How to restore an old chest of drawers. Techniques for restoring chests of drawers in various ways Do-it-yourself drawing on a chest of drawers

A chest of drawers is an element of furniture in many apartments and houses. In its spacious drawers it is convenient to store bedding and underwear, things and home textiles. During operation appearance furniture loses its attractiveness even with careful handling. Product design may lose relevance in modern interior. Do-it-yourself restoration of a chest of drawers allows you to restore furniture to its former attractiveness and revitalize its appearance.

You can restore a chest of drawers in different ways. Staining, decoupage or aging will do. You can restore furniture made of plywood, chipboard, restore the appearance antique chest of drawers. Before performing any restoration option, old furniture needs to be prepared and stocked with materials for the work. To do this you will need the following tools:

grinder to remove old coating;
wood putty and spatula for filling cracks;
screwdriver for removing old rusty screws;
metal corners that can be used to strengthen the structure;
fine-grained sandpaper for sanding the coating;
brushes and wood primer for processing furniture for painting;
drill for making holes for fittings and fasteners;
paint, brushes, roller and tray for restoration at home.

Tools

Depending on the finishing option, the list of tools and materials may vary. If the chest of drawers is painted, varnish is used to secure the coating. When using the decoupage technique, you need PVA glue and beautiful stickers that will decorate the surface.

All materials and tools need to be prepared in advance, as soon as it is decided how to update the chest of drawers. In order for the furniture to serve for a long time, it is recommended to replace fastening and decorative fittings with new elements.

Furniture preparation

Restoring an old chest of drawers will be successful if the furniture is properly prepared for work. The chest of drawers is emptied of the things and objects stored in it, and the drawers are taken out. Old handles are unscrewed - if they are antique, the products can be repainted in gold, bronze or silver. Parts that cannot be restored must be replaced with new fittings. Surface preparation is carried out as follows:

To decorate an old chest of drawers with your own hands, wipe the furniture from dust and dirt. You can use warm soapy water for cleaning;
Do not use aggressive chemical components - ordinary laundry soap will do;
carved elements are cleaned with an old toothbrush, and small decorative holes with an awl or other sharp object;
using a grinding machine to remove old paint coating, hard to reach places process sandpaper;
repair of furniture fastenings - loose legs are disassembled and reassembled, adding PVA glue to the joints;
the wooden slats on which the boxes “ride” can be replaced with modern guide runners;
If the product has cracks or chips, they are covered with wood putty. The mixture dries for at least a day;
the restored areas are carefully rubbed with fine-grained sandpaper so that the surface is even and smooth;
to increase adhesive properties, furniture is coated with a primer in two layers, allowing each coating to dry;
the primer dries from 12 to 24 hours - this depends on the type of primer composition chosen.

An antique chest of drawers with a long history may contain a unique mark or mark of the master on the surface - these fragments should be preserved in order to accurately convey the charm of the restored antique item. Restoring a chest of drawers with your own hands requires patience and skill. The process of preparing furniture cannot be ignored, otherwise all the work will be in vain.

Dust removal

The old coating must be carefully removed from all decorative elements

Sanding furniture surfaces

Restoration options

To return furniture to a presentable appearance, various restoration techniques are used. The simplest option is decorative wallpapering, as in the photo shown. Some craftsmen perform covering with fabrics or lace. You can use stencils to apply original designs with paint or create complex decorations with plaster. But most often restoration is carried out with the help of painting and spectacular decor.

Decoupage

Decoupage refers to the use various materials for decorating furniture. For decoration, various cutouts are used, which are glued to the chest of drawers. The topic can be anything - floral motifs, birds, portraits, photo collages. To complete the work, use acrylic paints and ready-made stickers. Decoupage of a chest of drawers in the popular shabby chic style - the designs are combined with an aged surface:

