Have you inherited a set of furniture from the beginning of the last century, or are well-worn chairs and chests of drawers gathering dust in your house and are sad to part with? Congratulations! You have the opportunity, and most importantly, the right texture, to update old furniture and interiors at minimal cost, thereby transforming your home. You will only need a couple of hours and a small set of repair materials. With their help and if you have the desire to create, you can achieve great results quickly and easily!
Before you start work, you need to prepare the necessary materials. In order to update old furniture, it is convenient to use paint in cans. In this case, you will only need a few aerosols of the desired shades. There is no need to purchase rollers of different sizes, numerous brushes and solvent. So, before we start painting, we carry out preparatory work. This stage cannot be neglected, because the quality of the painting and its durability largely depend on it.
- First of all, we clean the surface to be painted from dirt and dust, and then wipe it dry.
- We sand varnished furniture with sandpaper.
- Before painting, it is advisable to coat the surface with a special primer. This way we will achieve the best adhesion of the paint to the coating.
- We cover the area that we do not want to paint with old newspapers or plastic wrap, and also protect the surrounding area from excess paint when spraying it.
- We use masking tape to tape off parts of the furniture that are not to be painted, as well as to obtain a smooth edge to the area to be painted.
- We protect our hands with gloves.
- Before using the container, shake it vigorously for several minutes. We spray from a distance of 25–30 cm from the surface to be painted.
- Designers advise boldly using bright contrasting shades, decorating the surface with drawings, as well as decorative elements, colored film and various moldings. The main thing is not to be afraid to fantasize, be creative and realize your most unusual ideas!
Well, a selection of our photos will help you look at old furniture in a new way!
1. To turn an old dark chest of drawers into an original dressing table, just update it with bright paint. You can purchase new handles for doors and drawers, or clean the finish of old ones using a special metal cleaner.
2. New interior design is not a reason to replace furniture. Using paint, you can change the shade of a table or chest of drawers, fitting them perfectly into the surroundings. By covering the area around the moldings with masking tape, you can easily paint them the desired color. In this case, golden strips and handles perfectly decorate the white chest of drawers.
3. A dull, unsightly chest of drawers that you wanted to push into the darkest corner of the dacha can become a real decoration for the living room. To do this, all its elements are painted with white paint. Gray moldings will perfectly highlight the drawers and contrast with the main color. The color composition will be complemented by original silver handles.
4. Wood is an excellent texture for creating decorative effects. This chest of drawers was painted white, after which the drawers were covered with colored film and highlighted with moldings. New fittings gave the composition a complete look, allowing the old furniture to be updated and turned into an ideal addition to the interior, decorated in light colors.
5. Don't rush to get rid of your beat-up desk. The white shade will refresh and allow you to update old furniture. And with the help of masking tape, you can experiment and create a pattern on the drawers that will help fit the table into its surroundings. In this case, the color shades of the drawers are ideally combined with the decorative shelves on the tabletop.
6. In an hour and a half, you can repaint an old cabinet white and creatively decorate its door with black squares. We treat the interior space using an aerosol can with yellow paint. Unusual handles will perfectly complement the new look of your cabinet, which will become a decoration in the hallway.
7. An old lacquered cabinet from Soviet times gets an updated look with the help of two contrasting shades. Their bold combination is perfectly complemented by thin moldings painted with golden paint. The handles on the doors are also processed in the same way.
8. To update your grandmother's old chest of drawers, you can paint the frame white and the drawers gray. Then, using a stencil and white paint, we create a magnificent openwork effect on them. New fittings will complement the look. By the way, the drawers can be swapped, after which your family will definitely think that you have purchased new furniture!
9. An old cabinet can be turned into a great serving table. Aerosol paint will help create smooth color transitions that look impressive thanks to the combination of contrasting shades. A minimum of work - and such a great result!
10. The updated chest of drawers organically combines light and dark shades. An original decorative element was created on the drawers using masking tape. The hardware looks like new after applying gold paint.
11. Using stencils, you can easily update old furniture, making it fashionable and stylish. This chest of drawers with an original ship design will now decorate the nursery. Contrasting color combinations look great here.
