Other Projects

Repainting furniture

I had this little shelf and hook unit from my old house. It used to hang in the hallway, but was too dark for my house now. So I unearthed it from the cupboard and decided to repaint it. I gave it a sand down, then a couple of coats of primer and undercoat before giving it a final few coats of white satinwood. I gave it a light sand down between coats and a sand at the end, to expose some of the wood - which I think adds to the effect. It now sits nicely on my kitchen wall, holding the shed keys.

After

Before

Decoupage

I had heard of this as a method of redecorating furniture, but had never tried it. So in an effort to revamp some bits and pieces in the kitchen, I decided to give it a go.

My first effort was on a little bare wood stool. I sanded it and gave it a coat of primer/undercoat, then painted it in a similar colour to my walls (Daffodil White mixed with a little White), then gave it another light sand. I used a pre-prepared decoupage sheet I bought from Hobbycraft. After deciding on the positioning of the flowers, I painted PVA glue onto the stool and the back of the decoupage flowers and stuck them down. After they were stuck, I mixed a little water into the glue and gave the flowers a couple of coats over the top to seal them. As the stool is used a lot, I also added two coats of clear varnish to give a more robust finish.

With fabric...

I had some old unfinished wood frames from Ikea, around 99p for 3, I think. I firstly painted them white, then cut up bits of fabric and ribbon - I discovered that thin cotton fabric worked best for this. I coated the frame in PVA glue, then fitted the fabric pieces on in a random fashion. After they were all in place, I diluted the PVA with some water and gave the frames a couple of coats of this(leave to dry between coats), to harden the fabric and give it a glaze. I then stapled some ribbon onto the backs of the frame to join them together and create a hanging loop. I really like the end result.

Decoupage picture frames