Decoupage of wooden furniture. Tips on how to make do-it-yourself decoupage from napkins on furniture. Glass table decoration

Decoupage is a popular decorating technique designed to decorate absolutely any item.

Using decoupage, it is possible to transform even old furniture so that it continues to decorate the interior. At the very beginning, you need to consider all the details so that they look harmonious with each other.

How to use decoupage to change old pieces of furniture

The main idea of decoupage is that decorations and drawings on different surfaces make up one harmonious composition.

Decorating in this way can be a lifesaver for old furniture that has adorned a home for years.

Soviet furniture is especially interesting in this regard. She is a godsend for the designer.

Indeed, with the help of decoupage, Soviet furniture can be transformed beyond recognition. It will fit perfectly into modern life.

Many materials can be used in this technique:

Stencils;
Napkins;
Various stickers;
Pictures and images;
Textured paper.

Image composition for obsolete furniture should be chosen based on the style of the interior of the room where this furniture will be located.

Decoupage furniture will not take much time and effort. The main thing is to turn on the fantasy and perform all the actions in order. Special paper for decoupage is very fragile, it can be easily damaged or wrinkled.

Ordinary office paper is also suitable for decoration. On it you can pre-print your favorite pictures.

Multi-layered paper napkins, which are available to everyone, can also be a suitable material for decorating.

Drawings should be applied very carefully. It is better to smooth them with a sponge or cloth so that the air trapped in the folds of the paper comes out.

Do-it-yourself furniture decoupage with fabric

Fabric is an excellent material for decorating with decoupage technique. Especially wooden furniture decorated with fabric looks very unusual. This direction in decoration is very popular.

In order to decorate the desired item in this way, you will need the following materials:

Sponge;
Acrylic varnish;
Fabric patches;
brushes;
Glue.

A solvent will be needed to remove old paint from a piece of furniture. The entire area is treated with sandpaper. After the furniture is covered with acrylic paint or primer.

Glue for fabric and furniture should be different. Fabric patches can be both multi-colored and plain. The main criterion is the idea and imagination of the author.

For a while, it is better not to touch the fabric to allow it to firmly attach to the surface.

If you cover the fabric with glue, then it will stick better. When all the fabric is dry, a clear varnish is applied. The varnish must dry completely.

Decoupage for beginners

There is a lot of different information for people who have recently decided to do decoupage.

It is not difficult to remake your furniture for those who have just begun their journey in design, as it may seem at first glance. It is better to start with the most elementary technique - decorating with paper napkins.

For decoupage inspiration, look at beds, closets, nightstands, garden benches, and more.

In order for decoupage to bring the desired result, you should do the preparatory procedure.

Old furniture often has a lot of cracks and lye. To get rid of them and make the surface absolutely smooth, you need a grout, which fills all the gaps in the furniture.

The sandpaper will help smooth out the rough edges. Another layer of primer will be the final stage of preparation.

Images are glued to furniture and covered with acrylic after complete drying.

Garden furniture, decorated with decoupage technique, fits into the surrounding space in a very original way.

Decoupage can transform furniture beyond recognition

With decoupage decorating skills, you can no longer throw away your unusable furniture. After all, both outdated models and the newest ones will be suitable for decoupage.

Decoupage will help to make your furniture:

original;
new;
Repair cracks in furniture.

If you follow all the instructions, you can be sure of the effectiveness of the technique. Many masters, using this technique, create beautiful interior items, updating already familiar furniture.

There are several options for decoupage technique:

The simplest decoration

Its meaning is that the image is cut out of napkins and pasted onto the finished area.

After that, the image is covered with acrylic varnish.

Reverse decoupage

Reverse decoupage is needed to decorate glass objects.

The drawing is glued with the front side to the surface of the glass furniture.

Artistic decoupage

This is the whole composition. After all, some components have to be applied manually by the designer himself.

Both fabric and many beautiful objects can be used here.

Volumetric decoupage

Application to a bulk surface is different from conventional application.

You need to draw each element yourself on a previously glued napkin.

Photos of furniture decoupage examples

Originating in the early Middle Ages, the decorative technique gained popularity in the 17th century in Venice, which was still independent at that time. The word itself is borrowed from French. Like any art, furniture decoupage allows you to create an artistic image, and the skillful execution of the case will make any unattractive, boring item an integral part of the decoration in the house.

Anyone can do art. To do this, you need to pick up a thing for decoupling, come up with a plot, prepare working tools. But in order to turn a product into a real masterpiece, one should understand different methods, stylistic orientation, and decoration features.