12. Old wooden chairs can be easily restored by painting the frames with bright paint and replacing the seat upholstery. In this case, the yellow paint harmonizes perfectly with the golden pattern of the fabric. Original, practical and inexpensive!
13. You are quite capable of making a bright designer chair! We paint the frame of the ancient exhibit with bright paint, change the seat upholstery and make striped covers to match the main shades. A small contrasting pad – and the harmonious look is complete!
14. This creative coffee table can be made using a stencil. First, we paint the entire structure with white paint, wait until it dries completely, and then put the stencil on the tabletop and spray it with a bright blue tint. The new table is ready and fits perfectly into the interior!
15. A shabby wooden chest of drawers is a great opportunity to create something special with your own hands. Bright sunny shades, interesting color combinations and new fittings will help update old furniture and turn it into an original decoration for your bedroom.
16. An excellent solution: the green chest of drawers are visually highlighted with the help of thin moldings painted white. Using masking tape, you can easily and simply paint thin furniture parts in the color you want. New handles on the drawers complement the attractive look of the chest of drawers.
17. The old bedside table was changed beyond recognition with the help of bright green paint and decorative film that covered the tabletop. The old fittings were used - they were removed and painted black. Stunning decoration of the original interior!
18. Skillful hands turned an old bed into a small sofa, with its headboard becoming its back! The structure is painted white, the seat is upholstered in attractive fabric, and cute cushions complete the new look.
19. Grandma's old chest of drawers turned into an elegant dressing table for a modern bedroom. Delicate pastel colors are complemented by the original design of the decorative film that covers the doors. You can update old furniture very easily, getting great results with minimal effort!
20. A section of an old Soviet slide was turned into an excellent storage unit. The base is painted white, the doors are covered with a decorative film of pleasant colors and decorated with new fittings. Simple solutions – and global restoration!
21. If you can draw, you can decorate white dresser drawers with bright designs or intricate patterns. To create them, choose colors that match the shades of the interior.
22. This folding table gets a makeover with yellow paint and an original pattern on the tabletop. Using stencils, you can create a variety of color compositions that will perfectly fit your updated furniture into the surrounding environment.
23. The old shabby desk began to look stylish and modern. Unusually designed legs give it an elegant look, and light colors refresh and update it.
24. Updating old furniture, or rather this bedside table, is easy and simple. It is enough to cover it with white paint, and draw the pattern on the doors with a regular marker with a thick pen, and then fix the result with colorless varnish. You can complete the work by installing new fittings. After all, manufacturers today offer a huge variety of handles and hinges of all shapes, colors and sizes.
25. If you no longer like the new coffee table, hurry up and get some paint! Using aerosol cans, we change the color of the frame - and now the updated piece of furniture is pleasing to the eye.
26. Painted with bright colors, this garden group looks fresh and festive. A combination of contrasting shades looks advantageous, as well as bold accents created with the help of multi-colored pillows. Such garden furniture can decorate any terrace.
27. We clean the surface of the old chest of drawers with sandpaper, removing the peeling varnish. After this, apply primer and paint. In our case, the old fittings only emphasize the vintage style of the updated piece of furniture. Fashionable, creative and tasteful!
28. Using paint, you can update old furniture and combine tables and chairs from different groups into a single composition. We paint the table white and cover the seats of the chairs with white fabric. Fresh furniture is pleasing to the eye!
29. Do you want something new? A kitchen cabinet can be changed beyond recognition by painting its frame and drawers one color, the countertop another, and installing new handles. Feel free to experiment with colors and accessories!
30. Don’t rush to send your old Soviet-era table-book to the landfill. Using stencils and paint, you can create a fancy design on furniture, after which you won’t even need a tablecloth for such a table.
31. Children's furniture should be bright and attractive! You can update old furniture and create a unique interior with your child by painting the table and chairs. Add more colors and contrasting combinations, interesting designs and patterns. Your baby will sit at such a table with great pleasure.
32. Old chairs will look like new after painting and reupholstering. Minimum effort – and great results!
33. This well-worn stool now looks bright and fresh. Pleasant contrasting shades allow you to update old furniture, creating a new look. A comfortable and practical stool will become a real decoration of the kitchen or dining room.
