We acquired this well used dresser in the alley not far from home. It is made of real wood, something that one doesn’t usually expect to even buy these days, unless you are ready to fork over the big bucks. Everything that comes out of places like Ikea will probably never get this second chance to shine since they tend to be constructed of particle board covered with melamine laminate or something similar.

Decoupage can be done with just about anything that is pliable enough to conform to the shape of the object you wish to cover. Getting the supplies to transform an old desk or dresser like this one is pretty simple. Here in the US, a trip to Hobby Lobby should yield a few flavors of Mod-Podge Gloss or Matte finish decoupage ‘glue’.

Alas, this dresser needed to be sanded down in order to remove most of the previous finish and stain. The piece was stained and sanded about 3 times with finer sandpaper each time and perhaps look into steel wool when doing fine sanding. The lowest drawer has been stained with a Sea-Foam tinted stain that is semi-transparent… just to mix things up a bit.

The drawers have rounded edges which proved much more challenging when the decoupaging process was in full swing (when the paper hits the fan err… wood). Pre-soaking thicker paper is a great idea and helps make it more pliable, but be sure not to overdo it could lead to you inadvertently eroding the paper by over-handling it. As always, test the paper you are using and see how it holds up (I’m not one to ‘test’ an area before doing anything).

It’s somewhat messy and a good project to do outdoors, just remember that if you are in full sun, the decoupage glue may tend to dry out and setup too fast for you to have enough time to properly situate all of the bits of paper and get the air bubbles smoothed out. After the decoupage dries overnight, you apply a protective layer of some sort over it although, the decoupage by Mod-Podge provides a reasonable amount of protection by itself. Sometimes applying the decoupage glue a second time will provide the added protection.