DIY projects are a great way to customize and decorate a home or space, especially when you're on a budget. If you're looking for an alternative way to decorate furniture or spruce up your dull tables and wardrobes, wallpaper is a material to have on hand.
As strange as it may appear, patterned wallpaper isn't only for walls. Decorative paper can actually be a fun and creative way to rejuvenate your pieces of furniture or your doors without breaking the bank. Whether you have excess paper lying around, redoing your space and need a pop of colour, or are looking for a focal point, this is your sign to get your furniture looking its best!
So you've decided that you want to wallpaper your wood furniture and bring it new life with this great project, but now you don't know where to start. Like with any other DIY project, one of the first things you should do is look for inspiration before you start creating.
What do you want your furniture to look like? What colours, patterns, or styles are you looking for in your room? Do you want to work with glass or wood? What's the right wallpaper for your aesthetic? Do you have a specific colour palette in mind? Are you looking to upcycle a dresser, wardrobe, or table? Looking through DIY blogs, Pinterest, and other sites can bring you tons of wallpaper inspiration that will help you get started on your project.
Wooden and glass surfaces work great with this kind of project, so look around for pieces in your home or office that might need some new energy.
Once you have an idea of what you want to do, it's time to gather your supplies. In order to make sure you have enough paper, you'll want to measure the furniture. The paper should cover the surface and fold under the corners in order to create a seamless look.
You can grab all the supplies you need to decorate a dresser, doors, or wardrobe at your local hardware store. Besides a roll or two of wallpaper with decorative elements, you'll likely need a craft knife, sand paper, soft cloth, plastic squeegee, foam roller or a paint brush, finish, and some paint if you're hoping to do some painting as well.
Whether you're working on the drawer fronts of a dresser, a table top surface, a back panel, or an entire piece of old furniture, you want to make sure that the surface is a bit rough and completely dry.
Start by filling in any old hardware holes and sanding the drawer front or table top until it has a bit of a rough finish. This will help the wallpaper stick to the furniture and look amazing.
Then, give it a wipe down with a damp cloth so that the surface is clean and rid of any dirt. When all the drawers or surfaces are dry, you will be ready to apply the wallpaper.
If you're painting any part of the furniture, you should do that before applying wallpaper to avoid getting paint on the paper.
If you opt for peel and stick wallpaper, the next step is pretty straight forward. Working with smaller pieces of paper for smaller drawers and surfaces, peel the backing and stick the paper where you want it, making sure it has a completely smooth finish and does not have any air bubbles.
To smooth it out, run a craft knife blade, straight edge, or other hardware over the paper until the air bubbles are gone and the edges are firmly stuck to the surface.
If you are using more traditional wallpaper, you will need to cover the top, edges, and corners with wallpaper glue or mod podge.
Then, apply the wall paper all the way down the surface, smoothing it out as you go. You will also need to smooth out the air bubbles with a blade.
After you have applied the peel and stick wallpaper or glued down your paper, you're almost done!
To finish the look, trim the edges to make sure there isn't any extra paper hanging off the frame. Once this has been done, you're all set to place the furniture.
The entire room will feel brand new with this DIY! You'll be dreaming of making these personalized and decorative pieces for every room in your home.