34. And this is how you can update a stool for a nursery. With the help of bright shades of paint, old and shabby furniture has been made fashionable and creative. Agree, such a beautiful stool has a place in a new nursery!
35. White interior color is one of the newfangled modern trends. Light furniture looks light and elegant. At the same time, there is no need to spend significant funds - you can update the chest of drawers with your own hands using high-quality paint, making it an effective element of a fashionable interior.
36. An antique mirror frame will look like new after painting. A spectacular shade will help her regain her former chic, and you will refresh your interior!
37. Color accents are very important to create a modern interior. You can decorate the room in two primary colors, and use a third to highlight the details. Spray paint can help give objects the desired shade, say golden.
38. 39, 40. Bright doors will become a real decoration of the interior, emphasizing the excellent taste of its owners. Using masking tape and high-quality spray paint, you can give the door leaf and door frame any shade, even the boldest, and also create an effective combination of contrasting colors.
41. Feel free to experiment with contrasting shades! Such furniture will reflect your individuality and creativity.
42, 43, 44. Bright colors, interesting combinations of shades, new fittings - and a shabby chest of drawers is unrecognizable! Updating old furniture is easy and simple with spray paint. All you need to do is choose colors, add imagination and create the interior of your dreams!
45. Designers do not have the concept of “outdated furniture” - only vintage, which means it is certainly fashionable! Add fresh shades and create an original interior!
46. Painting tape will help you create creative geometric designs on your furniture. Add accessories to match the chosen shades - and enjoy the new look of your home!
47. Bright, bold shades will transform old furniture, which in turn will refresh the room and fill it with inspiration. After all, after painting a shabby table, you will want to change everything around it!
48. You can paint the outside of the shelving unit one color and the inside another. It will turn out bright, bold and original!
49. With the help of spray paint and your imagination, you can easily and simply update old garden furniture. The most unexpected decision is sometimes the most correct one. Choose a creative path to create original garden compositions!
50. Bright, fresh shades of updated furniture will fill you with positivity and bring back a great summer mood. With Motip aerosol paints the world around you becomes more beautiful!
When starting to update your furniture, don't be afraid of minor difficulties that you may have to face. After all, an excellent result will be a reward for your efforts and will inspire you to create a unique, original interior for your home!
Many of us have furniture in our homes that is still functional, but outwardly outdated. There is no need to throw away old things, because they can be transformed. One of the optimal solutions for such furniture is cosmetic repairs. Let's look at simple and interesting ways to update an old chest of drawers with your own hands.
Transforming an old chest of drawers
Using this technology, it is not necessary to restore an old chest of drawers; you can slightly transform a new one, thereby adding a little chic to the furniture. Before starting work, it is important to properly prepare the surface for painting.
Preparing furniture for painting:
- Before painting, you must remove all hardware from the chest of drawers. You should also remove all decorative strips and drawers.
- Now we need a rough skin, we will use it to sand the surface. Then we will replace it with fine sandpaper.
- Next we fill a basin with water. Soak a rag and wipe off the dust. Moreover, the cloth should not be wet, but slightly damp. We wait until the surface is completely dry.
- Use putty to smooth out all chips and cracks. After drying, sand again with fine paper. Cleaning from dust.
Choosing paint for the chest of drawers
There is a huge variety of paints for furniture. We recommend choosing water-based acrylic paints. They can be easily applied to any surface. In addition, they are harmless and do not contain lead.
Let's start painting
- First of all, it is necessary to prime the surface of the chest of drawers with a 20% paint solution. Acrylic paints need to be diluted with water. The primer allows you to reduce the consumption of paint material and smooth the surface.
- Now, using a roller, apply several even layers of paint material. But we don’t do this right away; after application, the first layer must dry, only then can the next one be applied. Remember that the paint can take a whole day to dry.
- If you are painting outside, you should not do it in windy weather. Evening is also a bad time to paint furniture, as dew will prevent the paint from drying properly.
Attention!
For the first 2 weeks after painting, it is forbidden to clean the surface with detergents; just dampen a cloth in water and wipe off the dust.