prepare the surface of the furniture for processing (sanding, putty, primer), remove the drawers and remove the fittings, treat with alcohol;
I restore the interior parts of the chest of drawers with white paint or in color ivory, let it dry for 12 hours;
to imitate “scuffs,” a small amount of dark stain is applied to the convex parts of the chest of drawers with a dry brush;
the outer surfaces of the chest of drawers are coated with a primer and, after drying, treated with sandpaper;
Black acrylic paint is applied to the areas to be aged and, after drying, rubbed with a paraffin candle;
Paint the chest of drawers with your own hands in the base color. To make the drawings look expressive, use white, cream, beige;
the paint is applied in several layers, each time the coating is dried until completely dry;
Decorative elements are cut out of decoupage paper. It is convenient to place large parts in the center, small ones - in the corners;
coat with PVA glue pictures from the outside and inside, apply glue to areas of the chest of drawers and glue the decoupage, as in the photo;
The edges of the pictures are smoothed with paint to visually erase the boundaries. Cover the entire chest of drawers with varnish and screw on the fittings.

Antique furniture handles are painted antique. If decoupage is performed in modern style, you can choose new fittings to your liking. For decoupage, you can use newspapers, photos, craft napkins, and stickers.

An interesting version of decoupage in the Provence style is a combination of paper flower appliques with lavender splashes. The chest of drawers is painted white, stick small blue or purple flowers, and then use an old toothbrush to spray droplets of paint from a distance of one to two meters. The greater the distance, the smaller the droplets.

All irregularities are smoothed out using sandpaper

The edges and handles are painted with brown acrylic paint

The edges and handles are rubbed with a candle

Painting with white acrylic paint and sanding

Making a drawing from selected pictures

Applying a layer of glue

Leveling with fine-grit sandpaper

Replacing metal parts

Old chests of drawers require not only decoration, but also restoration of the fastening system and fittings. Metal elements chest of drawers - bolts, screws, handles, corners. Over time, they become unusable and lose their external luster. Antique beautiful fittings can be left if the items are not damaged, or painted. This is true for models in old style and shabby chic design. For restoration in modern version furniture handles should be replaced with new products. The fastening parts of the dresser also need to be repaired or replaced. How to restore old chest of drawers to make furniture more durable:

carefully inspect the condition of the fasteners;
unscrew old loose screws;
wood glue is added to the holes;
install dowels of suitable size;
new fastening screws are screwed into the dowels;
the frame parts are connected with metal corners;
The corners need to be attached to the inside of the chest of drawers.

Be sure to check the condition of the legs. If they are loose, the products are disassembled and new fasteners are installed. To make the drawers slide easily when opening and closing, you can install furniture guides instead of mounting strips. The main thing is that they do not disturb the harmony and harmony of the restored product. Additionally, furniture can be decorated with metal decorative overlays that imitate carvings or patterns. The main rule of restoration is to first replace fasteners, and then start decorating.

Drawer guides

One of the most simple ways bring back the beauty of the chest of drawers - paint the furniture. This takes a little time, reliably hides the slightest defects and flaws, and allows you to give the product any color. Before painting, the chest of drawers is prepared for restoration. The fittings are twisted off, the drawers are removed and the old covering is removed. If the chest of drawers is polished, the top layer must be thoroughly removed so that new paint did not peel off. Coloring master class:

surface grinding, crack filling, priming;
applying paint with a brush on corners and hard-to-reach places;
painting the smooth surfaces of the chest of drawers with a paint roller;
drying of the first layer, secondary painting, drying;
fixing the decorative coating with a layer of varnish.

You need to apply paint to the furniture at least twice to ensure the color is rich and beautiful. You can cover the chest of drawers with three or more layers - this way you can repaint it dark furniture into light shades and vice versa. First, paint the internal parts, and then begin finishing the external surfaces. Acrylic paints are good for painting. Can be used alkyd enamels, but they release toxins and a strong characteristic odor.

Thermal method of removing old coating

Grinding can be done with a machine or special attachments on a drill.

Acrylic putty will hide defects visible to the eye

It is better to paint with a brush

Painted chest of drawers

Aging

The current trend in furniture restoration is the use of aging techniques. It is in this way that an old chest of drawers can be given original look. The aging job differs slightly from traditional staining. In addition to acrylic paint, you need white paraffin candles. Restoration with an aging effect is shown in the photo:

furniture is prepared for work - cleaned, primed, fasteners strengthened;
highlight accent areas with dark paint (brown or black). For the Provence style, blue is used;
after the paint has dried, the places where the aging effect needs to be applied are rubbed with wax;
The entire surface of the chest of drawers is covered with a layer of white paint several times. The waxed areas are carefully scraped off with a knife;
the painted surfaces are sanded down to give the furniture the desired antique effect and varnished.

