New from the old cabinet. DIY cabinet decor: methods and technologies. Do-it-yourself old cabinet restoration - non-standard ideas

Any furniture gets old over time, loses its attractive appearance. But do not rush to throw away a shabby chest of drawers or a wardrobe with an irrelevant design - you can still not just bring them back to life, but make them better, more original and more aesthetic than before. Today we will talk about how to make a beautiful decor of an old cabinet with your own hands using available materials.

1. Painting

The most reliable, simple and effective solution, which at the same time gives a lot of visual options: from the palette to the method of applying paint.

You can completely renovate your furniture with one color. Or cover only certain parts of it, for example, drawers, doors, handles, sides. The wardrobe, painted in an ombre look, looks modern: from a rich to a dull shade at full height.

Owners of antique wooden chests of drawers with a rich texture should think several times before covering such beauty. It is better to cover such items with a thin, diluted layer, without hiding the luxury of antiquity.

Acrylic is rightfully considered the best type of paint for such work: it mixes well, washes off, in case of errors during work, and does not leave pungent odors. Acrylic primer is combined with it.

Of course, this type of decor poorly hides the imperfections of the surface of the object, so the latter must be prepared in advance. Usually, a little work with sandpaper is enough for this. But as a result, you will get a completely new wardrobe!

2. Stencils and stickers

Stencils or vinyl decals are great proof that beautiful things can be created without extraordinary artistic talent. With their help, you will be able to decorate the closet with geometric patterns or more complex floral arrangements. The main thing is that it will look neat.

Such decor will fit well with modern design, especially if you use simple shapes. With paint and stencils, you can turn a plain old wardrobe into a vibrant room accent.

The image is applied to a bare prepared surface or a pre-painted background. You can create straight lines with duct tape, which will help you draw clear boundaries.

3. Wallpaper

If updating furniture is one of the stages of a recently carried out renovation, do not rush to throw away the remaining meters of wallpaper. They are perfect for decorating an old cabinet, hiding some of its shortcomings from prying eyes. Only the frame part will have to be painted in advance, since the paper base does not adapt well to any bends.

However, the vintage ornament will look very appropriate in combination with the texture of the old wood. Wallpaper can fit into almost any interior, as it offers a wide visual variability: not only colors, patterns, but also surface textures, as they are matte, glossy or embossed. You can decorate the doors, sides, even internal shelves.

The gluing rules depend on the type of wallpaper selected. For some, you need to carefully align the coating, while others are able to cope with the flaws of the furniture themselves. For better preservation of the finished product, it is covered with a protective varnish.

It is not necessary to choose wallpaper for decorating the cabinet, focusing on quality and environmental friendliness. In contrast to the walls, which form the "climate" in the room, they play only a decorative function.

4. Decoupage

You can decorate the wardrobe with a pattern so that it firmly merges with its surface using good old decoupage. Probably, everyone came across this method during school time in labor or needlework lessons. Despite the "childish" simplicity, the finished product can look professional and even luxurious - depending on the accuracy of the work done.

You can use ordinary napkins with a pattern you like, since today anything is depicted on them: flowers, animals, landscapes, even paintings by famous artists. The drawing can be clear or slightly translucent, depending on the style of the chest of drawers.

Make sure that no bubbles or wrinkles form on the coating when applying thin paper - they must be smoothed out immediately or started over. After the napkin is dry, do not forget to varnish it, as it is quite sensitive to external influences.

As the main material, you can also use newspapers, letters, tram tickets - in general, anything that will look good on your furniture.

5. Fabric

You can also use fabric to decorate an old cabinet, and even trims are suitable - to create a kind of craft look. It will not be possible to sheathe an item completely, especially if it does not have a flat surface. But covering up some details, making bright accents is a great solution.

Each type of fabric has its own texture: smooth silk for a sophisticated interior or rough linen for Provence. This property lies in its advantage over other materials, not to mention the rich assortment of colors.

A separate option is the use of lace, which will ideally fit into the classics or complement the space of a refined nature. In any case, to apply fabric to the cabinet covering, it is enough to buy ordinary PVA glue.

6. Mosaic

Mosaic decor looks very bright and aesthetically pleasing, especially in the Art Deco style. A wardrobe decorated with a picture of small details will become the protagonist of the room and will attract the attention of guests. Especially when they find out who the author of the piece is.