Advantages and disadvantages of using decoupage for furniture

Updating old things, as well as decorating new ones, would seem to be quite a difficult task. The master must think through everything to the smallest detail so that the object in question fits exactly into the existing interior, does not contradict it. However, the whole difficulty lies only in choosing the appropriate image. Therefore, the main advantage of this technique can be called its simplicity, as well as:

the work will require a minimum set of tools and materials;
the type of creativity does not require special skills, it is available to everyone;
small costs for decoupage cards, newsprint, fabric;
budget savings, no need to buy new furniture;
self-selection of a pattern that meets personal wishes;
there is an opportunity to turn ordinary everyday things into unique, beautiful products.

Among the shortcomings of this work can be identified:

glued materials are unstable to mechanical damage;
work can take a lot of time;
the surface with the finished image should not be rubbed with hard washcloths, detergents should not be used when cleaning;
The quality depends on the selected raw material.

Decoupage techniques

The variety of materials used in the creative process allows you to decorate any surface: wood, glass, metal. The use of various techniques provides endless possibilities for the manifestation of imagination. Among the existing types of decoupage are:

Direct (classic). The most common type. The work consists in priming and painting the surface, gluing a picture, using decorative techniques, applying a finish coat.
Back. With this method, transparent plastic, glass objects are decorated. The process is the same as in the first case, only performed in reverse order. The image is glued with the front side on the glass, after which the standard actions are performed.
Volume. They are made independently by gluing copies of individual fragments onto the main picture, which will become voluminous. 3D images are also used. Recently, the Sospeso Trasparente technique has appeared, which can be called modern. Designed by Italian decorator Monica Allegro. Non-toxic thermoplastic is used as the main material.
Art. Imitation of a full-fledged painting. It is divided into three subspecies: smoky, landscape, classic. The bottom line is that the paper application and the background merge together.
Decopatch (patchwork). The surface of the object is decorated not partially, but completely. For work, different paper is used, which is divided into pieces of different sizes, and after it the entire plane is covered.

In decoupage, special decorative effects are used to give the pattern a different look:

Attrition. It looks like the item has been used for a long time. To create the effect, wax is applied, which is applied before the drawing.
Craquelure. Creation of cracks in the paint layer. For this, special varnishes are used.
Patination. Creation of artificial spots.
Shading. Paint is applied to the surface of the object with a dry brush, which allows you to hide the borders of the image.
Toning. Along with shading, it allows you to emphasize the pattern by applying multi-colored spots, sparkles.
Potal. Finishing the drawing, the plane itself with gold, silver paints, sheets of decorative gold leaf.

Stylistic directions of decoupage

The type and method of decoration of the object depends on the general interior of the room. The thing used in the work must correspond to the existing design. Therefore, when choosing a material, color, orientation, first of all, pay attention to their combination with the existing decor elements. Among the popular styles of furniture decoration are:

Provence. One of the currents of country music. It is characterized by the dominance of cold white colors, pastel colors, as if burnt out under the rays of the sun. The image is characterized by lavender and lavender color, herbs, grapes on artificially aged surfaces.
Victorian. A mixture of Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque. Gilding plays a special role. The main colors are light, soft shades of brown, burgundy, beige, pink. A large abundance of flowers, natural motifs, and wildlife are used as images.
Country. The rustic style is characterized by beige, brown, white, blue colors. It is characterized by an aged surface of objects. The pattern is selected in accordance with the one already available on the upholstery of chairs, a sofa or on a tablecloth, curtain.
Shabby chic. Features soft pastel colors. Used restored old furniture of golden hues. Surfaces are made to look like antiques, the pattern is blurred with frayed edges.
Simple City. Clippings from magazines, newspapers, old photographs are used for work. Big city style.
Military. A distinctive feature is the use of army orientation and military paraphernalia.
Ethno. The most common varieties: Japanese, African, Indian style. When designing, the cultural traditions of a particular people are taken into account.

Necessary materials and tools

An important point in the process of furniture decoupage is the preparation of everything necessary for work. The comfort of the master, as well as the final result, will depend on this. For creativity, you will need the following tools:

synthetic brushes;
putty knife;
sandpaper (coarse, fine-grained);
foam sponges;
disposable plastic plates as a palette;
auxiliary tools.

Materials:

motive;
acrylic primer;
acrylic paints;
acrylic lacquer;
PVA glue, glue varnish for decoupage.