You can achieve antique “scuffs” on furniture by using contrasting shades - a white base and dark accents or a black base background, painted with light paint and sanded in some places. Aged furniture looks harmonious in the interiors of shabby chic, Provence, country, and vintage houses.

Do designer decor DIY chest of drawers means making an expensive one out of a simple, ordinary chest of drawers designer item. Few people can afford to buy designer items - they are not cheap. Surround yourself beautiful things, which makes you feel good and cozy, is within our power - we just have to really want it. Creating a special mood in the house, giving uniqueness to the atmosphere - it’s all in our hands. If you are a novice decorator, you can start by decorating your bedside table with your own hands. We offer 2 master classes: on decorating a chest of drawers, and on 3D decorating wooden parts using putty.

Dresser decor in English style (master class)

Decorating an old chest of drawers from an Ikea store is our task for one or two evenings. We will do the decoration using acrylic paint, red and blue pigment, with which we achieve desired color when mixing these components. In addition, we will need putty in order to make the surface textured. Then you will need oil paint and toplazure. Toplazur is decorative coating With natural wax, which will preserve the unique color of the tree.

To work you will need:

White acrylic paint on water based.
Ready finishing putty.
Red and blue pigments.
Walnut topla glaze.
Brown oil paint.
Decorative furniture nails.
Spatula.
Masking tape.
Roller and brush.
Sandpaper.
Your own wooden chest of drawers.

Let's get started

Before decorating, you need to remove all the handles from the chest of drawers and wipe it from dust with a damp cloth.

Next, we take a spatula and spread a thin layer of white putty on the fronts of all our drawers, that is, on the visible part of the chest of drawers. There is no need to adhere to uniform puttying of the surface; the board should be textured, not simple. Spread the putty stains on the board. We wait for the putty to dry and go over the top of the drawers with a roller of white acrylic paint and a semi-dry brush. We seal with masking tape and separate the places that we will paint in blue and red.

We take 2 glass jars and make the colors we need. Add blue and red pigments to white acrylic paint. The more pigment, the darker the paint will be.

When painting, we see some spotting - this is how it should be. We need an unevenly painted surface.

Let's paint it again, otherwise the color will be too pale. This is how it should turn out.

Then we take sandpaper and sand the top of the chest, side edges, and corners.

Then we take a sponge and begin to rub walnut-colored toplazure over the entire surface of the chest of drawers, with the exception of the drawers. We especially intensively process the side parts, the corners of the facade, and the top of the chest of drawers. Next, we begin to hammer furniture nails along the front of our chest of drawers. Make sure that the distance between the nails is the same.

Then we screw on the handles that we removed at the beginning of the work, or others that suit the style. We use a brush and oil paint around the nails and handles to create a dark shade. Let's finish the job.

People often throw away old furniture not because it is broken, but because they are tired of old bedside tables, sideboards, or chests of drawers and no longer look beautiful. You often see discarded furniture from good wood, and not from modern chipboard and fiberboard. Old furniture undoubtedly deserves to be given a second chance, because this is a value that, in skillful hands, turns into a stylish designer item. Yes, of course, you will have to put in your own hands and effort, but such decor does not require large material costs, and the work will definitely please you.

With the help of such voluminous decor, you can decorate the cabinet with your own hands. With a voluminous decoration you can decorate not only a chest of drawers or a bedside table, but also decorate your buffet with your own hands. Next you will see stencils that may be useful to you in your work.

To work you will need:

Wooden detail of a bedside table or chest of drawers.
Spatula.
The stencil is plastic or thick cardboard.
Acrylic putty or volumetric paste.
White and brown acrylic paint.
Brush or sponge.
Painting tape.

Let's get started

We fix the stencil on the surface of the wood, securing it with tape. Apply putty to the stencil and level the surface with a spatula. Then remove the stencil with both hands and leave the work to dry.

This is the kind of voluminous decor we got.

