decoupage

The humble Moppe drawers

before and after, DIY, Makeover

a universal product

I had a family member visiting us once from Australia, and their small daughter pointed at some IKEA Moppe drawers in our house and she chirped ‘We’ve got those at home’…  We also had the same plastic kids mugs and flower plates, so I am sure she felt comforted by those worldwide IKEA staples! I love the fact that all over the world, the Moppe boxes are uniformly used in homes to tidy away bits and bobs.  Those cunning swedes have also given a creative outlet to many upcyclers and hackers witih this humble product.

I was needing to tidy up my overspilling art supplies and grabbed a couple of Moppe boxes at IKEA last week.  On their own they are pretty basic, but with a bit of imagination they can be transformed with minimal cost and fuss.

DECOUPAGED MOPPE

So I looked around at the Moppe situation in my home.  In the house I already had these Moppe drawers which I had customised for my daughter last Christmas and each drawer had a gift in it… (note: bit of a pain as I found out as only little things fit inside, even a make up tube was a challenge).

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12 Easy Furniture Hacks courtesy of Houzz

Decorating, Makeover, Upcycling

Give ordinary pieces a whole new spin with these crafty updates

By Cheryl Freedman – Houzz Magazine
Not the DIY type but still hankering after a creative interiors project? The answer could be the trend for style hacking – shorthand for taking an existing piece of furniture, be that a tired old chair or off-the-peg bookcase, and adding some quirky, crafty personality. (It all began a while back when clever bods discovered they could give Ikea staples new life with a few smart style tweaks.)

Style hacking sits in that happy space between DIY madness (new bedstead built from scratch? No problem!) and mass-manufactured blandness. The result can mean an original piece for the price of a tester pot of paint or a roll of wallpaper – ideal if, like many of us, you’re on a budget, but don’t want cookie cutter interiors. The following projects are achievable even for beginners. Happy hacking!

Eclectic Dining Room by Holly Marder
Pretty up a table
Oilcloths come in loads of gorgeous designs these days. This all-white farmhouse table has been given a super-sweet makeover, thanks to some pretty pink polka dots secured on top. It’s much neater than the usual flapping-about tablecloth (and easier to wipe down, too).

Measure up, fold the corners neatly, and fix in place underneath with a staple gun or tape.

Eclectic Kids by Luci.D Interiors
Swap drawer handles
Give a plain chest of drawers, new or old, a pretty lift by swapping neutral drawer pulls for colourful glass knobs. This tall chest was a given a breezy makeover with a lick of white paint and a set of contrasting turquoise handles. Sleeping baby optional…
Mediterranean Dining Room by Godrich Interiors
Upcycle vintage chairs
If you can hold a paintbrush, you can definitely manage this one! Painted wooden furniture is a brilliant way to add the wow factor to a neutral room, as seen in this country dining room. If you don’t have an old chair in need of love, scour second-hand stores or eBay. Old-school Windsor-style chairs, like the ones here, work perfectly.

Prepare varnished wood with sandpaper (use wire wool and white spirit for wax). Use a primer to ensure a good finish – acrylic-based is easy to use. Apply two layers of eggshell, lightly sanding between coats. When it comes to colour, the only rule is to have fun. Try block hues, like this cool blue, or experiment with painting the legs and seats in contrasting shades.

How to source the perfect dining chairs

Eclectic Home Office Eclectic Home Office
Cover your seat
Got a tired chair with a removable seat pad? Try revamping it without the need to call in a professional upholsterer. First find some cute fabric, checking the pattern works with your seat’s dimensions. Remove the existing fabric (the wadding/foam and seat pad frame should remain; if the former looks ancient, replace that, too).

Use the old fabric as a template to cut out your new fabric. Secure snugly in place over the stuffing and seat, using a staple gun to pin it to the underside of the seat frame, or upholstery tacks hammered into place. Replace the seat and admire your funky, upcycled new chair.

Tip I picked up an old chair for a tenner in a junk shop and made a new seat for pounds, but this trick could work equally well with new chairs.

Contemporary Kids by Cristin Priest {Simplified Bee}
Paper shelves
Wallpaper the back of a cheap bookcase for a shot of uplifting pattern. It’s an inventive way to give otherwise dull units a bespoke twist. Buy offcuts of wallpaper from decorating shops (look for cut-price rolls from discontinued lines) or use samples.

First give the shelves a wipe down, then measure the recesses carefully. Cut the paper to size using a paper knife. (It sounds obvious, but insert them into the recesses to check they actually fit!) Mix a little wallpaper paste, apply it to the back of the paper using a small brush and fix neatly into place, smoothing out any wrinkles or bubbles.

Contemporary Kids by Nina Jizhar
Paint a mirror frame
Transform a humdrum mirror into a super-cool one by giving the frame a lick of bright paint. The result can really lift a room, this hot pink number being a case in point. Try spray painting for an even, glossy finish.

First clean the frame, then sand it. Lie the mirror on plenty of newspaper, making sure the glass is well masked. Cover the frame with a suitable coat of primer (depending on whether it’s metal, wood or plastic). Then get spraying, making sure the area is well-ventilated. Wear a mask and always read product instructions carefully before using spray paints.

Alternatively, paint it in gloss using a small brush, coating the frame thoroughly. Allow it to dry, then repeat.

Contemporary Home Office by Holly Marder
Get in the frame
If you’re anything like me, you probably have empty picture frames just waiting to be filled with exciting artworks you haven’t actually sourced yet (or photos still unprinted). No more waiting. There are so many beautiful wrapping papers around these days, so simply frame your favourites. Snip to fit your frame’s dimensions and voila – a lovely, original display.