Pieces of "broken" ceramics or multi-colored glass are traditionally used as parts of the mosaic. You can expand this list by adding, for example, shells, sea pebbles, or other material suitable for creating artistic compositions.

You can mount the elements on the surface of the cabinet using ordinary glue, attaching them in turn in a given sequence. It is recommended to think over in advance not only the general drawing by making a small sketch, but also the location of each piece. To do this, place them “on dry” and then start the gluing process.

7. Mirror

A mirror is a very tricky object that hides what is behind it and draws attention to the interior reflected in it. Using it to decorate an old cabinet will transform the entire space.

A wardrobe with a mirrored front is ideal for small rooms, which visually enlarges it. It is best to take a wardrobe with a flat surface as a basis, which will allow you to mount a mirror in full height. In other cases, horizontal inserts, curly details or even a mirror mosaic will look good.

8. Gilding

Gold can adorn not only women's necks, but also your closet. At the same time, it is not at all necessary to give a lot of money for the sake of a luxurious look. Today there are many alternatives for decoration, one of them is gold foil.

It is good not only for the price, but also for the possibilities - to completely cover the object or to "appear" in the form of sophisticated patterns. It is easy to work with it, and the result can be simply fixed with varnish for reliability.

But keep in mind that the front of the cabinet for such a material must be appropriate. Firstly, it is even and perfectly smooth, otherwise the foil will not adhere well. Secondly, dark - to emphasize the "luxury" of gold.

9. Slate surface

The "school" boards, which many people see in their nightmares since childhood, are very popular today, especially in loft spaces. They are interactive and can be used to develop creativity or plan a day. In any case, such an acquisition will never be superfluous. So why not fit it into the front of the cabinet?

The easiest way is to paint the doors with a special slate paint, which gives a matte surface. The cabinet must be cleaned of dust and dirt, apply the product in two layers, and then wait until it is completely dry.

There is also a slate film, but you still need to be able to glue it correctly, which is why this solution loses to the first one.

10. Aging

What if you need to decorate the interior in the Provence style, but your furniture does not look old enough? The answer suggests itself - to help her grow old! This process is similar to real art, and the techniques of implementation range from simple to complex, from imitation to realistic.

The easiest way to give your wardrobe a vintage look is with craquelure varnish, which cracks after drying, creating a characteristic antique look. For Provence, respectively, you need to take white paint or other pastel shades.

Furniture with a facade painted with a dry brush looks good, leaving a small amount of paint, which seems to have worn off over time.

For a more realistic effect, it is necessary to process the coating, creating noticeable reliefs. Then apply acrylic, on top of it - glaze, the amount of which is regulated with a regular sponge. But for this method, you will have to completely disassemble the cabinet.

11. Rivets

Sometimes all old furniture needs are a few accents that will make it aesthetically pleasing. Some styles like rough, brutal items with history and character, especially loft or steam punk. In this case, to heighten the effect, you can decorate the cabinet doors with metal rivets, as well as brackets, which will completely change the concept of a shabby chest of drawers.

The necessary parts are easily attached with glue to the wooden façade. But if you cover it with leather, you will have to use nails to beautifully fix the rivets.

Video: How to decorate a wardrobe - do it yourself decor

Old and boring pieces of furniture will sparkle with new colors if you decorate them a little. For example, you can breathe life into a wardrobe, chest of drawers or wardrobe that has lost its former gloss.

Preparatory stage before decorating the cabinet

Parsing. Remove all doors from a piece of furniture, pull out drawers and shelves from it. In a word, take it apart into its components. Further work will take place with each of them separately.
Updating fittings. Thoroughly clean all metal elements from dirt and rust, or even replace them with new ones, depending on their condition and your design ideas.
Surface preparation. Doors, shelves, body completely clean from the old coating and dirt with a spatula, sandpaper, brush, rag and water.

Then carefully inspect all surfaces in search of chips and cracks. Defects must be repaired. With the help of mastic, remove minor damage; for more serious ones, putty will be used.

After the course of restoration activities, you can start decorating yourself.

REFERENCE! Well-chosen fittings can become part of the decorative solution of the cabinet. Plastic, faience, copper, a huge variety of shapes and sizes - the choice is yours.

Ways to decorate the cabinet with your own hands with a photo

There are different approaches to decorating furniture.