Or another option: after drying decorative element paint the surface with brown acrylic paint, then rub the pattern itself and the surface next to it with a candle.

Not everyone has the talent of an artist, and not everyone knows how to draw. It is in such cases that stencils can come in handy. We transfer it to cardboard, cut it out, and use stencils for work.

I won’t reveal a secret if I say that slate (chalk) paint is now very often used to decorate furniture. It applies well, uniformly to the surface, and does not require much effort to paint. But the price for it is quite high. Therefore, we want to offer a recipe that will help you make your own chalk paint for decor.

Paint composition:

250 grams of latex or acrylic water-based paint.
2 tablespoons of regular plaster (can be taken from a children's kit). Plaster can be replaced with chalk.
1 tbsp. spoon hot water.

Preparation:

Let's take it glass jar, pour 1 spoon of hot water into it, then pour gypsum into it and mix well.
Immediately pour paint into this mixture (do not wait for the plaster to harden).
Mix the resulting mass thoroughly. Chalk paint is ready. This paint can be used to paint a chest of drawers, a nightstand, etc.

Dresser decor options

There are many decoration options: using fabric, acrylic or oil paints, remnants of wallpaper, paper, volumetric decor. Even if you just change something as small as fittings - buy interesting metal or wooden handles, metal locks with keys, and replacing these small parts - this can completely change the look of your furniture.

Decorator and painting artist Inga Azhgirey talks in detail about all the stages of decorating a chest of drawers. If you wish, you can repeat all the steps yourself and end up with a bright, individual item that will decorate your home. Inga loves unusual objects in the interior, conducts master classes in painting and decorative painting for children and adults.

To paint a chest of drawers in Indian style we will need:

» soil for wood. In this case, it was necessary to preserve the texture of the wood, so ordinary PVA glue, which can be found in a hardware or office supply store, was used as a primer;

» ordinary thin paper 80 g for transferring pictures. You can take thick tracing paper;

» several simple pencils of different softness, a pen, an eraser, scissors;

» a grinding machine with fine-grained sandpaper or just fine-grained sandpaper on a block. Available in every hardware store;

» acrylic paints, 1-2 volumetric contours (can be used on glass or universal);

» brushes, squirrel (imitation squirrel) and synthetics or columns. Numbers 0, 00, 000, 1, 2, 3 (depending on the complexity of the selected pattern);

» water-based acrylic varnish. Sold in construction or art stores. Depends on the size of the job. Matte or glossy. The varnish is odorless, the brush is easy to wash warm water with soap;

» synthetic flute brush hardware store for varnishing;

» palette, a couple of rags, an apron.

What will be drawn?

To begin with, it is important to decide on the theme, what exactly you want to depict on the chest of drawers, and how much wooden background you plan to leave.

I wanted to leave as much wood as possible and focus on beautiful hands, colors and image sizes.

The Indian elephant, which is depicted on the bedspread of the owner of the chest of drawers, was taken as the starting point.

This was followed by a selection of images of Indian elephants, peacocks, Indian paisley cucumbers, and mandala symbols on Pinterest. Just save the images in a separate folder. The pictures can be color or black and white - the main thing is that they correspond to your idea.

Preparation

The most important thing is to prime and sand the dresser. Wood readily absorbs paint; straight lines may spread a little along the fibers. Mix PVA glue with water in the proportion of 90% glue + 10% water (sometimes 20%, depending on the initial thickness of the glue).

We unscrew the handles of the chest of drawers and we will prime them too. Using a wide brush, cover everything with primer, let it dry, then sand it. In this way, we close the pores of the wood, preventing the paint from absorbing too much, and the lines will not turn out to be “spread”.

Sketches

Then you should make a very rough sketch on paper in order to understand which drawings, where and in what size to transfer to the chest of drawers. You can freely draw the image to the desired scale or immediately print all the required sizes of the selected drawings.

After drawing one copy, which was outlined with a pen, turn the image over to the other side and make a mirror transfer of the picture through the window glass. Thus, to obtain a mirror image you will not need to spend extra time and effort.

Cover the back side of the picture tightly with a soft pencil, so that when you apply pressure with a pen, the contours of the picture will be imprinted on the wood.