Features of decoupage for polished furniture

Most owners of old dull furniture want to transform it. But in order to decoupage a polished product, you will need to prepare its surface, otherwise after a while the entire decor will simply peel off and peel off. Working with such surfaces is as follows:

Using coarse sandpaper, the coating is sanded. Polishing can not be completely removed, it is enough to remove all the shine.
To eliminate defects and level the surface, it must be covered with a layer of putty.
Since the polished product is devoid of natural texture, it must be completely primed with acrylic paint.
After completing these steps, you can start decoupling.

Polished furniture differs from wooden counterparts in its composition, namely the absence of wood. Under a millimeter layer of varnish, you can see paper or a sheet of chipboard.

Features of decoupage of plastic furniture

By itself, plastic furniture is not particularly beautiful, but with the help of decoupage it can be turned into a work of art. However, the plastic will need to be initially prepared in order for the ornament to last for a long time on the surface of the selected product.

All preparatory measures are reduced to the usual degreasing of the structure with an alcohol-containing liquid. When working with a glossy finish, slippery plastic, it should be roughened. For this, fine-grained sandpaper is used. Then a thin layer of gypsum primer is applied, which will provide better adhesion to other materials.

How to prepare the furniture surface

It will be enough for beginners to prepare surfaces for decoupage according to the generally accepted scheme. First cleaning with sandpaper, then priming, sanding and re-priming the MDF. Depending on the expected end result, the number of villi, various wood elements may be rubbed additionally.

If the chipboard surface has cracks and dents, they should be repaired with putty. Tile, plastic is easy enough to degrease - wipe with an alcohol solution. A metal table, stool seats should be treated with a solution of vinegar, soda, citric acid, get rid of rust.

Furniture renovation workshops

Do-it-yourself decor of wooden, plastic surfaces is a great option to bring old furniture back to life. With the help of creative ideas and a minimal set of materials and tools, you can create a chic antique Provence-style dinette, update your desk and other useful manipulations. There are many interesting workshops that will allow you to fill the house with real antique masterpieces, teach you how to work with napkins, lace, properly restore and process cabinets, wardrobes, shelves with a special varnish.

First of all, you need to decide on the type of equipment and prepare the table for decoration. To make decoupage last longer and make it easier to apply, remove paint residues from surfaces, clean with sandpaper, cover with putty. We carry out measurements of furniture and cut off the amount of wallpaper necessary for work.

After the preparatory work is completed, we apply a piece of wallpaper with the image up to the surface of the table. Before fixing, the picture must be carefully smoothed out, all creases and irregularities removed. We mix the glue with water and smear it over the entire area of the paper element.

A dense piece of wallpaper should be well moistened, so glue should be applied thickly in several layers. When the material becomes pliable, turn it over and smooth out the folds with a roller. Leave alone for a day to dry. After a radical update, the countertop in the kitchen remains to be varnished. If the edges are uneven, they should be sanded.

Coffee table decorations

You can decorate a coffee table in several techniques. The most popular is decoupage with napkins. Special paper products can be bought with a variety of motives (vintage, themed holidays, animals, nature, big cities, etc.). It can also be clippings from newspapers, magazines, maps, photographs. But it should be noted that it is more difficult to work with dense material; before fixing it must be thinned. Decorating a coffee table in napkin technique takes place in several stages:

Decide on a color scheme. For heavily damaged countertops, it is better to use light shades.
We prepare tools and consumables.
We disassemble the table, remove the tabletop, unscrew the legs.
We clean all wooden parts from old varnish and paint with sandpaper. If the table is made of plastic, it is enough to degrease with alcohol.
We process cracks and joints with putty. We leave to dry for several hours.
We carry out priming and painting of surfaces.
We lay out decorative cards or individual pieces of napkins on an oilcloth and carefully smooth it under running water.
Lubricate the countertop with glue and lay out the pictures.

Restoration of a chest of drawers with napkins

A very popular option for restoring an antique chest of drawers in the shabby chic style. This is both decoration and aging. Simple decoupage with napkins can be done on any painted surface, but it is better if it is white, pink, salad, blue or beige.

Before work, a piece of furniture must be prepared - remove varnish and paint, since the old polish, impregnation will not allow you to get the expected effect, significantly reduce the life of the decor. The cleaned surface must be primed.

The first step is to paint the old chest of drawers. It can be acrylic paint or based on colored chalk. Experienced craftsmen recommend using the second option, because, in their opinion, it lies more evenly. You can work with a wide brush or roller.

