Wayne McLaughlin
Lyneham, ACT

Blanket box
(restored)

‘The blanket box pictured was made by my mother’s great grandfather in England in the 1850s before they emigrated to Bungendore, NSW and took up land in 1859. The four sides and original lid were cut from a single length of unknown timber. Subjected to some weathering a little rot developed. The base had been replaced with various timbers. The box was painted, the base was rotten, the lid was heavily warped and unusable, and the box was out of square.

‘I wanted to restore and did all the work myself with handheld and power tools. After stripping, cleaning, cutting and sanding the reclaimed ash, I made a new lid and base, cut with a jigsaw to the out of square shape of the bottom of the sides. I restored and cleaned up the original brass keyhole, stepped hinges and handles for re-use.

‘It is now used again as a blanket and storage box at the foot of the bed.’