Color selection

After transferring all the images, it's time to choose paint.

I wanted to bring more cold ones into the chest of drawers blue shades, because there are plenty of warm reds and oranges in the interior.

Dark blue became the main color of the painting. He made outlines of birds, elephants, paisley, mandala.

Additional - 6 colors in which the handles are painted.

As a volumetric decor - a bronze contour.

The most enjoyable stage: painting sketches

You should start with large forms - a blue frame and painting the ends.

Then start painting the front of the dresser. Apply the dark blue outlines first, then multi-colored paints make accents, and after drying – contour decor.

When working with the contour, you need to take into account that after application it takes about an hour to dry so that it cannot be smeared.

After painting the entire chest of drawers, you can start working on the handles. They are painted in the colors of the chest of drawers and decorated with dark blue tones and a decorative outline. They can be screwed to the chest of drawers in any combination.

The final stage: varnishing

After painting, we coat the chest of drawers with varnish.

Handles, drawers, body are covered separately.

We take everything out, place it on a stable surface (this especially applies to the handles), take our wide brush and cover it with a thin layer of varnish. It is important that you do not get drips of varnish - they are difficult to remove later.

Each coat of varnish takes 12 hours to dry (more information can be found on the varnish can). Acrylic varnish After a couple of hours it doesn’t stick, but it’s still better to cover it in the evening and leave it in a room without drafts, sticking fluff and pets until the morning.

The next evening the procedure can be repeated.

Get inspired by new ideas, make things beautiful and surprise your friends and family interesting gifts, to which you have put your own efforts. Approaching New Year, and soon we will delight you with various lessons on the theme of the upcoming holiday.

The popularity of hand-made products is growing day by day, including do-it-yourself furniture painting. An exciting activity also brings practical benefits: with the help of painting, old pieces of furniture acquire a second life. But it is not at all necessary to engage exclusively in restoration. New simple furniture without any frills can be turned into a real interior masterpiece. The main thing is to choose the appropriate painting technique.

Design options

The way you decorate furniture depends on your professional skills and the time you are willing to spend on creating a masterpiece. For beginners who do not know the art artistic drawing, it's better to start by using simple stencils. More complex and interesting painting is obtained by mastering the decoupage technique. The main composition can be supplemented in the future small details done independently.

For craftsmen who are skilled with a brush, it is better to try painting furniture using acrylic paints. It will take more time to work, but the freedom of creativity here is not limited to a specific composition. For the first experiments, small pieces of furniture are suitable - a stool, chair or shoe shelf. After honing your painting skills, you can move on to larger objects - chests of drawers, cabinets.

Comment! Furniture made from natural wood, products based on chipboard or MDF will have to be set aside. The exception is the design of surfaces using decoupage.

Preparatory stage

Depending on the chosen technique for work you will need:

Acrylic paints. You can buy a set or individual shades of the required volume. Waterproof surface images are ideal for a wooden base.
Brushes. It is recommended to purchase synthetic or mixed pile products designed specifically for acrylic compositions. It is better to avoid natural brushes. To work, you will need wide copies to fill the background areas, and thin brushes to paint small details.
Primer. Usually, before starting work, the surface of the furniture is treated for better adhesion to the applied layer of paint.
Special blends to create certain effects. To give your drawing interesting shades, you should use little tricks. Painting is most often found in Provence interiors. The provincial design direction actively uses special techniques to artificial aging surfaces. These may be abrasions, small cracks and chips. Craquelure varnish, gelatin, PVA glue and even egg yolk can be useful to achieve this goal.

Golden paints add extra brightness to the painting on furniture; using a hair dryer when painting will help to get a blurry image.

Before starting work, the surface of the furniture requires cleaning and degreasing. To eliminate unevenness, sanding is carried out, scratches and dents are puttied, after which the furniture is coated with a primer. Painting begins after thoroughly drying the treated surface.

Comment! If the preparatory stage is skipped, the painted image may deteriorate after a short period.

Art for Beginners

After preparatory stage move directly to the design of furniture.

