Decoupage of a coffee table with your own hands

The modern market is flooded with a huge variety of materials for decorating the room, furniture, which makes it possible to easily upgrade an old coffee table without resorting to the services of professionals. In addition, a variety of types, special effects, used in decoupage, can achieve a harmonious entry of a renovated table in any interior style of the room.

How to update the coffee table?

Quite often in life, there are situations when you buy a table, and after a short time, he begins to annoy podnadoevshim design. However, there is no need to hurry, because today there are so many products that allow you to easily change the style of a ready-made coffee table. At the same time among the most common decoration methods it is worth highlighting:

• decoupage - takes the leading position with respect to other means, as it opens the possibility to show unlimited scope of fantasy with complete lack of experience in this case;

• mosaic is a rather small range of variational images, but the combination of different shades is sometimes striking in the uniqueness of the design;

• painting is an interesting direction, although it requires certain skills and abilities.

Perhaps, it is worth trying to make decoupage of the old coffee table, instead of buying a new table for a considerable sum of money.

Types of decoupage

Based on the surface intended for decoration and the finished effect of the finished product, there are 5 types of decoupage:

• direct decoupage - consists in gluing the decorative element on the previously prepared face of the surface, followed by varnishing;

• reverse decoupage is used when decorating surfaces from a transparent material( eg glass).At the same time, the picture is not pasted from the front, but from the wrong side, after which it is necessary to apply paint, varnish and other layers, i.e.the order of work on direct decoupage is carried out in the reverse order;

• smoky decoupage is characterized by blurring the boundaries between the main background and the decorative element. This kind of decoupage reliably models art painting through a combination of different techniques, effects;

• voluminous decoupling quite often connects to other types of decoupage. The volume of the surface to be decorated is given by means of an egg shell, special paste, thermo film, fabric and other materials. In addition, the visual volume of the image is achieved by applying a pattern in each layer of the varnish, decreasing in size to the finish coat;

• deco patch in a complete form is associated with a quilt, that's just a similar decoupage of cloth is quite rare. The most common material for this type is special paper, imitating fur, leather, fabric. In this case, the decorated base is covered completely, and not separately located motifs.

Despite the similarity of the technique of execution, all types of decoupage significantly differ from each other with the result obtained.

Effects used in decoupage

To achieve the style of the decorated object, as close as possible to the overall interior design, the effects produced with the use of certain materials and decoupage techniques help significantly.

The main decorative effects include:

• craquelure is an artificially formed in the texture of cracks, modeling an antique thing. Crackle effect is created by applying a special lacquer on top of the main background paint. To achieve a better effect, hot air from the hair dryer can be applied to the surface, since the cracks result from the shrinkage of the bonding elements and the uneven drying of the upper layer of the varnish. In this case, the size of the cracks depends largely on the technique of applying smears and the thickness of the lacquer layer;

• abrasion imitates a permanently used object for a long time, as a result of which some places turn out to be scraped. To obtain the effect, the necessary surface areas are rubbed with wax, after drying, they are rubbed with a fine-grained emery;

• patination is manifested in the darkening of the surface for the purpose of aging things, resulting in the effect of frequent touching the object with hands;

• patal - use in decoupage of gold or silver paints when drawing a contour of the applied image, or as a drawing of an independent pattern. In this case, instead of paints often used special sheets, resembling mosaic gold;

• shading is often used in reverse decoupage and is to achieve a smooth transition from the pattern to the main background. The creation of the effect is reduced to the application of paints with a dry brush in the area of ​​the boundaries of the pattern, followed by shading with a foam sponge or a tampovka;

• toning enters the final stage of decoupage, when the coloring of the renewed surface occurs by adding to the varnish a small size of sequins or applying archaic spots on the designer's idea. The effect of toning makes it possible to add a decoupled surface of additional picturesqueness.

When decoupling the surface, it is quite possible to combine several decorative effects( for example, craquelure and potal in volume decoupage).

Materials for decoupage

For decoupage of a coffee table with your own hands you will need:

• brushes with synthetic pile for drawing a contour or any elements, applying paint, varnish, glue, and also a fan-type brush for gluing elements from a napkin;

• sharp scissors - you can use manicure, stationery, special;

• coarse, fine-grained sandpaper;

• paints - watercolor, honey or professional;

• titanium or zinc white;

• glue PVA;

• acrylic lacquer;

• foam rubber sponge or forging;

• motifs - napkins, friedekor, printouts, decoupage cards, etc.

This list can be replenished or decreased with respect to the updated surface, the selected type and complexity of decoupage, special effects.

