How to make or restore a book-table with your own hands?

Such a piece of furniture as a folding table has become a rather necessary shoal in many families. If you don’t want to spend money on a purchase, you can make it yourself. Making a book table with your own hands is quite simple and it doesn’t even take much time. Just a few hours and you will have a convenient folding model at your disposal at all times. In addition, you will definitely be sure that the table can serve you for many years.

How to remake an old cabinet with your own hands

To ensure that the cabinet fits harmoniously into the updated interior of the room, it can be redone by changing its appearance. The following options can be offered:

• Pasting with film. Modern films on a self-adhesive basis are presented in a huge assortment: they can be plain or with an ornament, with a stylish pattern or imitate wood, stone, etc.

  
  The film allows you to completely renew the facades of furniture, and no special skills are required to work with it.

  Note! Before applying the film, the surface of the cabinet must be degreased or sanded and coated with a primer.

• Wallpapering. The range of wallpapers is several times larger than the film varieties and is also represented by matte and embossed samples. You can also use photo wallpaper, which not only looks attractive, but also allows you to visually increase the space. Wallpaper is applied using wallpaper glue or PVA to the prepared surface. As the latter, you can use not only the facade, but also shelves and the back wall.

  
  Wallpapering a closet is the most affordable design technique that does not require skills or investment.

• Covered with fabric. The fabric looks more textured and smooth than film or wallpaper. It is better to cover large elements like sashes with it. You can secure it with glue or a furniture stapler. To give your closet a luxurious look, you can use faux leather instead of fabric. To create coziness or decorate a children's room, fabrics using the patchwork technique are suitable.

  
  You can cover furniture with new fabric using a regular stapler.

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• Painting. This is a very common restoration method, before using which the surface is sanded and covered with a thin layer of primer. You can either do the work in monocolor or paint a picture. For the latter, a stencil will be convenient.

  
  Painting furniture yourself is not a very difficult process if you follow the technology.

  Note! To create smooth lines and geometric shapes, you can use masking tape to limit paint penetration.

• Arranging the slate surface. It will allow you to make the design extremely variable, and can also be convenient for everyday notes. A slate coating can be obtained by gluing a special film or painting with a composition with the appropriate effect.

  
  Furniture with a similar finish looks non-trivial and easily fits into a modern interior.

• Mosaic decoration. You can make your own mosaic from broken tiles or purchase a ready-made version in blocks. This option would be optimal for a Mediterranean style.
• Aging. A cabinet with this effect will be appropriate in Provence, vintage and shabby chic styles.

  
  Artificially aged furniture with a vintage look will add interesting notes to the interior design of your home.

• Decoration with rivets. Can be used in addition to painting or covering with fabric. Any metal fittings will do: rivets, staples, nails with decorative heads.
• Use of mirrors. Mirrors can be mounted either on the entire surface of the cabinet or only on individual parts. They allow you not only to hide furniture imperfections, but also to add light and visually enlarge the space.
  

  Note! Instead of a solid mirror, you can use a mirror mosaic. It will create nice highlights.

  
  Adding mirror strips or inserts to the finish will transform the furniture to your advantage.

• Use of volumetric parts. You can stick both stucco and wooden slats, as well as various inscriptions. Also, a three-dimensional texture is created using colored sawdust, which is applied to a glue-coated surface and then fixed with varnish.

How to change your kitchen without high costs and renovations: top 6 methods, ideas and useful tips

Do you want a new, cozy and beautiful kitchen, but don’t have the time or opportunity to do a full renovation? There are several ways to transform it with minimal effort and without large investments. Using them and your imagination, you can create the interior you wanted, and even acquire design skills. We offer the simplest and most interesting ways to inexpensively update your kitchen with your own hands.

Content

In what cases is it worth updating a kitchen without renovation?

There are many reasons why you want to update your kitchen. But when you want to do it inexpensively or without major repairs, it means that we are talking about the need to save money. Here you need to have an idea of ​​what types of repairs generally exist:

• Cardinal (Heavy). Complete renovation with replacement of decoration and furniture.
• Partial (Middle). Minor renovation with replacement or repair of individual kitchen elements, lighting, furniture, finishing.
• Decoration (Light). Working with what is already in the kitchen, without any replacement.

Remaking an old sideboard with your own hands

To restore the appearance, eliminate defects and update an old sideboard, you can use one of the following methods:

1. Decoupage. Its essence lies in sticking appliqués made of fabric or paper onto the surface of the sideboard. Very often, beautiful table napkins with a relief structure that can be preserved are used for work. Before gluing, the surface is degreased. The material is glued with decoupage glue or regular PVA, and after drying it is varnished.
2. Painting. A pattern, ornament or design is applied with thin brushes to old sanded paint or a freshly painted surface. The last option is suitable if the painting area is small. You can use both acrylic paints and moisture-resistant tempera, which must be opened with a transparent varnish.
3. Artificial aging. Quite a popular restoration method. It is easiest to implement on colored surfaces. You can use paint or a special varnish that cracks when dry.
4. Repainting. The simplest option, for its high-quality implementation it is necessary to properly prepare the surface: clean it of old paint, sand it and prime it.