Wallpapering

This simple, fast and inexpensive way to decorate has a lot of artistic potential. To implement it you will need:

Fragments of wallpaper. The most important part is to choose a wallpaper with a good design or pattern. They should not merge with the walls of the room, surpassing them in color saturation by at least a few tones.
Wallpaper glue. Apply it to the prepared furniture surface, place the wallpaper on top and smooth it so that there are no air bubbles and wrinkles anywhere.
PVA glue and water-based varnish. After gluing, cover the wallpaper with a neat layer of PVA glue diluted with water. Apply a final coat of varnish.

IMPORTANT! Before you start gluing, make sure that the combination of wallpaper fragments you have invented looks harmonious. Draw a detailed sketch or attach what you are going to stick to the doors.

Stucco pattern

A three-dimensional drawing made of plaster on the surface of the wardrobe focuses attention on this piece of furniture, turns it into a highlight of the room. Technically, such a pattern is easy to do with:

Stencil. Make it yourself from cardboard, plastic or thick film. Floral or geometric ornaments, ethnic patterns, stylized images of animals and birds are often used.
Masking tape. Take the resulting workpiece and secure it with tape on the surface of the cabinet.
Plaster. Apply decorative plaster on the furniture surface, over the stencil.

IMPORTANT! The stencil must be removed before the plaster dries!

After drying, treat the resulting composition with paint or acrylic varnish.

Closet decor with cloth

Fabric can be a good alternative to wallpaper. Textiles also have a wide range of colors and prints, they make up very expressive and effective compositions. To fix it on the surface of the wardrobe, you will need:

PVA glue, furniture stapler or liquid nails. In a word, how to attach fabric blanks to the cabinet.
Varnish. To process the resulting surface. However, this stage is sometimes neglected. After all, textiles often have a characteristic, pleasant to the touch texture that you want to preserve.

Decoupage technique

Decoupage is the transfer of patterns and designs from ordinary napkins to a prepared surface, followed by fixing with varnish. In this way, create a whole collage on the doors and body of your clothing furniture.

IMPORTANT! This technique is best done on a light base. There are no traces of glue on this, and napkins are easier to pick up. If the cabinet has dark doors and sides, paint it white, beige or cream before decorating.

Using these two ingredients, a very interesting cracked paint effect is achieved. Furniture processed in this way takes on the appearance of rare, exclusive antiques. To achieve this transformation you will need:

Craquelure varnish. It is applied in two layers. After the first one, wait until it is partially dry and thickened. And only then paint over the surface again.
Gilding. Rub the gilding into the cracks in the varnish with a sponge.
Matt lacquer. It is needed for the final surface treatment in order to securely fix the resulting coating with characteristic golden cracks.

Mosaic decor

Another type of embossed and bright furniture design is mosaic. It is made from fragments of ceramics, buttons, shells, glass, pebbles and glue. Any small multi-colored elements from which you can fold a pattern or picture will do.

IMPORTANT! Before fixing the pieces of the mosaic, outline their location on the plane of the cabinet - lay out the entire composition without using glue. And only after making sure that it looks harmonious, start working.

Aging

One of the methods of artificial aging of furniture - craquelure - has already been described above. However, he is not the only possible solution. There are other options as well. For example, painting a cabinet with a large dry brush with a minimum of paint will create a peeling effect.

Mirror decoration

Mirror mosaics, figured elements cut from reflective materials, stripes, geometric shapes - all this can become a decoration for your closet. Such fragments are often used to hide defects in furniture, while visually expanding the space.

What to consider when choosing a cabinet decor option

The interior of the room, the features of the cabinet, your preferences - these are the three fundamental things that influence the choice of the way to decorate old furniture.

The interior sets the basic style and color scheme. For example, classic rooms go well with artificially aged objects, plaster patterns, gilding, restrained shades. Frivolous country will accept bright ethnic or floral patterns, textiles, decoupage technique. Laconic modern design solutions, such as high-tech or loft, are perfectly complemented by furniture with mirror elements, mosaics.

Think up, try, decorate - and your home will be transformed, delighting you and surprising your guests.

If you inherited an old grandmother's closet, or yours has lost its former attractiveness, do not rush to throw it away. After all, before the furniture was made conscientiously, from solid pieces of wood, and therefore you can try to turn on your imagination and breathe a second life into such a solid product. You will receive a completely new piece of furniture without significant cash costs. How do you update an old wardrobe?

