How to decorate a closet with your own hands

Old and boring pieces of furniture will sparkle with new colors if you decorate them a little. For example, you can breathe life into a wardrobe, chest of drawers or wardrobe that has lost its former luster.

Preparatory stage before decorating the cabinet

Before starting the transformation process, a number of resuscitation works are necessary:

1. Parsing. Remove all doors from a piece of furniture, take out drawers and shelves. In a word, take it apart into its components. Further work will take place with each of them separately.
2. Updating of fittings. Thoroughly clean all metal elements from dirt and rust, or even replace them with new ones, depending on their condition and your design ideas.
3. Surface preparation. Completely clean the doors, shelves, and body of old coating and dirt using a spatula, sandpaper, brush, rag and water.

Then carefully inspect all surfaces looking for chips and cracks. Defects must be repaired. Use mastic to eliminate minor damage; for more serious damage, putty will be used.

After a course of restoration measures, you can begin decorating with your own hands.

REFERENCE! Well-chosen fittings can become part of the decorative solution of a cabinet. Plastic, earthenware, copper, a huge variety of shapes and sizes - the choice is yours.

How to decorate a closet with your own hands with photos

There are different approaches to decorating furniture.

Wallpapering

This simple, quick and inexpensive method of decoration has significant artistic potential. To implement it you will need:

1. Fragments of wallpaper. The most important part is to choose wallpaper with a good design or pattern. They should not merge with the walls of the room, surpassing them in color saturation by at least several tones.
2. Wallpaper glue. Apply it to the prepared surface of the furniture, place the wallpaper on top and smooth it so that there are no air bubbles or wrinkles anywhere.
3. PVA glue and water-based varnish. After gluing, cover the wallpaper with a neat layer of PVA glue diluted with water. Apply a final layer of varnish.

IMPORTANT! Before you start gluing, make sure that the combination of wallpaper fragments you have come up with looks harmonious. Draw a detailed sketch or attach what you are going to stick to the doors.

Plaster pattern

A three-dimensional pattern of plaster on the surface of the wardrobe focuses attention on this piece of furniture, turning it into the highlight of the room. Technically, such a pattern is easy to make using:

1. Stencils. Make it yourself from cardboard, plastic or thick film. Floral or geometric patterns, ethnic patterns, and stylized images of animals and birds are often used.
2. Masking tape. Take the resulting blank and secure it with tape on the surface of the cabinet.
3. Plaster.Apply decorative plaster to the surfaces of the furniture, over the stencil.

IMPORTANT! The stencil must be removed before the plaster dries!

After drying, treat the resulting composition with paint or acrylic varnish.

Wardrobe decor with fabric

Fabric can be a good alternative to wallpaper. Textiles also have a wide range of colors and prints; they make up very expressive and effective compositions. To fix it on the surface of the wardrobe you will need:

1. PVA glue, furniture stapler or liquid nails. In a word, what to attach fabric blanks to the closet.
2. Varnish. To process the resulting surface. However, this stage is sometimes neglected. After all, textiles often have a characteristic, pleasant-to-touch texture that you want to preserve.

Decoupage technique

Decoupage is the transfer of patterns and designs from ordinary napkins onto a prepared surface, followed by fixing them with varnish. Create a whole collage in this way on the doors and body of your clothing furniture.

IMPORTANT! This technique is best performed on a light base. There are no traces of glue on this one, and it’s easier to find napkins. If the cabinet has dark doors and walls, paint it white, beige or cream before decorating.

Use of craquelure varnish and gilding

Using these two ingredients, a very interesting cracked paint effect is achieved. Furniture treated in this way takes on the appearance of rare, exclusive antiques. To achieve this transformation you will need:

1. Craquelure varnish. It is applied in two layers. After the first one, wait until it partially dries and thickens. And only then paint the surface again.
2. Gilding.Rub the gold into the cracks formed in the varnish with a sponge.
3. Matt lacquer. It is needed for the final processing of surfaces in order to reliably fix the resulting coating with characteristic golden cracks.

Mosaic decor

Another type of embossed and bright furniture design is mosaic. It is made from fragments of ceramic products, buttons, shells, glass, pebbles and glue. Any small multi-colored elements from which you can create a pattern or picture will do.

IMPORTANT! Before fixing the mosaic pieces, mark their location on the surface of the cabinet - lay out the entire composition without using glue. And only after making sure that it looks harmonious, start working.

Aging

One of the methods of artificial aging of furniture - craquelure - has already been described above. However, it is not the only possible solution. There are other options. For example, painting a cabinet with a large dry brush with a minimum of paint will create the effect of a peeling surface.

Mirror decoration

Mirror mosaic, shaped elements cut from reflective materials, stripes, geometric shapes - all this can become a decoration for your closet. Such fragments are often used to hide defects in furniture, while visually expanding the space.

What to consider when choosing cabinet decor options

The interior of the room, the features of the cabinet, your preferences - these are the three fundamental things that influence the choice of how to decorate old furniture.

The interior sets the basic style and color scheme. For example, classic rooms go well with artificially aged objects, plaster patterns, gilding, and restrained shades.Frivolous country will take on bright ethnic or floral patterns, textiles, and decoupage techniques. Laconic modern design solutions, such as hi-tech or loft, are perfectly complemented by furniture with mirror elements and mosaics.

Invent, try, decorate - and your home will be transformed, delighting you and surprising your guests.