We do the decor
The option of painting using a stencil looks very original when decorating furniture. You can make it yourself from thick PVC film; linoleum is also suitable. You can look at the design on the Internet or come up with your own, then cut it out on the film with a stationery knife. If you don’t have time for cutting, you can order ready-made stencils.
After choosing a design, you need to limit the surface to be painted with masking tape. We apply the stencil to the chest of drawers and secure it with tape along the edges. We go over the sticker with a paint roller several times.
If it seems to you that the drawing turned out to be small, and the area of the furniture still allows you to apply the design, then you can safely rearrange the stencil and paint in other areas. You can decorate the sides of the chest of drawers in the same way.
Restoration of a chest of drawers in craquelure style
The craquelure technique involves making small cracks on the surface of furniture. They are often coated with paint and craquelure varnish in several layers. To make the paint material dry faster, you can use a hairdryer.
Attention!
You should not move the brush over the same place, as the paint will roll into lumps.
When following the craquelure technique, you need to understand that, in which direction the coating is carried out, there will be cracks.
This was a single-phase method, but there is also a two-phase method. Its main difference is that cracks are formed not from the paint, but from the finishing layer of varnish. It contains a pigment that tightens the paint when it dries.
Restoration in decoupage style
The decoupage technique combines aging and adhesive decorations. Scuff marks are made using stain and applied with a dry brush. Then comes an acrylic layer of dark shades. As soon as the layer has dried, the surface is rubbed with wax. Then the last layer completes the painting work.
For decoration, you can use ready-made stencils or large paper prints. If desired, you can glue small pictures to the chest of drawers and cover them with a layer of varnish.
Aging technique
First of all, the entire surface of the chest of drawers must be cleaned and primed. Apply a dark coating color to the desired areas. Then everything is waxed and varnished. If you don't have wax on hand, sandpaper will do the job. In this case, the varnish layer will have to be applied several times.
How to replace metal parts
It’s not enough to just decorate an old chest of drawers; it also needs to be restored. Metal furniture elements deteriorate over time.
For modern restoration it is necessary to replace furniture handles with new products.
- It is necessary to carefully inspect the condition of the fasteners.
- We unscrew the loose screws.
- Pour glue (carpentry) into the holes.
- We select the dowel size and install it. Then we screw the screws into them.
- Using metal corners we attach the frame parts inside the chest of drawers.
Now we check the condition of the furniture legs. If they are loose, they should be replaced. Mounting strips are replaced with furniture guides. This is necessary so that the drawers slide easily. Then you can start decorating. Metal decorative overlays can be used as decoration.
Restoration of a children's chest of drawers
A children's chest of drawers is a reliable and practical thing where many children's things are stored.
Furniture made in a themed style is placed in the child’s room, then it will fit perfectly into the interior.
- Children love bright colors. For boys, furniture should be painted in blue, light blue, brown or green. While for girls they use other shades: pink, white, red, yellow, beige.
- As decoration, you can put pictures with cartoon and fairy tale characters on the chest of drawers to create interesting collages. And the top is coated with varnish. Girls also love butterflies, flowers, animals, boys love cars, robots, and soldiers.
Here it is important to choose everything correctly so that the color scheme of the furniture is in harmony with the overall interior.
After renovation work, finishing materials often remain that are a pity to throw away. For example, wallpaper that is sold in large rolls and always remains. How to use them? You can paste them over cabinets, bedside tables, doors, and other furniture.
With this simple action you will immediately kill two birds with one stone, use the remains of finishing material and decorate old, battered furniture. To carry out such work you do not need any special skills, and we will now tell you how to do this.
A bright accent in a calm kitchen
Wallpaper
You've probably heard more than once that various interior items are decorated with wallpaper. How many master classes have you seen on TV from designers of all stripes, because each of them considers it their duty to give a second life to some household item.
This is most often done with high-quality vinyl or non-woven wallpaper, since it is extremely difficult to work with paper options, and you have to work hard to get at least a satisfactory result.
Therefore, if you still have wallpaper, before you get involved in pasting surrounding objects, make sure of the quality of the finishing material.
Our choice of color and texture is also limited, since we work with residual material, but if you want to buy a new roll for these purposes, then proceed from the general design of the room and your taste guidelines.
