The antique steamer trunk stood for world travel at its finest. These days, people find them at their local thrift stores and often decorate steamer trunks, using them to augment schemes, like industrial design, country, and even steampunk décor styles. And given the particulars of their construction, we wouldn't rule out taking them back to their opera roots and using them for shoe storage. The flat-topped chest, circa 1850, was the grandpappy of steamer trunks. It's also why they'd make genius shoe storage, particularly if you place a small shoe rack on one end of the closed trunk, like this SNTD Expandable Shoe Organizer.