Check out easy ideas for upcycling household items

Eclectic Entrance by Erin Lang Norris
Go collage crazy
Like flower arranging before it, decoupage is back in fashion with crafty souls. This humble hallway bench has been given a shot of personality thanks to a bright veneer.

Decoupage is a smart way to use scrap paper and glue to create a lacquer-look surface, and you can use just about anything: magazine clippings, wrapping paper or old greetings cards. Craft shops can guide you on the right glues to secure paper in place, and you can also find decoupage kits, special papers and detailed how-to guides online. The results can look fantastic.

Eclectic Living Room by Celia James
Decorate a sideboard
Second-hand sideboards make great candidates for style hacking: you can often pick them up cheaply, and their rectangular shape makes a great blank canvas for all kinds of creative designs.

This 1950s model has been given a quirky update using classy wallpaper featuring winter trees; try stencilling for a similar effect. The shimmery gold top adds a nice glam touch as well.

Eclectic Home Office by Louise de Miranda
Brighten a wardrobe
With their blank facades, wardrobes also have tons of potential for adding extra style points. You can pick up plain models inexpensively if you look around. The owner found this cabinet in a flea market and gave it a chic, modern twist using wood panelling-print wallpaper in white and aqua.
Contemporary Home Office by Heather Merenda
Design a pinboard
The humble corkboard isn’t just for pinning up to-do lists: it’s also a brilliant textured surface for experimenting with design. All you need is some paint and your imagination. Here, several have been given a geometric slant, and displayed as practical artworks.
Transitional Home Office by LEIVARS

Copy the crate shelf trend
The crate shelf is becoming a staple in urban-rustic cafés and shops. Follow the trendsetters and turn your own wooden crates or wine boxes into similarly eclectic shelves. Buy weathered, vintage crates online or ask your friendly local wine seller for spares. New ply crate shelves can look fab too, as seen here.

Secure the boxes firmly to the wall using mirror plate fixings or screws and Rawlplugs. If you want the natural industrial look, leave the crates unpainted; alternatively, paint using eggshell, or cover the interiors with quirky wallpaper offcuts.


Give a plain chest of drawers, new or old, a pretty lift by swapping neutral drawer pulls for colourful glass knobs. This tall chest was a given a breezy makeover with a lick of white paint and a set of contrasting turquoise handles. Sleeping baby optional…

Wallpapering Furniture

Decorating

I have had a Georgian cupboard for years, that I bought because it was quite scruffy and showed where at some point it had had a decorative paint effect applied.  It looks like someone has applied a woodgrain oak effect on top of the original mahogany.  But it is now a bit chipped and worn and needs an overhaul.  As I think the paint effect is at least Victorian, I can never restore it to immaculate mahogany.

I have seen lots of pictures online with cupboards and shelves having wallpaper set into the back panels but not many when wallpaper is used to the outside of the pieces:

Photo from House to Home

Photo from House to Home

I want to make my cupboard into something more exciting and came across this great piece by Dutch designer Piet Hein Eek.  I love the fact it is totally wrapped, and it starts to look like something like marquetry or hand painting that you might see in a very grand old house.

Wallpaper Cupboard by Piet Hein Eek

I am going to go for it with the cupboard and aim for quite a dramatic finish with a very dark/black base all over, but not by wrapping it totally in wallpaper as I want quite a large design and I think it will be too overwhelming.  I will start with papering the inset front and side panels and adding some brushstrokes of paint to those areas,  and will then paint the rest of the wood to match the background of the wallpaper.  Then with a glaze I think I can match the texture of all areas so it ends up looking like a hand painted piece, and slightly oriental if I use a shiny glaze.

The shortlisted contenders for the paper are below – I LOVE the House of Hackney paper as it is crazy close up with animals holding odd items but it is really expensive for a roll, and I also think the Snow Tree is a contender as the brushstrokes in the background can be replicated all over the other areas of the cupboard.  Samples are on their way so I can see the paper with the naked eye as that will also affect the choice.

More to follow on the cupboard saga, and any suggestions also most welcome….

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Cupboard Reinvention

Upcycling

I owned a scruffy victorian cupboard, and had used it for general dumping for a while.  It looked a bit sad, so I decided to have a go at making it into something more exciting.  I wanted to turn into into something that looked like a faded old french shop fitting.  I found some excellent template signs at The Graphics Fairy.  These are a variety of french worded signs that you can print out in reverse and use as transfers for the below method.  You need to print the transfers on inkjet printers as that ink can transfer onto your chosen item.

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First of all I painted the cupboard in a mixture of ‘Mizzle’ by Farrow & Ball used on the tops and door panels and ‘Duck Egg Blue’ by Annie Sloan on the sides and door frames.  It looked very pristine and bright, but I was going to add coloured wax after so knew it would darken down when applied.

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I then used Modge Podge, (this is a US glue product available from Hobbycraft in the UK, but you can use PVA as a substitute diluted about 2 parts water to 1 PVA).  I coated the front of the transfers with it so they were saturated.  This then was stuck onto the panels, smoothed on very well on the areas of font and left to dry hard overnight.

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In the morning, I soaked the paper with water so it was sopping wet, and very slowly peeled it off.  It leaves an imprint of the print showing the right way around.  After it thoroughly dried I sanded it back to make it look faded and old, I then waxed these areas very gently with clear beeswax.  I then waxed all the other areas of the piece with clear beeswax, and then rubbbed in much darker bison wax into all the cracks and crevices.  This gives a patina of age and use.

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The finished cupboard looks so much better and it was an interesting process to try out.