Joanne Condon from Kyle Lane is one of our upcycling heroes - not only is her house a treasure trove of colourful and revamped finds, she runs workshops to help anyone who is interested in upping their game when it comes to giving new life to old furniture.
And now, to top it all off, she's only gone and written a book, Furniture Crush, featuring how-tos for 12 different colour popping painted furniture projects. She's kindly given us a sneak peek at one of these projects - a bedside locker upcycled with feature wallpaper. How fab does the finished thing look?
We'll let Joanne take it from here with the step-by-step!
This is a really good way to get a completely different look and add in pops of colour into a piece. Adding feature wallpaper can really add value to any piece, and lining the inside of the drawers can be a nice little surprise.
MATERIALS REQUIRED:
Good quality wallpaper
Satinwood Paint and undercoat (I used colourtrend paints Lady Nicole)
Paint brushes
Furniture Modge Podge/strong wallpaper adhesive
Craft blade
Scissors
Sponge
Steel ruler
Wallpaper (I used Dutch Painter by Pip Studio)
Top Tip: If you are using wallpaper on a table top, get a glass top cut to protect the paper.
Prepare for painting:
Always prepare your surface by cleaning ti down with sugar soap. Leave the sugar soap break down the dirt and grim for a minute and then wipe away any residue with a lightly dampened cloth. Leave to fully dry.
With a medium sandpaper, sand the surface in the direction of the grain. Remove all the dust with a cloth insuring the surface your painting on is also dust free.
With undercoat paint the surface, start at the awkward areas first and work your way up to the larger areas. Make sure you undercoat the areas where you will be papering. Leave the undercoat to fully dry.
Painting:
With satinwood paint I used colourtrend paints Lady Nicole paint the surface, making sure your brush isn’t overloaded with paint. Don’t paint the area which you are papering as the wallpaper won’t stick to the surface.
Lay out the drawers in order. I always write the number sequence underneath the drawer in chalk to make sure I always keep them in that order. If there are handles remove them at this stage. I had a little rim on the drawer fronts that will be seen, so I painted those in the same colour as the overall colour of the locker.
Taking a length of your wallpaper on your hand use your thumb and index finger to press around the edges of the paper to get a crease guide to the placement of the drawers
With a large brush, apply paste onto the wallpaper in an even coat: not too thick, as this may cause bubbling, but enough to cover the paper. Leave the paper to settle and soak in the glue. The paper will expand a little so make sure you leave it soak in. Just when you can see the glue beginning to soak in, its ready to apply.
Apply the paper from left to right, section by section, with the palm of your hand or with a dry sponge, pushing out any air bubbles. Smooth out the paper until you reach the end of the drawer
With a sharp craft blade, carefully cut away the extra paper, using the ruler as your guide. Cut in short motions as running the blade along the paper will result in it ripping and tearing.
To prevent the paper form tearing when you attach back the handles, pierce a little hole with the blade to help the handle go back through easily.
Use the same method with the inside of the drawers, cutting the corners away before you paste.
