You Will Need

• chest of drawers
• modern handles
• 2 types of matching giftwrap
• cardboard
• white enamel paint
• paintbrush
• sponge roller and paint tray
• modge podge
• joiner’s glue
• punch and small hammer
• craft knife, cutting mat and metal ruler
• measuring tape
• pencil

To Make
1 Pull out all the drawers, screw off the handles and paint the entire chest, as well as the inside and outside of the drawers with a few coats of white enamel paint. Use the paintbrush for the tricky areas and the sponge roller for the rest. Leave every coat to dry before you start applying the next coat.

NOTE If your chest of drawers already has old paint or varnish on it, lightly sand it with rough sandpaper and wipe away the dust with a dry paintbrush before you start painting.

2 Measure the front of one of the drawers and use these measurements to draw a template on a piece of cardboard. Cut it out and trace it onto the back of the giftwrap. Trace one for each drawer – half on the one type of paper and the other half on the other type. Use your craft knife, cutting mat and metal ruler to cut them out.

3 Dilute joiner’s glue with a little water and paint it on the reverse of the gift-wrap cutouts. Stand the drawers upright on their rear sides and paste the paper on the front of each drawer. Leave them standing like this until the glue has dried completely.

4 Seal the paper with modge podge, following the directions on the packaging, and leave them to dry.

5 Punch holes in the paper where the handles should be. Working from the inside of the drawer, place the punch in the hole and knock it through the paper to the other side.

6 Screw in the new handles, make sure all the paint is dry and replace the drawers.

TIPS

• If your chest already has a few layers of paint on it, and the paint is starting to peel off, it’s best first to remove all the paint before you paint it again. Apply a thick layer of paint remover like Plascon RemovAll to the entire surface and leave it to react with the paint. Wait for the paint to bubble and start coming off on its own – then you can remove the rest of it with a paint scraper. Repeat if necessary before lightly sanding the chest.
• If your chest is painted with a water-based paint, you can use modge podge to stick the paper to the drawers. This will not work on an oil-based paint like enamel.

 

Source: Ideas magazine