Decorating kitchen furniture with wallpaper
It is quite acceptable to cover the furniture in the room with canvases with the same pattern as on the walls. Such an interior will look quite harmonious and holistic. If you need to use a different type of wallpaper, then do not forget about the overall design concept of the room.
The use of simple design solutions will create a more harmonious interior. For example, if the room is decorated in light colors, then it is best to use dark or bright options for covering the cabinets. If the walls in the room are covered with wallpaper with ornaments, then in order to avoid overloading the interior, the furniture is covered with plain canvases. The interior decoration of the cabinet, made to match the walls of the room, will look very cool.
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A good option for decorating cabinets is imitation of other finishing materials, wood, brick, leather, stone. Such vinyl wallpapers are often used to decorate various rooms and they naturally remain. In addition, such canvases have significant relief and a repeating pattern, which will help hide defects on the surface of the furniture.
Classic wardrobe decoration
In construction stores you can find special photo wallpapers designed for covering doors and cabinets. Usually these are paper versions that depict non-trivial scenes, less often a banal imitation of a wooden covering.
In fact, the easiest way to cover a wood-effect cabinet is with self-adhesive film, which comes in just these colors. German and Dutch film is more expensive and of better quality, Chinese film is cheaper, but the edges of this film often come off due to the poor quality of the adhesive composition.
Note that self-adhesive wallpaper can be plain or stained glass, if this option suits you, use it.
If you are going to wallpaper a kitchen cabinet or a nightstand in the hallway, it is advisable that the wallpaper be moisture-resistant for wet cleaning. You need to think about this in advance. Self-adhesive film has moisture-resistant qualities, like most vinyl wallpaper, but paper is weak.
Use of green and white colors that fit into the interior
If you only have paper scraps, in principle you can use them, but after pasting you will need to apply a layer of varnish to them, which will add gloss and protect the canvas from moisture.
We produce pasting
Collecting the necessary materials
Before you start work, you need to take care of the tools and material. Here's what we'll need:
- sandpaper (sandpaper), an appropriate attachment for a drill or grinder, to prepare the surface for pasting;
- in some cases a hair dryer, but not necessarily;
- measuring instruments - ruler, tape measure, corner;
- tools for markings and markings - pencil, pen, marker;
- cutting tool – knife, scissors;
- primer and wood putty for preparatory work;
- tools for applying compounds - roller, brush, spatula;
- rags for smoothing and removing glue;
- PVA glue.
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Using a grinder to sand surfaces
As you can see, the list is quite impressive. If you don't have some materials, buy them. By the way, if the fittings of your furniture are worn out, then you can change them too. For example, a handle, a new handle for a cabinet will not cost much, but will add color to your newly made wallpapered furniture.
Preparatory work
Before wallpapering furniture, you need to take care of the surface on which you will apply the material. We need to make it suitable for such work, so we will perform the following manipulations:
Typical domestic kitchen cabinet after decoration
- To make it easier to work with a cabinet or bedside table, you need to disassemble it and remove all the fittings from it.
- The next step is to sand the decorative surface and remove the entire layer of varnish from it. This can be done using sandpaper, which is very labor-intensive; it will be easier to put the appropriate attachment on a drill, grinder or screwdriver and go over the varnish.
You can also remove the varnish using a hair dryer. To do this, the surface is heated and the applied composition is scraped off with a spatula. But even in this case, you can’t do without sanding.
- If your furniture is made of solid wood and has not been treated with anything, then it is recommended to go over it with sandpaper to create some roughness.
- In the next step, we remove all dust from the skin using a damp cloth. Give the furniture some time to dry.
- After examining the dried surface for defects, we decide whether it needs to be puttied. If the cracks and grooves are not so large, and the wallpaper for pasting is embossed, you don’t have to do this. If the defects are deep, you will have to level the surface with putty, maybe even in several layers.
- As you probably already guessed, after the putty has dried, the putty areas must be treated and leveled with the general surface. This is also done with sandpaper.
- Now the surface of the cabinet is almost ready, all that remains is to prime it for better adhesion to the wallpaper.