How We Decoupage Fabric to Furniture onto Painted Furniture

Sometimes we start out with a piece that’s lacking character.  This lil’ gal has all sorts of different sized drawers but her personality was buried under a lot of homely, dated drawer pulls.  I had already removed them when I shot this picture, but the fade marks show you the basic style.  They were those flat goofy ones, know what I mean?

We decided to funk-it-up a notch by bringing out her inner beauty.

I like to do this on drawer fronts that are already framed so I can simply inset the fabric.  That’s what I did on the buffet below.  Can you see how the bottom drawer is inset?  That gives the fabric a nice finished edge.  Looks like I added some trim around the top drawer to balance it out.

The drawer fronts on our dresser needed some pizzazz so we decided to add some fabric.

The inspiration for this piece actually started with this fabric.

Cath had just mixed up a custom color for a customer and in the trial and error of trying to get the right color, ended up with a whole bucket of it.  I was eager to paint something with it and this plain dresser was the perfect choice.

Decoupaging ot of drying time involved to get the job done right.  We don’t cut corners on cost because we want our pieces to withstand the test of time.  Measuring and cutting can can be quite fussy.

When I decoupage drawer fronts, I apply a special fabric mod podge all over the back of the fabric and let dry over night. The next day, I start cutting.

Measuring is critical but I’m lousy at accuracy.  My brain is usually thinking about six different projects all at once and by the time I go to mark the measurements I forget the number.  Nothing is ever an even number, you know what I mean?  So then I start counting the little dashes on the tape measure… (cuz that’s how I roll).  If you’re the tiniest bit off, it shows, BIG TIME.

I just painted this piece and Cathy has been working on the fabric. She’s the one in the family who has the patience to fuss with tedious details and has a lot of experience quilting so it’s right up her alley.

That being said, she had a heck of a time with one of the fabrics we planned to use and after several failed attempts, that one fabric was ripped off and replaced with another one.

 

The fabric is adhered to the drawer fronts with more decoupage and when completely dry (we usually wait overnight), we sandwich it in with yet another coat of mod podge over the top.   As another layer of protection, we also topcoat over that.

Help!  What finishing touches should we add?

We still need to add some finishing touches to this piece.  We’re not sure which drawer pulls we’re going to put on all the drawers.  The four little drawers need to stay as is but we’ve got options for the six other ones.  I’m thinking the floral drawers need something else.  They seem frame-less to me.

Please comment below with your suggestions; we’ll post the finished piece in a couple weeks!

Update:  9.16.14  

Here’s the finished piece!

Ready to get your Shizzle on?  

Join Cathy and I for our next workshop in Jenison, MI.  Click here for schedule.

Hot New Products ~ Vintiquities Paint & Wax Brushes!

 Stop into today and grab one at Shizzle Design 2018 Chicago Dr., Jenison, MI  49428.  They can also be ordered online here.

If you’d like the opportunity to retail these brushes in your own shop, contact me here with your name, type of business and location.

  A hui hou ~ Shelly

Did you know…

• Shizzle Design is a small family owned business in Jenison, Michigan.  My sister Cathy and I work, paint, ship and teach our chalk and clay paint workshops out of the same space where we paint all our furniture.  We are truly humbled to be known as a leader in the world of chalk and clay paints.
• Cathy and I empower DIY’ers by sharing our years of experience.  Stop in for paint and we’ll offer you honest and knowledgeable answers for all your chalk and clay paint needs.
• Did you know we are not paid employees of American Paint Company?  It typically takes me 10 hours to publish one of my blog posts.  Everything from shooting the photographs, writing the content, editing, cropping… is given freely.  The only way we make money is if someone purchases paint, workshops or painted furniture from us.  If you enjoy the information you get in our website, please share and let us know.
• We are so blessed to have taught people from all over the United States and Canada.  Join us for one of our super fun hands-on chalk and clay paint workshops.  Learn in our casual & relaxed environment.  Click Paint Workshops to see a list of current classes offered.
• Subscribe to Shizzle Design for tips, tutorials, ideas, pictures, videos for our furniture painted in all natural chalk and clay based mineral paints.
• Did you know that you can get these sent directly to your inbox and that it’s FREE?  It is ~ what are you waiting for?  Enter your email in the right hand column of our blog to stay in the loop.
• We have a Shizzle Design Facebook Page.  We share all sorts tips, ideas, photos EVERY DAY and offer special deals (which you’ll only know about if you’ve Liked our Facebook Page).
• Pin our posts on Pinterest ~ Find all sorts of inspiration here.
• We sell our painted furniture in our Shizzle Design Paint Studio at 2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI 49428 and at Not So Shabby Antiques and Fine Furniture at 2975 West Shore Drive in Holland, Michigan
• Shizzle Design is an Authorized Retailer for American Paint Company Paints.  We offer a large inventory of chalk and clay paint and supplies at our Shizzle Design Paint Shop /Studio,  2018 Chicago Drive, Jenison, MI  49428.  We also stock several other shops in the greater Grand Rapid’s area, to find out where, click LOCATIONS.  Not from Michigan?  No worries, we ship paint and paint supplies worldwide through our Online Shizzle Shop.

For more Chalk & Clay Painted Furniture ideas, tips, tutorials & inspiration, click:

 Shizzle Style Painted Furniture Makeovers

 Shizzle Tips, How To Tutorials & Video’s

 Funky Finishes

Linking up to these GREAT Parties!

Domestically Speaking – The Power of Paint Party

Miss Mustardseed – Furniture Feature Friday

Funky Junk Interiors – Saturday Night Special

Silver Pennies – Silver Pennies Sundays

Knick of Time Interiors – Knick of Time Tuesday