beat up hope chest to zebra coffee table

Hi ya'all! Well you know I have been redoing my tweens bedroom in purple and zebra print. It has been so much fun! I get to do all kind of crazy things and it is ok, because it is for a teens room. Well the first thing my tween said she wanted was a couch, futon, anything really for her friends to sit on and hang out on when they are over watching movies, or listening to movies or face booking whatever the case may be. So I was trying to be frugal (I have 3 girls remember and I got into this mess by allowing them ALL to switch rooms - so yep, this is only the 1st of 3 girls room I will be doing ~ call me crazy! I do! and did I mention I am going to try to have all of it done by the time school starts (yes, that sound you heard was me laughing hysterically)

Well first of all while I was brain storming I thought of an old hope chest I had before my hubby and I got married. It had set at the foot of our bed when we first got married, and over the years had been moved around and lost a sense of purpose ~ that yes, I do believe most furniture needs a purpose. Well, the forgotten (but loved) piece of furniture is pictured below, and yes it really was that scary. Yes, that was exactly what my tween thought at first too! I first brought it outside (for some reason no one likes me to paint inside) and took the lid off, well it was almost falling off.

The second step was I took the fabric off of the top, and painted the whole thing matte black. Top to bottom two coats. Then I painted a clear matte varnish over the whole thing. I let this dry (the paint took 24 hours which surprised me because it was really hot outside!) Then I took the top and replaced the foam padding and covered it with Zebra printed decorator fabric. How fun is that! I stapled gun the fabric to the top of the lid. The very last step was that I scotch guarded the fabric really really well.! I hope approve, my daughter does- she loves it!

Confession time: I think in the past I was too quick to get rid of pieces of furniture before I thought outside the box. Is anyone out there in blog land guilty of similar mistakes? What was your favorite save, or looking back what did you give up on to quick?