Using wallpaper

This is the easiest way to update your closet. For restoration, it is customary to use durable wallpaper, non-woven or vinyl are perfect for this. There are several methods of wallpapering the cabinet - in whole or only in individual parts.

It is better not to use wallpaper such as on the walls so that the surfaces do not merge, otherwise it is recommended to paste over only part of the cabinet. Unless your idea is to visually expand the space.
When pasting walls with light wallpaper, choose panels for furniture that have a bright color.
If the walls are covered with material with a pattern, then we recommend using monochromatic coatings for the cabinet.
With plain walls, you can decorate the wardrobe with bright, contrasting wallpaper, with a small or large pattern.
In addition, it is not necessary to select the same wallpaper for the exterior and interior decoration of furniture, they may differ.
Self-adhesive wallpaper, which is able to imitate different coatings - wood, stone, metal, is perfect for cabinet restoration.

Updating photos

To update the furniture, use photo shots - wall murals or your favorite photos. Furniture can be pasted over with one large photo canvas, or you can create a composition called a collage using small photos.

The work is carried out as follows:

The surface of the old cabinet is cleaned of old finishes, be it a layer of paint or varnish. To do this, you can use both a special grinder and ordinary sandpaper.
Wipe the cabinet with a cloth to remove any generated dust and dirt.
Then the workspace is covered with a layer of primer, and white paint, such as acrylic, is applied on top.
Photos are glued, carefully bending around the corners.
If you plan to cover not the entire cabinet with pictures, then you can paint the rest of the surface with paint that is in harmony with the interior of the room.
After the wallpaper or photographs have dried, cover the cabinet with clear lacquer to prevent damage and increase the quality of the finish.

Painting an old cabinet

Any furniture, including a wardrobe, can be painted using a composition of any color, this also applies to repainting a dark structure into a light one:

First you need to carefully prepare the surface of the cabinet by cleaning it. For this, both a sander and sandpaper will work. If you wish, you can even disassemble the cabinet into its component parts to make it easier to work.
If cracks and chips have formed, putty them with a special compound designed for furniture.
From above, the cabinet is covered with a primer in several layers so that the paint falls smoother.
It is recommended to use a spray gun to paint furniture to get an even finish.
To preserve the texture of the wood, or if the surface defects of the cabinet are minimal, the paint is applied in one thin layer.
To achieve a richer color, cover the cabinet in several layers, each of which must dry completely before applying the next.
To achieve greater decorativeness and pearlescent shine of the surface, varnish can be applied on top.
To achieve a marbling effect on furniture details, treat all parts of the cabinet that protrude with a foam sponge soaked in paint.
If you want to paint a dark cabinet with light colors, then the first layer should be done using a white compound, and then apply the selected paint.

Decoration with mirrors

The method of decorating furniture with mirrors is popular, as it perfectly hides various defects that have formed on the cabinet doors, and at the same time is able to visually expand the space in the room. Buy a mirror of the required size (you can order individual production) and attach it to the doors using specially designed mounts. Also liquid nails will do for this.

Restoration with tissue

Often, old wardrobes are covered with fabric or only the door is decorated in this way. The material is chosen taking into account the overall style of the room and the color scheme of its decoration. But in any case, it is better to take a dense canvas that does not have the ability to deform during operation. It is customary to place thin foam rubber under the fabric layer. If it is absent, you can take a synthetic winterizer. The fabric is fixed on the back of the doors using liquid nails or fixing it with a furniture stapler.

Decoupage furniture

If you use a technique called decoupage, your old wardrobe will radically transform and even take center stage in the interior. Well, the whole workflow in short looks like this:

For decoration, you can use paper napkins, old newspapers, clippings from glossy magazines, paper prints with various drawings.
First, the surface of the cabinet is cleaned from the paintwork. To do this, you need an emery cloth or a machine.
Any minor defects present on the base are removed, whether they are scratches or chips.
The cabinet should be primed and wait until the composition is dry.
Then apply the first coat of paint and leave to dry for 15 minutes.
If you want to artificially age some parts of the cabinet and give the product a colorful look, paraffin will help you with this, which need to rub these areas.
Now let's move on to creating the second layer. We take the paint a shade lighter than the one that you used to create the previous layer.
We paint the doors, upper and lower transverse parts with paint of a different color, and glue the transition line with masking tape.
Most often, the ends and drawers of the cabinet are decorated using decoupage technique. To do this, apply the napkin to the surface, moisten it with water and gently smooth it. Make sure that no unevenness occurs.
On top of the decorative surface, created with napkins, cover with PVA glue and wait for 20 minutes until it dries.
After that, we return to the areas rubbed with paraffin, and remove some of the paint.
We cover the entire surface of the cabinet with varnish, it is better to make several layers.

