Solly’s Dream Bureau Furniture Flip

This makeover tutorial has been long-awaited! It is Solly’s Dream Bureau Furniture Flip. This magical makeover has it all going on and we can’t wait to dive into all the details. Stay tuned to see exactly what we did and the products we used to create this masterpiece.

Finding Furniture to Upcycle

Finding furniture to upcycle can be tricky! There are lots of places to look for them, but the trick is to make sure they are in good condition. We recommend checking out your local charity shops or second-hand shop to see them in person. You are going to want to check the pieces are in good sound condition. A few key things to look out for are, good solid bones! You want to give it a wobble to check it is sturdy. Open drawers and doors and check they are all in good condition and that all hinges and joints are working or could be fixed easily. If you love a piece you find but has a little damage, assess if it could be easily fixed with the tools and skills you have. For example, if it is just a little veneer damage could you hide or cover it with some texture? Maybe using our stencils and smooth metallic pastes like this piece.

1. Good solid wood pieces are best
2. Check it is sturdy and solid
3. Take a look at hinges
4. Check joints to see they are in working order
5. Make sure any damage could be fixed

Solly’s Dream Decoupage Paper

Solly created “Solly’s Dream” artwork in an art class a few years ago. She loved it so much that she created a Posh Chalk Deluxe Decoupage Paper with it and this design was released this Spring. You can see the full collection here.  Solly decided that this would look phenomenal on the front of this cute bureau and so that’s exactly what she did.  

Once you apply the infuser, the decoupage paper becomes transparent so we always say that is best to apply the paper to a light background to ensure the colours pop. With that in mind, the first thing we did was paint the front of the bureau white.  

When the paint was fully dried we held the decoupage paper up to the bureau to get a good idea of where to position it.  

For this project, we blended the colours of the decoupage paper into the face of the bureau. A great way of making this transition seamless is to use a wet paintbrush to create an uneven edge and simply tear the excess away for a natural frayed look.  

The next product we used was the Posh Chalk Pigment Infuser and we first used this as an adhesive for the decoupage paper. Once the infuser was applied to the surface we adhered to the decoupage paper using a dry brush, and starting from the middle we just brushed out the creases.  

The Posh Chalk decoupage papers are extremely durable and can be taken off the surface and re-applied so there is no worry if you go wrong or miss a crease, it’s very easy to fix.  

For the bulk of the decoupage, we used a smooth and blend brush by Posh Chalk. For the corners, nooks and crannies, we used a pointed tip brush to make sure the decoupage paper adhered to the entirety of the surface. We added a spritz of water, which simply helps the paper consolidate to the surface, but this isn’t a necessary step. 

At the bottom, we ripped the edges, again to give that uneven line to blend with smooth paste later. Then we used the infuser again to seal the entire decoupage paper.  

Blending with Posh Chalk Metallic Pastes

Once the decoupage paper and infuser were dry it was time to blend, for which we used a multitude of Posh Chalk Metallic Paste colours including, Green Fhthalo, Blue Fhthalo, Green Dark, Red Alizarin, Red Medium Cadmium, Light Gold, Blue Prussian, White Titanium, Violet and  Yellow Canary Cadmium. To seamlessly blend the colours on the decoupage paper and the bureau we added some onto the paper itself to make the transition smooth.

This Spring collection of Decoupage papers was made with our smooth metallic pastes in mind. Many of the colourways on the papers are matched to our metallic pastes palette. Blending made easy!

Creating Furniture Art with Posh Chalk and WoodUbend

On the sides of the bureau, we used the Posh Chalk Hippy Lace Stencil with Posh Chalk  Extra Flexible Paste to create a raised pattern that we then painted over with white paint. 

We then took a pair of pre-painted WoodUbend moulding 6068 and adhered these to either side of the bureau. On the front of the bureau, we used the moulding 1269.  

To apply a WoodUbend moulding you must follow five simple steps: 

1. Heat the moulding: using a heat gun, hairdryer or electric griddle.  
2. Apply glue to the surface or back of the moulding 
3. Stick the moulding into place
4. Re-heat the moulding whilst in place 
5. Press the moulding tight to the surface to ensure complete adherence 

Once the WoodUbend Mouldings were in place we used the metallic pastes to blend these into the front colours of the bureau.  

Moving down to the legs we mixed some Posh Chalk Pigments in Pale Gold with the infuser to add some glamorous accents. Mixing our pigments with infusor is the best way to get a high metallic sheen. 

On the top of the bureau, we took the Posh Chalk Secret Garden Stencil and stippled the Pale Gold pigments through it using a stencil brush. To prevent the colours from bleeding under the stencil we recommend using spray glue to adhere the stencil to the surface whilst you work. To tie the piece together we stippled the Pale Gold pigments down onto the front of the bureau to create a nice smooth transition. 

We sprayed the sides of the drawers with water so that we could apply the metallic paste as a wash. Here we used the colour Blue Prussian, and on top of this, once dry, we stippled Pale Gold pigments through the Posh Chalk Harlequin Stencil. We loved the results of this!

We also used the Pale Gold pigments to dry brush the 1269 moulding on the front to give it a little extra highlight and sparkle. We thought the handles would look better with a bit more shine so we removed the handles covered these with the Pale Gold pigments and re-attached them. 

Using the variety of metallic pastes again, we blended the main face of the drawers into the rims to create a seamless piece of art from every angle. Taking time to do these extra steps makes all the difference.

Mixing the Lemon Gold Pigments with the infuser this time we painted the entire inside of the hinged writing desk and some stripes on the support beams.  

We added the Intersecting Circles decoupage paper to the inside panel of the bureau, stippled the Hippy Lace stencil with Black Carbon metallic paste and coated the entire bureau with our infuser to seal in all our hard work. 

Solly’s Dream Bureau Furniture Flip

 Now time for the reveal, this piece had love and attention poured into it! We hope you love it as much as we all do and that it inspires you to make some furniture art or maybe just art. We present to you Solly’s Dream Bureau, a beautifully outrageous piece for the eccentric and eclectic in us all.  

WoodUbend YouTube Channel

If you like to see the process we highly recommend our YouTube channel where we keep you up to date with all the creations in the workshop. Check out the full Solly’s Dream Bureau Furniture Flip video here.

Did you learn some new tips or techniques from this tutorial? Tell us in the comments below what you think, or what projects you’re working on yourself! Be sure to catch us on our Facebook page where we go live every day!

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