How To Add Wheels To A Trunk

I added some wheels to the bottom of an old trunk and it’s been such a great idea for a lot of different reasons.

This old trunk once belong to my Grandma and so I just love using it as a coffee table in our living room. The trunk is also great for storage, we keep some family photos in it.

I had these four caster wheels just sitting in our garage and I decided that I wanted to add them to the trunk. These wheels came off of an old chair that I got rid of a long time ago. I got rid of the chair but kept the wheels for a project like this. 

THESEwheels would have worked great if I hadn’t already had some on hand.

The first step was to pick a drill bit that was just a tad smaller than the wheel stem.  I measured the length of the wheel stem to the drill bit and marked it with tape. The tape was used as a marker to let me know how far I needed to drill into the trunk. 

(Please note,  my caster wheels had glue on them which made the stem permanently attached to the wheel, otherwise,  you would normally attached the stem to the furniture first, and then add the wheel. Hope that made sense) 

Looking inside of my trunk, you will see that there are three strips of wood on the bottom of the trunk. These wood strips were already attached to my trunk, but if they were not already there, I would have had to add extra wood to each of the four corners in order to have a thick enough layer of wood to drill into.

Once I drilled a hole into each corner of my trunk, I placed the wheel stem into the hole. Because the hole was a bit smaller than the wheel’s stem, I also had to hammer it in. 

I never knew that the bottom of this trunk was in such poor condition until I flipped the trunk over to add the wheels. Seeing how roughed up the bottom of this trunk was was the first reason I was so glad that I made the decision to add the wheels. Before the bottom of the trunk was always rubbing against my floor and rug, and now it’s all better protected because the trunk is raised off the floor.  

The second reason why I was so pleased with my decision to add the new wheels is because now I can easily move the trunk off of the rug to vacuum. Before, I’d have to ask my husband or boys to help me move it.

It is so nice to be able to just roll it off to the side to vacuum or to move it when we want to play board games around it.

If you have a trunk or large piece of furniture that you find yourself having to move often then I hope that I have inspired you today to add some wheels to it.  You can find wheels similar to these ones HERE.

I also really like the industrial look that the wheels add to my trunk. 

As I was setting up our living room to take pictures of the trunk, I hurried and tucked a plaid quilt into my couch. I added the quilt to switch up the look of our living room and to give it a simple change.  I really like adding quilts over furniture, it gives a cute, easy-living, cottage look to a space.

Not only do I like the look of a quilt on a couch, but it also makes the couch feel so much softer and cozier to sit on.  Go ahead and give it a try for yourself.

If you want to learn more about this space, just search “Living Room” here on the blog.

I really am so glad that I added the wheels to this trunk. It was a quick afternoon project, but as you have read, it was much needed.

Thanks for stopping by,

Emily

 

   

I’m more likely to respond there anyway.

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