Now you know how to update an old cabinet. Good luck!

In any home, a closet takes a very important place. It is a pity that over time it loses its original appearance: the appearance of cracks, faded paint make it unattractive, it goes out of fashion and looks irrelevant. We have to think about his future fate.

There are at least two ways out of this situation:

buying new furniture;
renovation of an old cabinet.

With your own hands, you can give the wardrobe a new life, turn it into a unique object, while saving significant funds.

How to restore?

Any antique wardrobe requires a little restoration, which will significantly improve its appearance.

You can also restore the wardrobe yourself, if you use the advice of experts:

A metal brush is used to clean the decayed wood, after which the dead tissue is removed.
The resulting fine dust is washed off under running water.
Sometimes holes from nails, some irregularities and cracks remain in the wooden elements of the cabinet. All this must be cleaned with a spatula. It is necessary to apply several thin coats of putty to match the wood. Each coat must dry before applying the next one.
Then all layers are dried in the fresh air for 1-2 days. You cannot dry the tree in the sun.
Sometimes there are metal parts in furniture that have managed to get covered with rust over time, such places should be treated with a special solution.
The restored surface can then be painted or decorated as you wish.
Self-adhesive film that imitates wood, stone, metal is perfect.

How to paint?

A wardrobe that has gone out of fashion, but is still quite strong and will last more than one year, can simply be repainted. In such a simple way, a new design of cabinets, dressers and any other old furniture is created. In this case, we are talking not only about giving freshness to faded surfaces, but also about a complete replacement of the color scheme, which will add originality to the product. Painting is the most common way to update an old item. Despite its simplicity, it is necessary to approach this process correctly. For a durable result, you must first prepare the furniture walls.

Below is a step-by-step master class.

It will help you to paint efficiently and competently at home:

it is important to pre-clean the surfaces from paint residues: one layer will easily remove the emery-flap disk, with several layers special brushes will cope as a nozzle;
all walls, doors and other parts must be sanded by hand or using a tool;
leveling occurs by applying a primer or putty to hide defects that have arisen during many years of use;
it is necessary to wait until the leveling layer has completely dried, and after that you can start painting;

to apply the coloring layer, they take brushes, a roller or a sponge from all sides, however, it is faster to use a spray gun or a spray gun. With this method, the paint is applied under pressure, so the doors, shelves and walls inside the cabinet are painted over well;
usually several layers of paint are applied. This ensures a rich color and good surface retention. It is better to paint the cabinet with acrylic, alkyd enamel or other high-quality paint;
the paint must be allowed to dry completely, after which a layer of varnish can be applied. It makes the wardrobe glossy and shiny. If you prefer a matte surface, you can skip varnishing. However, the use of this coating has a protective function, prevents abrasion and gives the tone more depth. You can use not only glossy but also matte and silky topcoats.

Decor

If you decide to leave and decorate the old wardrobe with your own hands, it is possible to decorate it in different ways. There are many techniques that are used for decoration.

Decorative plaster

This is a rather complicated decoration option. First, a product covered with old paint must be sanded with sandpaper. Using a stencil, it is necessary to apply volumetric elements to the cabinet facades with decorative plaster. The stencil itself must be removed before the plaster dries. Then the uneven parts are smoothed out with a spatula. Finished decorative elements are varnished or painted, gilding or antique patina is possible.

Photo printing

A sliding wardrobe or just an old wardrobe is very updated with photographs or photo wallpaper. Any pictures are enlarged using large format printing in a printing house. The surface is decorated with a panel or a collage of photographs, most often these are sliding wardrobes with smooth doors. However, the service of such printing is expensive, so the budget option is more often used - photowall-paper, which is sold in any repair shop. Choose a wide variety of themes - nature, beautiful cities, animals and much more. If you use starch-based glue, you can change the boring pattern in the future.

Stained glass film

You can decorate an outdated piece of furniture yourself without having special skills. It is very simple to stick the stained glass film, fashionable this season, onto the glass door of the cabinet. This will add presentability to old furniture. Besides the decorative function, the film protects the glass from impact and scratches. It is very simple to remove the film, and such a decorative technique looks very impressive, because the imitation is as similar as possible to a real stained glass window.