While the chest of drawers or nightstand dries, we prepare napkins for decoupage. You can replace thin pictures with photographs, various printouts on a printer. Now we carry out artificial aging. With a metal scraper for dishes or sandpaper, we randomly wipe the paint. Then we coat the pictures with glue and apply to the tree. With a small brush with glue, we expel the air and strengthen the edges. When all the napkins are glued, it remains to polish the chest of drawers with varnish.

You can make a real exclusive from a typical kitchen set using pieces of unnecessary wallpaper. We choose the type of decoupage, determine the area to be cultivated. Do you need a continuous coating or you can get by with partial application of elements on the facades.

We start with surface preparation. While the soil dries, we think over the composition, give the napkins the desired size and shape. You can make straight lines or cut off the edges with special scissors. We impregnate the drawings with glue and apply to the surface to be decorated. We smooth the picture with a brush, remove the bubbles. To update, you can use whole pieces of wallpaper. The final touch is varnishing. The reinforcing solution should be walked over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe facades, and not just in the picture.

You can decorate the stool in any style. The main thing is that the updated design fits into the overall interior of the room. It can be provence, vintage, newspaper technique or the use of fabric. Begin work with a careful selection of colors. It should not differ from the main background of the walls, headset or other overall furniture. Now we print napkins with the selected pattern.

If there are cracks and burrs on the stool, they must be removed and smoothed with sandpaper. If the pictures are transparent, the product can be painted. Wet wipes with water, cover with glue and apply to the surface. If it is decided to use wallpaper, then they should be kept in the liquid for longer, about 1 minute. Push out the air with a roller or brush. Finished with varnish.

You can achieve the most harmonious combination if you decoupage the stool with wallpaper that covers the walls in the room.

Using decoupage to decorate a bed

Entering the children's, adult bedroom, the first thing that catches your eye is the bed, namely its headboard. This part of the bed will be the most successful for decorating. Various inscriptions, flowers, vintage drawings are suitable for decoupage. The baby's bed will be decorated with fairy-tale characters, animals, fish, pieces of fabric. All decor should be matched to the main colors of the interior. It should also be understood that all the wooden surfaces of the bed are polished and will have to be removed. You can get the original worn effect if you listen to the following recommendations when decorating:

A darker paint must be applied over the primer in the area of \u200b\u200bthe joints, sides, relief pattern;
Then these areas are rubbed with paraffin and painted in a light tone;
After the top layer has dried, it is partially removed;
The surface is pasted over with napkins and varnished.

Cabinet Decoupage Ideas

You can transform a closet of any size using a variety of improvised means. Napkins, color pictures, wallpapers and other paper items are suitable. A piece of furniture can be given an aged look using the craquelure technique.

Napkins are the most convenient material for decoupage. Thanks to the thinned paper, imperceptible transitions on the common surface can be achieved. It is better to choose sophisticated, romantic images in the style of Provence, vintage. Pastel colors will create an unimaginable atmosphere of comfort and tranquility.

Decoupage wallpaper on a large surface of the cabinet, whatnots are best done by beginners. You can completely paste over all the details or use it on the ledges of the facades. The only difficulty is the need to clean up the outdated varnish. In addition to paper, you can use fabric elements, beads, sequins and other decor.

A new interesting direction is decoupage of furniture with a cloth. When working, you can use any combination, combine different themes and colors. You will need all kinds of shreds, glue, varnish, sponge and brushes.

Plain PVA glue is applied to the cleaned furniture, and textile pieces are treated with a special adhesive composition. The flaps are applied to the surface, pressed with a sponge. If these are round legs, the matter must be wound in a spiral. When all the pieces are glued, they should be sprinkled with additional glue through a spray bottle. The final touch is clear lacquer.

Furniture decoupage is back at the peak of popularity. Ready-made design projects demonstrate the incredible charm that reanimated furnishings bring. Using inexpensive materials, you can also give uniqueness to the typical facade of a countertop, cabinet, chest of drawers or other furniture surface. All you need is imagination and a few free hours.

What is decoupage and how to do it

Decoupage is a method of decorating by gluing cut-out paper or textile images onto a finished base. The finished work is fixed with varnish. The origins of this type of applied art date back to the Middle Ages, and the technique gained high recognition at the court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. The real popularity among the wider population such applications received in England in the Victorian era. Throughout its history, decoupage has become a pleasant hobby for royalty and artists.

