My new bits and bobs box restoration - Part 1

Like most maker doers I have bits and bobs everywhere. Ribbons in cupboards, buttons exploding, glue guns elsewhere, even my new sewing box was a mess already. I have no idea where my sewing scissors have vanished to. I realised recently that I need a box to contain everything. But what? I am very fussy with these kind of things. I wanted something quite large but small enough to fit in the bottom of the wardrobe and carry around. Told you I was fussy!
 

While looking something quite different on gumtree I saw this:

 A nice size and I rather liked the padded top. I'm a fan of things that have a dual purpose and in a small house something that will serve as a seat at a party will always come in handy. Then I saw the inside:

First the tray, then the door did it for me. (The picture doesn't make it clear but the front section on the left opens to reveal a hidden part.)

Sold to the lady drooling slightly.

Minor problem. I'm in London and the box is in the Lake District. I wrote an email asking if they would be up for sending it to me. I heard nothing. Ah well I thought and moved back to eBay. NOTHING was right! I wrote another email asking if it had been sold and if not would they be up for handing it over to a courier if I booked one.

A reply! YES! Albeit at my risk if it arrived damaged. It looked pretty solid so I took the risk. I paid the nice man £25 for the box and £8.50 for the courier. Of course it arrived while I was away. I was itching it get home to get cracking on it.