New fittings

There are no trifles in the decorating process. Every designer knows that 40% of the success of any interior is details and accessories. In this case, you can transform the cabinet beyond recognition by changing all the fittings on it. New pens are important.

It is a pity if you have to throw away old but high-quality furniture, especially wooden ones. But such products can be updated and used for more than one year. For a competent choice of a decorating method, it is important to take into account the material and the degree of wear of the old cabinet.

Natural wood

Previously, wooden furniture was made of very high quality. Remove dust with a dry cloth before updating. Then check the fasteners and if they are broken they need to be repaired or replaced. Inside the cabinet, it would be nice to perform an antibacterial treatment, a more budgetary option is simple vinegar. It will destroy the unpleasant odor.

Then the choice of the decoration method is made.

Toning. First, all surfaces are leveled with wood filler, matched to the tone of the cabinet. After the layer has dried, the uneven places are sanded with sandpaper. Treated and flat surfaces are treated with a special structuring wood stain. Choose a decorative tint color that is darker than the original cabinet shade. Such processing will completely transform the appearance of the product.

Aging. Natural wood furniture can be "aged". The effect of the antique worn surface of the cabinet is achieved as follows: the light tone of the wood is painted in any dark shade, depending on the color palette of the room. Then, after the paint has completely dried, it is necessary to rub several fragments with a candle, after which a light paint is applied, for example, beige, white, cream. When, after the second painted layer is rubbed with sandpaper, scuffs will be visible through some light places. which are darker. When a dark wardrobe is decorated, craquelures are made. For this, a craquelure varnish is applied to the surface. After it dries, small cracks form, which are highlighted with dry pigment or oil paint of the desired shade.

Painting. This option provides for preliminary painting with light-colored furniture paint. After drying, the cabinet fronts are painted with acrylic paints. If you do not have the skills of drawing and painting, you can paint the wardrobe using a stencil.

Chipboard

If the wardrobe is in good condition, it will be possible to use the same decoration options that are used in the decoration of wooden products for decoration, excluding tinting. A cabinet in poor condition requires replacement of doors.

Dark polished. In our country, the iconic model of such a cabinet was extremely common. The decor of this product is very difficult in terms of modernization, since the synthetic dark varnish, previously used for polishing furniture, is almost impossible to remove. In addition, other decorative materials do not stick to it. Here it is necessary to make a volitional decision and replace all the doors if they are in poor condition. A well-preserved cabinet can be redesigned in one of two ways:

Stupid- tinting using a sponge. For application, they take a golden or copper metallic paint, which lays down even on such a polish. The application technique differs in that in some places the coloring layer is stuffed with a sponge up and down. Then the perimeter of the doors is decorated with glued PVC stucco molding. In the central part of each door, a stucco rosette is glued, similar to the design of the perimeter.
Stencil ornament. To apply such an ornament, gold or copper paint is also used, but in an aerosol bottle. First, a stencil in the form of an ornament is glued to the cabinet door. After that, the base for the paint is made according to the stencil with the help of an aerosol matte varnish, which acts as a primer. After 5 minutes, a tinted spray is applied. After waiting for five minutes, the stencil can be removed.

Sometimes the original idea of updating old things leads to the emergence of a new one. A large number of varied and unexpected tricks are recommended by designers. Among them:

Lace decor. By itself, lace or lace fabric is unique and does not raise any doubts about its aesthetic value. It is no coincidence that there are always a lot of applications for it in the field of decor, including furniture. Do-it-yourself exclusive furniture design is easy to do using it. You will need lace and paint. Apply a lace fabric to the facade in the right place and draw it with a brush with paint over it. Then the lace is removed, and a beautiful lace pattern remains on the facade.

Decoupage. Perhaps the most amazing effect is the decoupage technique. The wardrobe is decorated with napkins that have a suitable pattern on their surface, they can always be found in any hardware store. The drawing is cut out, peeled and then glued with a special glue for decoupage. The surface with pasted drawings must be covered with furniture varnish. As a rule, it is applied in two layers. This decor looks especially good on a light background. The cabinet, which was originally dark, must first be painted before decorating.