Today, thanks to a wide range of materials, there are a great many methods for making such a decor. We will consider the classic version, which is suitable for decorating pieces of furniture.

Before starting work, you need to choose the image that you want to apply to the surface of the furniture. Napkins, drawings on paper or various prints on wallpaper and fabric are suitable. You can buy ready-made pictures, but there is a more rational way - print the most successful options on the printer. The good thing about this approach is that you are given a really wide selection of beautiful prints on the Internet, as well as the ability to duplicate the ornament. It is most convenient to use printouts made on a laser printer. Such ink will not spread from glue or varnish.

Arm yourself with adhesive materials (special decoupage glue or ordinary PVA), as well as acrylic varnish, brushes and a regular sponge.

The next step is to prepare the surface of the furniture. If it is varnished or painted, then process it with fine or medium sandpaper. Depending on the condition of the substrate, putty or furniture wax may be required to repair cracks, chips, or deep abrasions. Having prepared a smooth coating, cover it with a colorless acrylic varnish. If the furniture is dark, then it is better to repaint it in lighter colors.

Apply glue and place the cut out images in the required places. When the glue is completely dry over the entire area, again cover the entire composition with a clear acrylic varnish. If a napkin was chosen as the material, then use only its top layer. Again, so that it does not lose contrast, it is better to make the base surface light.

To get the most vivid picture, toned it with multi-colored paints. If you want to give the product an artificial wear for the effect of antiquity, then you should wax it, paint it and sand it. By varying the grain size of the sanding paper, abrasions of various depths can be obtained.

Decoupage chairs

There can be many reasons for transforming outdated or brand new chairs. Perhaps you need to adapt them to a single design or fix some points in the design of the piece of furniture itself. It may also be that you want to restore chairs from your grandmother's collection or purchased second-hand items. In any case, it is possible, and sometimes even necessary, to give a product a new sound and meaning. In which direction should you move:

- A win-win option is to impose a floral print. Such decorative elements will be appropriate both as a flower stand and in the romantic interior of the room;

- For eating outdoors or relaxing with a cup of tea on a warm day, make decoupage with drawings of fruits and vegetables - it will come out very nice and natural;

- For chairs in a classic, upholstered colonial design, add embellishment to match the textiles. It is best to take a picture in the Victorian style;

- In addition to napkins, use newspapers and magazines. A bright man-made collage will complement the pop art style.

If the four-legged object is located near another wooden element, try converting it as well. This way you will create a small composition.

Decorated chairs are sure to look just great in the garden or indoors, decorated in country style, shabby chic, pop art and even traditional decor.

Decoupage chest of drawers

Small chests of drawers are an indispensable thing for storing various small things. In addition to their direct functional purpose, they can become a beautiful decor for any part of the house, fitting into a variety of thematic concepts.

For a modern interior, an ordinary rectangular chest of drawers, complemented by black and white images of succulents or newspaper clippings, seals, which will give a slight touch of antiquity, will come in handy.

Plant motifs on a white background will help to freshen up the atmosphere of the hall and the hallway. Pick up pictures with a herbarium, plants in pots with names, or draw branches yourself, and “plant” birds on them using the decoupage method.

In the girl's children's room, you can make a decoration with cute flowers, ladybugs, butterflies in pastel colors of pink, blue, green, yellow. By the way, a cheerful print with dancing chanterelles on a canvas of restrained color can decorate not only a nursery, but also any other room.

If the school is left behind, and geographical maps are left in your hands, do not rush to throw them away! Cover the chest of drawers with light paint, and paste over the drawers themselves with cards. The same can be done with musical notation.

Decoupage table

A little boring table that has served you faithfully for several years or even decades should not be thrown away. Better give him a new life by decorating in the style of shabby chic or Provence.

First, cover the furniture with light paint, and then apply the appropriate color images. Alternatively, make a small set of a chair and a table for a Provence-themed garden: depict a bunch of lavender branches surrounded by a lilac-colored check. In the yard, a white table with cheerful sunflowers will also look great.

Shabby chic is done in bleached colors, with the use of scenes of cute roses, birds, angels. It is better to blur the contours of the drawings, and for an interesting texture, use craquelure varnish.

Decorate the coffee table with notes, flowers, letters in calligraphic handwriting. If you are striving for conciseness, decorate with one or two colors. For example, take a geometric wallpaper pattern and place it under glass, or apply a subtle dark gray pattern on a white background.

