleaning it up and trying to restore it.  I know, you think it looks beautiful in its original form, right?  Well, the top picture is the before and the bottom pictures are after. BEAUTIFUL! STUNNING! EXCITING!  Angie, if you are unhappy with the looks of things, now is the time to tell me and I will sell it on Ebay for big bucks. 

I researched trunk restoration before I touched it.  I am assuming it is close to 100 years old after the bit of research that I did.  Now to describe my process:  I washed it off very thoroughly.  Then, I retacked some of the loose joints and covered it all with a cherry stain. Originally, I wanted to leave the black metal, but it looked much better when I chose to cover it all.  The trunk is made of canvas, wood, leather, and metal.