#school locker

School Locker Fun

Was leaving a friend’s house and two doors down a neighbor was moving out, and left this gym locker which likely had been in the garage or out back on the curb.

After a quick inspection, sure, it’s something that I can fix with a bunch of paint, chemicals, and elbow grease. First, let’s take it apart and count how many screws & nuts I need to replace. Answer: 46.

The locker is comprised of two side pieces, a back piece, a top panel, a bottom shelf, two back legs, and three inside shelves, plus a front frame and two doors.

First thing, scrape off the heavy rust. Second thing, use a metal brush to take off the fine rust. Third thing, spray this down with a sealant that makes the rust a bonded and paintable surface. Let that dry for a couple days. Fourth, go over it all with a primer spray, then let that sit for a day.

Fifth, time to start painting!

I chose a basic purple for the shelving and for the outside-facing surfaces a hammered black. After it’d sat in the garage for a week (there were several hailstorms in my neighborhood...) I started putting it back together, discovered that the top and bottom panels aren’t interchangeable afterall, and had to repaint the top so now the bottom shelf is hammered black. Totally reassembled it, touched up the paint scuffs, and once dry, here it is!

school-related items (to have extra of):

- binder paper

- pens/pencils

- small pack of colored pencils

- a folder/binder for all the school work you don’t need at the moment

- one extra notebook

hygiene stuff (maybe keep in a pouch):

- deodorant 

- comb/brush

- mints

- floss

- compact mirror (you can also just use your phone)

- nail clipper (you’d be surprised)

- hair ties/scrunchies

- couple of band-aids

- spare makeup things if you’d like

for menstruating beings:

- pads/tampons

- one pair of emergency underwear for accidents

- advil (or your choice of pain/cramp meds)

misc:

- spare set of headphones 

- snacks (preferably that can’t get old/bad super fast; granola bars, candy)

- spare t-shirt/sweatshirt (for days that were unpredictably hot or cold)

- umbrella

The Rainbow September 1984