In the nursery, you can put a small table and a chair in a pleasant blue color with pictures of bears, balloons and beach houses. By the way, very interesting patterns come out of used tulle, lace napkins. Such a composition will decorate the kitchen in a country theme.

Decoupage beds

The bed is the main element of the bedroom, it is she who sets the rhythm and the general vector for the whole room. Therefore, making out the bed, it is worth remembering that the appearance of the remaining details will directly depend on the style you choose.

The best solution would be to decorate the head of the bed - it is the first thing that catches your eye when you enter the bedroom. It can be decorated with various patterns or inscriptions. Flowers or animals are perfect for cribs. A great idea is to decorate the headboard with pieces of fabric. It’s great if they are matched to the main colors of your interior.

The back can be decorated completely or partially. In general, images can be anything, the main thing is that they rhyme with the general concept of the home. If the finished look of the headboard will be very different from the image of the whole bed, just decorate the legs.

Please note that beds are often polished. In this case, before starting work, treat the surface with sandpaper.

Decoupage cabinet, sideboard

Thanks to simple and unpretentious ideas, you can transform your wardrobe, sideboard or cabinets for the kitchen, bathroom beyond recognition in just a few steps. Use the leftover wallpaper - stick it on the sides or doors and enjoy a fresh and bright look. There is another way to decorate with wallpaper. Its difference lies only in the fact that it is necessary to paste over the planes inside the product. Such decor will expand the interior space and will delight with its appearance every time the doors are opened.

If you have a penchant for painting, then be sure to apply these skills - complete the applications with acrylic paints. Even the most dull and nondescript closet can become a highlight of the interior.

To create a Provence style decor, you only need a few cards or beautiful napkins. Apply the final touches with acrylic paints, and the unique furniture is ready.

By the way, ornaments do not have to be small. Oversized items are just great for decorating with large images. The black and white wall decoration along with the wallpaper on the closet in the same color scheme is a great composition!

Furniture decoupage - beautiful photo ideas

In the selection of photos below, you can see even more interesting ideas for decoupage furniture with your own hands. The gallery includes decorated items for the garden, hallway, kitchen, bedroom, living room and nursery. Happy viewing!

With the paint or polish that was applied to the tree in the old days, we ruthlessly part with sandpaper. The skin should be taken to start large enough and gradually move to a very small one. Do not hope for the help of a grinder, when processing a surface, due to uneven pressure, it can leave dents, or even tear off three skins from the locker.

When the surface is completely cleaned, cover it with a water-based acrylic primer. This path, frankly, is tedious and long.

There is another - short and simple. Any surface that we prepare for rework is lightly sanded with a medium grit sandpaper to create small scratches on it. Scratched? And enough. Now we apply the CAPAPLEX primer for a complex or unevenly absorbent surface. After the primer has dried, the surface can be painted with any paints.
In conclusion, the work must be coated with water-based acrylic varnish. Despite its white color, after drying, this varnish becomes completely transparent. In theory, furniture with decoupage, for example, is covered with 20 layers of varnish. To fix the beauty you have created, two or three layers of varnish are enough.
On this recommendation for the alteration of country furniture could be completed. Because furniture that is ready to be painted is like a blank slate that will easily go along with any flight of fancy. Such a surface can be repainted with enamel paints, decoupage can be done on it, one-step craquelure can be done, or two-step can be painted with acrylic paints.

Here are some examples of what you can get.
You can, of course, do decoupage.

And you can repaint an unsightly chair in bright colors.

Can be overcoated with two contrasting coats of paint. If the not completely dried top layer is rubbed at the corners with the back of a dishwashing sponge or a wire washcloth, then scuffs of time form at the corners. A kind of shabby chic - shabby chic, as this style is also called.
By the way, it is very good to use dried leaves and flowers as pictures for decoupage. You can glue them with universal decoupage glue.

A good and cheap idea is to replace the glass of an old cabinet with construction mesh, pre-painted in the right colors.

Don't forget the gilding. A moderate dose of sweat has not damaged any interior yet.
In our example, the headboard is painted using a crumpled plastic bag, fragments of polyurethane stucco molding are glued on it, on which gold leaf is applied.

Oh, and don't forget the stencils. They can be used not only on furniture, but literally on any surface of your dacha - be it the floor, walls, pillows on the sofa, shutters on the ocean, kitchen utensils.

You can transform old or ordinary items into unique ones using various techniques, but one of the most popular and affordable is decoupage. Available materials and tools are used in the work. All you need is “special” is paper or napkins. And about how to master decoupage for beginners, we will tell below. You don't have to buy anything super expensive. Glue, napkins, varnish, brushes, scissors. That's the whole set of necessary tools.