Using stencils

Painting with a stencil is the easiest way to transform the interior of a room. Having chosen the option you like from numerous examples, it is initially printed and then transferred to a thick sheet. The ornament or other image is carefully cut out. Simple and at the same time attractive patterns are presented below:

The surface of the furniture is initially painted with a background color; usually, calm shades are chosen for these purposes. After the paint has dried, the stencil is securely fixed to the furniture and the prepared cutouts are filled with brighter paint. The work is carried out with a sponge, so the surface is painted more evenly. It is better to gradually apply several layers to the furniture.

Depending on the chosen pattern, furniture painting is done in one color or multi-color. In conclusion, it is recommended to additionally outline the outline of the painting to obtain a brighter image. If the stencil is small, you can use the pattern on several objects, the main thing is to observe moderation to avoid oversaturation of the interior with bright colors.

Decoupage technology

The essence of the decoupage technique is to attach a design made on paper or fabric to a dense base. These can be small vases and jars or larger furniture. The advantage of decoupage over painting acrylic paints- it is not necessary to choose a wooden surface for decoration.

The choice of varnish is of great importance when preparing materials. Depending on the composition, the surface of the furniture can be:

semi-matte;
matte;
with sparkles;
semi-antique;
semi-gloss;
glossy.

To imitate painting, a special material with a pattern is purchased. There are the following options for furniture decor:

Napkins. Due to the thin base, they are quite difficult to work with. It is better for beginners to practice on small, flat surfaces of furniture.
Decoupage card printed on rice paper. Due to the denser base and elasticity, achieving the effect of painting on furniture will be a little easier.
Decoupage cards on plain paper.
Prints on photo paper. The advantage of the solution is the ability to order any image that is optimal for decorating furniture.

Attention! Regardless of the chosen pattern, the section of furniture intended for painting using the decoupage technique is painted with a white background. The reason for the requirement is simple - before application, the paper with the pattern is moistened; if the base is colored, the color of the painting will be noticeably distorted. On a white background, the color scheme will remain in its original form.

The drawing is fixed in different ways. Usually the surface is treated with glue, after drying, paper with a pattern is applied and carefully leveled, ensuring the complete absence of bubbles or wrinkles. When the paper dries, the drawing is coated with varnish, which will preserve the integrity of the painting.

Illustrative examples of painting done using the decoupage technique are presented in the photo:

Painting with acrylic paints

Full painting is more suitable for people who can independently create an interesting picture on furniture. But this is not a prerequisite. Simple drawing of a cherry on children's chair Even a beginner can do it quite well.

Main stages of work:

It is better to make a preliminary sketch of the painting on paper in order to choose a harmonious color palette that will fit into the overall interior.
Prepare pencils, paints, brushes, varnish and other available materials.
The outlines of the drawing are applied to the surface of the furniture with a simple pencil without pressure, so that it does not subsequently show through the acrylic paint.
First, large elements of the painting are painted, then small details are decorated.

Depending on the desired effect, the base layer of paint is allowed to dry or a different tone is applied on top without waiting for complete drying. Photos will help you appreciate the variety of images that can be used to decorate furniture:

Features of painting in various rooms

When choosing an image, they are guided by the functional purpose of the room and the style of the interior. Most often, painting on furniture is in demand in the Provence style. Natural motifs, all kinds of vegetation and birds fully correspond to the tasteful design concept French province. It looks extremely organic when painted. If desired, the furniture in the kitchen can also be decorated with painting, although it is easier to use the decoupage technique. In addition to flowers, birds and vegetation, there are other interesting compositions.

A children's room is a space for creativity. For beginners, it is better to choose simple images, these can be fish, colorful numbers and letters. If desired, the child's room will be filled with bunnies, fairies, cars and sailboats. It all depends on the age, gender and preferences of your beloved child.

To decorate the furniture, you can choose a neutral theme - geometric shapes, iridescent bubbles, the choice is limited solely by your own imagination.

Kitchen - suitable place for still lifes. A painting in the shape of a tree, the trunk of which is located on the pencil case, and the branches smoothly flow onto the adjacent cabinet, will look extremely impressive on furniture.

Go for it, and due to the surface design furniture set you can transform the interior of a room beyond recognition. The main thing is to take into account the functionality of the room, the overall stylistic decision and not to overestimate your own capabilities.