Embellishing Furniture

Try wallpaper borders to spruce up a flea-market find instead of painting. Many different themes and styles are available, and shopping at the bargain table can result in finding a beautiful border at a very reasonable price. Trim borders to fit the narrow surfaces of the table, and attach with decoupage glue. Also consider trimming interesting details, such as this face, from a strip of border and gluing it on the piece.

Materials:

junk-store piece of furniture
wallpaper borders (Let the size and location of the piece of furniture dictate the size and type of paper that is purchased.)
decoupage glue
acrylic polyurethane sealer
paintbrush

Steps:

1. Select the border paper(s). Borders are much less expensive than full-size wallpaper rolls.
   
   
2. Cut pieces to fit the dimensions of the piece of furniture.
   
   
3. Attach the paper to the furniture with decoupage glue.
   
   
4. When dry, apply a coat of polyurethane sealer with a paintbrush.

Tips

• Depending on the size of the area that is to be covered, one option is to try using a portion of a border, rather than the entire width of it.
  
  
• Be sure to glue the paper on the inside of pieces that will be seen.