Decoupage for beginners: we collect everything you need

To begin with, briefly about what and with what you have to work. In general, decoupage is fixing on the basis of material or paper with a printed pattern. In order for the pattern to last longer, it is covered with several layers of varnish. Here is a brief description of the decoupage technique.

Decoupage is a technique that allows you to make something special out of ordinary things.

Base

As bases for decoupage, any slightly absorbent base is suitable. What can this technique be applied to? On the following grounds:

As you can see, the list is solid. Only very porous bases with a lot of irregularities are not suitable for decoupage. And so you can decorate everything: from dishes of any kind to furniture and doors (and you can both the surface of the doors itself and glass inserts).

List of tools

Few tools needed:

All of the tools. Unless you still need stationery - a ruler, a pencil, an elastic band.

Expendable materials

Now let's talk about consumables. We will not talk about napkins and paper here - there is a separate paragraph about them. In addition to them, to make decoupage with your own hands, you will need:

That's all that may be required, so although it requires decoupage for beginners, cash investments, but not very large ones.

Napkins, paper

For decoupage, napkins and printed paper are used. They are glued to the surface, varnished. There are the following types of materials for that type of decor:

In general, special pastes are also used to create three-dimensional images, ordinary photographs from which the bottom layer of paper has been removed and other drawings. But it is not easy to work with them, and this is not decoupage for beginners, but for those who are already developing their skills.

Napkin decoupage: techniques

The main idea of decoupage is to decorate the surface with an image or pattern. The process is creative and there are no concepts of “right” or “wrong”. Surfaces and patterns are different, so different techniques are used. You just have to choose the way that works best for you.

Bottle decoupage is a good start for beginners

The easiest way to start mastering decoupage is by gluing large fragments. When you learn how to glue napkins without wrinkles, you can move on - master the methods of volumetric decoupage or the use of crequelure varnish. In the meantime, let's figure out how to work with large fragments.

Preparatory work

First of all, you need to remember that napkin decoupage for beginners will have to start with the preparation of the base. It should be even, smooth, without pits, cracks, humps (except for those provided specifically). To help - putty and sandpaper. After the surface is leveled, the workpiece is covered with soil (selected according to the type of material) and then covered with white paint.

The stage of applying white paint is mandatory. The fact is that the napkins are very thin, and when glued, they become translucent. If they are pasted on a white surface, the pattern is still bright. If the surface is colored or dark, it fades noticeably, there is no proper effect. Therefore, the paint must be applied even to plastic or ceramics and, possibly, in several layers.

What to do with a napkin

First you need to decide in what form to use a napkin.

How to decide whether to tear a napkin or cut out elements from it? According to the size of the picture. If the fragments are large, have clearly defined boundaries, they are cut out. If the drawing is small, one will be pasted next to the other, they are torn. In this case, it will be easier to match the edges.

Gluing methods

You can choose how to stick napkins for decoupage only by experience. First of all, we decide what exactly we will glue. Can:

Varnish.
Special glue.
PVA - divorced or not.
Glue stick.
Egg white.

Gluing on varnish is no worse than glue. But after drying, you can’t do anything anymore - the napkins become almost monolithic with the product. If you don't like something, there will be no chance to change it. Therefore, beginners most often use PVA glue - it is cheaper, it is convenient to work with it.

If you decide to use PVA, you will still have to think (or try) to use it diluted or undiluted. Most often it is diluted with ordinary water in a ratio of 1: 1. When such an adhesive composition is used, one must be prepared for the fact that the napkin soaks from water, can stretch in different directions, and tear from careless movements. Basically, you have to get used to it.

Glue stick is also a good option... if you can get all the bubbles and wrinkles out. This is normal on smooth, slippery surfaces. If the surface is rough, it is much more difficult. It is safe to work with egg white, but it is specific, so if you want, you have to try.

How and where to apply adhesive

Beginners usually choose a small size for their first object for decoupage. In principle, this is not bad. It’s just desirable that the shape be simpler: without a lot of bends.

If the decoration is small, you can use a brush or fingers to apply the glue. With the same "tool" then level the napkin. The brush is used flat or true - to whom it is more convenient. Many people prefer to work with their fingers - you can feel all the folds.