Note! A common painting technique is the grading method, in which the painting gradually changes the intensity of the color.

How to remake Soviet furniture

Remaking old Soviet furniture with your own hands, which before and after has fundamental external differences, includes several stages:

• replacement of accessories;
• cleaning, removal of plaque, soot and dirt;
• repairs to eliminate cracks, abrasions and chips;
• decoration.

Using all your imagination, you will decide for yourself how best to use certain parts of the sets, what new purpose the table, chair, chest of drawers, etc. will have.

Padding

Reupholstery is used for old chairs, sofas and armchairs as an addition to frame restoration. For it you need to choose a fabric for the new upholstery. It can be velor, crepe, barakan, natural or artificial leather or any other material, depending on style and preferences. Also for work you will need a construction stapler, staples for it and a piece of foam rubber if the old one has become unusable.

It's no secret that over time, the upholstery of upholstered furniture loses its original appearance.

After removing the old upholstery and damaged foam, you need to attach a new one using small nails. With its help you can give the furniture the desired volume. Afterwards, the upholstery material is attached using a stapler.

Reupholstering furniture is a fun activity that does not present any particular difficulties.

Note! For ease of work, you can use fabric stitched to the foam rubber.

Aging

This is a fairly popular method of giving old furniture nobility and elegance. The following materials can be used for aging:

1. Antique wax. Suitable for wooden surfaces that have been previously cleaned, degreased and stained. After it dries (after about seven hours), wax is rubbed in, on top of which a pattern can be applied. Finally, the surface is opened with varnish.
2. Acrylic paint. Can be used for furniture made of any material. The required effect is achieved by combining two paints of similar shades, several layers of which are applied sequentially.

To obtain various types of aging, you can use acrylic paint, bitumen varnish, various waxes, and dry pigments.

Important! To achieve the effect, each layer must dry completely.

The paint is applied with a sponge. After finishing painting, you can go over it with sandpaper.

Do-it-yourself furniture restoration in Provence style involves artificial aging of surfaces.

Film

Using self-adhesive film you can decorate a wide variety of objects and surfaces. It is durable and resistant to mechanical stress, moisture and temperature changes. Before gluing, the surface is cleaned and degreased. After gluing, the film is leveled with a spatula to eliminate all bubbles.

For pasting furniture, films with a polymer-based outer layer are most often used.

Painting

This extremely popular method should only be used on furniture made from cheap wood, otherwise its value will be lost. Before painting, you need to prepare the surface:

• soften the old paint layer with a solvent;
• remove the swollen paint with a spatula;
• sand the surface with sandpaper;
• apply a layer of primer;
• After the primer has dried, carry out additional sanding.

You can update your closet, chairs, shelves, racks or kitchen facades with your own hands - just repaint them.
Next, the oil paint must be applied with light movements to create a thin layer. You should move along the wood fibers. After complete drying (after about 12 hours), the surface is sanded, cleaned of dust and covered with a second layer of paint.

Having decided to paint furniture, you should take care of selecting new fittings that will match the style of the updated product.

Remaking the book table

To update the appearance of a book-table, you can use the following methods:

1. Pasting with film. You can choose any color to match your new interior. Glue should be on a dry surface, cutting with a margin. After gluing, the corners are closed using a sponge pointed at the hair dryer.
2. Painting. The surface, cleared of the old coating layer, is painted using acrylic paints. If there are cracks or other damage, they are eliminated in advance using putty.
3. Decoration with lace. The design is applied using curtains or tulle. The material is fixed to the freshly painted surface, after which a second coat of paint of a different color is applied over it.
4. Decoupage. Can be performed either on a just primed or on a freshly painted table. It is made using a paper napkin or special paper, and at the end the surface is covered with varnish.
5. Replacing with laminate. Old countertops are replaced with laminated ones.

Before you remake old furniture with your own hands, you should decide on the desired style solution. Based on this, the optimal material is selected that will give the furniture a second life.

By restoring interior items, you can save a significant amount of money than by purchasing new furniture.

Laminate countertops

If you have a special set of woodworking tools, you can simply buy new wooden tabletops, cut them to the contour of the old ones and place them in their place.

Important!

However, remember that you also need an edge strip. On sale you can find ones in which the adhesive base melts under the influence of temperature. Just run an iron over the film and your new countertop is ready!