You don't need any special skills to decorate any piece of furniture. Master classes, tips, many photos from the Internet can inspire even an amateur to make serious furniture transformations. So, an old cabinet, which is kept only because it is a pity to throw it away, can be updated and remade for the interior. The most common way is decoupage, but there are other transformation possibilities.

This piece of furniture will be processed in the same way as other decoupage surfaces. But there are still some subtleties. The basic set of necessary materials includes: acrylic varnish and acrylic paints, decoupage glue (in the absence of such, you can use PVA glue), napkins and brushes.

The decoupage technique with which you have to update the wardrobe is as follows:

If the cabinet is polished, acrylic paint will not adhere to this surface so well, but the situation can be corrected by repeated subsequent varnishing.
If the cabinet is not wooden, then the surface to be decorated must be treated with fat-dissolving agents (ordinary dishwashing detergent will do).
Several coats of acrylic paint are applied to the surface to be modified.
Next, you have to stick the picture: for this, two light layers are put off from the napkin, only the top one remains.
The surface is neatly smeared with glue, a pattern is glued to it, carefully straightened with a sponge.
The drawing can be additionally fixed along the edge with a brush with glue. When the napkin is completely dry, the surface is covered with acrylic varnish.
The second layer of varnish is applied only after the first one has dried well.
To give the effect of aging, for which decoupage is so famous, you can apply a special craquelure varnish. It creates small cracks on the surface.

With your own hands, you can choose any pattern that decorates the surface of the cabinet. It can be special decoupage paper, wallpaper and fabric.

For kitchen cabinets - decoupage is just a godsend. An old headset can be upgraded with your own hands, and it's cheap. Simple floral motifs, pastel acrylic paints or delicate herbal paints will be a good background. Acrylic paint is an excellent primer. Such a kitchen set will be original, fresh, and it will convey the atmosphere of home comfort in the best possible way. And you can start your decoupage experiments by updating a simple stool, then, having got the hang of it, go on to transforming cabinets with your own hands.

DIY decoupage old furniture (video)

Wardrobe restoration with fabric

Decoupage of furniture includes many details, but sometimes individual components of decoupage turn into a special technique. You can also decorate the wardrobe with a cloth. For lovers of tenderness, natural elegance, country motives in the interior, this method will be good.

Do-it-yourself cabinet fabric upholstery is as follows:

Separate parts of furniture, drawers, doors or other projections can be upholstered with fabric, under which it is imperative to put non-thick foam rubber.
The fabric is fixed on the back of the door or drawer - this is done using a furniture stapler. The use of liquid nails is acceptable.
The fabric is chosen to match the wallpaper, then the combination will be really harmonious and elegant. You should choose dense fabrics that do not deform from pulling.

Often it is this kind of restoration that transforms the wardrobe.

Restoration of the cabinet with wallpaper

You can also give new life to the wardrobe with your own hands, using the remnants of wallpaper.

An old-fashioned cabinet is painted with more than one layer of acrylic paint. The paint should have a color that matches the wallpaper pattern. Many craftsmen restore cabinets with two doors in this way, very old, perhaps not even homemade. Often, master classes show how to transform a locker, for example, decommissioned from a doctor's office. They are not high, their doors have a relief structure.

Wallpaper is pasted over either the front of the cabinets, or the doors, or the inner wall. Restoration can not only put a thing back into operation, but also make it the most fashionable piece of furniture.

Antique cabinet restoration

Decoupage includes elements of aging furniture, but there are also separate techniques that allow you to decorate this or that semi-antique item. Such vintage furniture can be used to decorate classic interiors or retro interiors.

You can gracefully age the wardrobe with your own hands, and the following tricks will help with this:

First of all, the object must be freed from paint, for this it is better not to find a sander. After that, the furniture is degreased with a solvent.
The next step is to apply a layer of primer. You do not need to try to injure the cabinet with your own hands so that cracks appear on it. Craquelure varnish, which is applied in the next layer after the primer has dried, will do just fine with this.

You can update coniferous cabinets as follows: brush the surface with a metal brush to create characteristic grooves. Then the wood is covered with a dark paint, and until the paint has dried, a cloth is passed over the furniture. This process is called patting.

The restoration is completed by applying varnish.

DIY furniture decoration. Master class (video)

All of the above methods, which are easy to do with your own hands, can be used fragmentarily. A piece of decoupage or upholstery of a small ledge on the cabinet - all this serves as a decoration for furniture that needs updating.

Success in your transformation!