When gluing napkins for decoupage, glue can be applied to an object or a napkin. They do it this way and that. When applied to a napkin, again, there are two techniques:

Glue is applied evenly to the entire glued piece, applied to the base in the middle. With movements from the middle to the edges, air bubbles are expelled and wrinkles are straightened.
A certain amount of glue is poured into the middle of the fragment. Further actions are the same: lay on the base, smooth.

In the second technique, it is easier to deal with bubbles and wrinkles - with a large amount of semi-liquid glue, this is easier.

What and how you will do is not important. It is important that there are no wrinkles or bubbles.

You can also do it if you spread the glue on the base: make a small puddle in the place where you are going to glue the fragment, lay it down, and, lifting the edges, drive out the bubbles and smooth out the wrinkles.

Decoupage of a flat surface: glue + iron

When decorating a flat surface, you can do it easier than driving bubbles through the entire napkin. On the primed surface, apply a layer of PVA glue or coat with a glue stick. We smear it well so that “paths” do not form. Let's dry. You can use a hair dryer to speed up the process.

On the dried surface we lay and level the napkin, smooth it with our hands. We put a piece of baking paper on it and with a hot iron from the edge we begin to smooth it.

Decoupage for beginners - maybe try something like this?

Due to the fact that the glue is heated, it impregnates the napkin. Usually it turns out quite evenly. When everything is glued, smear glue on top and let it dry. This is perhaps the easiest way to learn decoupage for beginners.

File + water and glue

Decoupage for beginners using a file for documents (we choose a denser film), water and glue. This method is good if you decorate with large drawings (cut out). Pour a little clean water into the middle of the file, put the cut out fragment into it, face down. We carefully straighten it, expelling bubbles and straightening wrinkles. It's easy in a puddle of water.

When the fragment is straightened, lift the edges of the file and drain the water. The pattern remains adhered to the smooth film. In this state, it is convenient to “try on” and look for the best place for him.

Having found the area where you want to place the decoration, we apply the drawing on the film and begin to smooth it. This is a very difficult moment. It is necessary to ensure that at least one edge of the napkin sticks. After one of the edges of the image has been fixed, gradually smoothing and gradually lifting the edge of the film, we achieve that the napkin remains on the base. If you act gradually, gradually gluing the picture to the base, there will be no bubbles or wrinkles. This method is suitable as decoupage for beginners.

When one edge is stuck, everything is easy

The last stage - we coat the adhered napkin with diluted PVA glue. After it dries, we already apply a protective layer of varnish.

A few secrets

This cannot be called a method of gluing napkins for decoupage. These are little tricks and tricks that can help you deal with creases faster or better.

Before work, the cut fragments are moistened with water from a spray bottle. The napkin stretches, drying it no longer shrinks. If she has become very warped, she is ironed. Then use as usual. Since the paper is already straightened, it almost does not stretch. Everything goes easier.
Moisten the fragment with acrylic varnish in the form of an aerosol. In this case, the napkin will become stiff, it does not stretch and does not form folds. But lacquered, it no longer allows glue to pass through, therefore we coat the surface with glue and a treated napkin on it with glue.
Soak a napkin that is already on the base (dry) and only then coat it with glue. It's hard to explain, watch the video.

We eliminate flaws

If the surface is decorated with small torn fragments, from which it is necessary to obtain a single whole, straighten the edges of the fragments with a brush or fingers. If somewhere there is a heterogeneity of color, we dilute the paint of the desired shade and paint over the translucent base.

When the surface is no longer very wet, but not yet dry, you can draw details with thin brushes and acrylic paints, add brightness and clarity.

The next step is the design of the edges of the product. Here the approaches are different. Somewhere you have to cut the edges evenly, painting over the sidewalls, somewhere you can wrap the napkin on the back side and glue it there. In general, this is also a whole science.

Bringing to the finish look is no less creative process

After that, you can already leave the product to dry. To speed up the process, you can use a hair dryer, but you need to keep it at a considerable distance, move all the time and make sure that it dries evenly. If, after drying, you see that there is a crease on the glued napkin, you can still fix it. We take fine-grained sandpaper, sand it. We act gently so as not to damage the drawing around.

Varnishing

The dried product is covered with water-based acrylic varnish. You can use another, but this one is recognized as the best. First one layer is applied, after it dries, the second. You can stop at this, but if active use is expected (caskets, chairs, etc.), there can be more layers of varnish - three or four.

Photo of decoupage products

Learning the technique is not bad, but without knowing the possibilities, it is difficult to imagine what can be done and what can be expected. A few photos will help you decide what you can or want to do.