Decoupage technology of the coffee table

Before updating the old coffee table, it is necessary to carry out a number of preparatory measures, the thoroughness of which will affect the finished product.

Preparing the table

When preparing the table, the amount of preparatory work directly depends on the material from which it was produced.

1. If the table is plastic, then its entire surface must be thoroughly degreased.
2. If the table is wooden, then:

• , if possible, disassemble the table into its constituent elements;
• using first a large, and then a small nazhdachku, carefully get rid of a layer of old paint or varnish, from all the components and reassemble the table;
• to fill in the irregularities, deep cracks, joints and allow the putty to dry out;
• apply a primer coat to the table top using a wide brush;

• after drying primer, apply 2-3 coats of paint, drying well each layer to avoid cracking or staining;
• to create an artificial cracking, paint can be applied with a varnish varnish and, without waiting for complete drying, cover the table with white acrylic;
• after drying of the acrylic layer, you should proceed to paste the motif;
• if the craquelure effect is not used, then the paint is varnished. And with the use of aerosol varnish the surface is covered with a more even layer;
• after drying drift along the surface of the table with a fine sandpaper for better adhesion of the decoupage material to the substrate.

Preparation decoupage motifs

Carrying out decoupage or design of a coffee table you can use not only professional napkins, tapes, but also clippings from regular magazines, newspapers, photos from the album. The process of preparation of motives for gluing is far from the same, therefore:

1. If a multi-layer cloth is used, then only the top layer should be separated. When using a certain motif of the napkin, it can be cut out or pulled out when the picture is painted after gluing.

2. If a photo image is used, the material requires thinning by:

• sliding the backsheet. On the front side, the lacquer is preliminarily applied to avoid spreading the image, after which the photo is placed face down onto the file, and a little water is poured on top. Once the bottom layer is impregnated, you can start rolling unnecessary thickness, without damaging the image. At the end of work, thoroughly clean the surface of the remaining pellets;

• sticking on the underside of the tape and then removing it together with the bottom layer of paper. If necessary, repeat the procedure until the color layer appears.

3. When using decoupage cards, the motif is simply cut out strictly along the contour. Before direct gluing, the motif is soaked in water for 10-15 minutes, after which it is dried from excess water on a napkin.

4. Preparation of the film fludekor is similar to the preparation of decoupage cards, with the only difference that the film is equipped with an adhesive layer, so after soaking it is immediately glued to the substrate.

There are currently 3 ways to glue the motive to the surface:

1. The hot method is based on the use of an iron, so it is suitable for perfectly flat surfaces:

• on the substrate, apply a thin layer of glue and leave to dry the top layer todid not stick. In this case, the middle of the adhesive layer must be moist;
• on the dried glue to impose the motif and carefully smooth out the hands;
• from above carefully put the parchment;
• the iron is heated to maximum, with the steam function to be turned off;
• iron, lightly pressing, the workpiece with the image, especially the edges;
• remove parchment;
• if the edges are badly adhered, then the procedure should be repeated.

2. The dry method requires extreme caution. The procedure of gluing the motive with a dry method is as follows:

• image to be applied to the base, straighten;
• dipping the brush into the glue, glue the motif to the substrate, moving from the center to the edges;
• protrudes the edge of the image glue immediately remove the cotton disc dipped in water.

3. The wet method is to use a clerical file:

• on the file put the motif face down;
• dilute in water glue or acrylic lacquer in a ratio of 10: 1;
• pour the prepared mixture onto a file and wait until the motif is thoroughly impregnated;
• appearing in the process of wetting the crease motif must be smoothed, and the air is carefully pulled to the edges;
• to drain excess liquid;
• gently attach the file with the motif to the base, slightly leveling the hands;
• if the motif does not peel off, then you can pick up the edge and re-attach the file to the bottom;
• if when deleting a file on the motif a gap formed, then adding a little water, you need to correct the situation with your hands.

Thus, when gluing the motif on the countertop, you can use any, most appropriate, method.

Finishing decoupage works

1. If necessary, draw a contour of the pasted motif or supplement the image with an artistic painting, apply the effect of creating a shadow, toning, potal and others.
2. Allow to dry.
3. Coat 2-3 coats of varnish with varnish at intervals necessary for drying each layer.

To make the finish coat smoother, the following method will help: pour water into a small bowl and, dipping the finger into it, straighten the strips left by the brush nap. This procedure is carried out immediately after applying the varnish, until it is seized.

Thus, to make a decoupage of a coffee table, a master class is not at all necessary, because getting acquainted with the main types and effects of decoupage, as well as the technology of work, you can easily create your own unique masterpiece while realizing all your fantasies.