Table decoupage: what to use and how to do it right?

Today handmade things are gaining popularity - they, with minimal investment, create a special comfort in the house, different from the standard furnishings. The old table, made using decoupage technique, gaining a second life, will save on buying furniture and will become a "highlight" in the interior.

The decoupage technique will appeal to those who cannot draw, but really want to create a "miracle" with their own hands. It consists in transferring the finished cut out pattern to the surface of the object, therefore the name of the method translates as "cutting". You can cover anything with a pattern: vases, mirrors, books, candles, gift boxes. They will not only be updated, but also change their dull standard look to an unusually attractive image.

Having decided to update the table using the decoupage technique, we do not even think that there are many options for performing, and we need to decide on them before starting work. This will determine what tools and materials we need.

Having chosen a table for alteration, you should take a look at the situation in which it will be located.

The drawing is cut from fabric, tulle, rice paper, and printed on a printer or copier. Nowadays, the three-dimensional "napkin technique" is widespread. Not paper pictures are used, but colored three-layer napkins. Depending on the purpose (for children, lunch, coffee), the theme of the drawing for the table is selected.

Consider decoupage options. Any of them can be used to decorate furniture.

It is also called classic, the most popular of the types of decoupage. The drawing is cut out and glued to the outside of the item, and then varnished.

The surface of the table is preliminarily prepared for work: it is primed and painted, then the drawing is glued. The image is covered with a two-step craquelure and finishing varnish.

This technique is used to decorate transparent objects: glasses, vases, any glass products. Transparent plastic is also suitable for work.

The technique is simple: the picture is not glued onto the glass, but under the glass (on the back of the object). And then everything is done according to the scheme: craquelure, background, finishing varnish.

With the help of this technique, not only a flat image is glued, but a three-dimensional image is created in different ways. This can be achieved by repeatedly gluing each element or by using raised special masses on which the picture rests.

But some craftsmen achieve volume on their own. This is done using five or six identical patterns. One of them is taken as a basis, and fragments are cut out of the rest and glued to each other in layers. For this technique, silicone glue is used. You should not get too carried away with building up the form: excess volume can violate the integrity of the perception of the picture.

The Italian decoupage technique Sospeso Trasparente uses a more expensive way to increase volume: it consists in the use of thermoplastic. This is a completely harmless, non-toxic material. The Sospeso Trasparente technique is as follows:

• the drawing is divided into fragments and work with each part separately;
• the fragment is glued onto a thermoplastic;
• when the element of the picture is completely dry from the glue, cut off the excess plastic material, and the rest, gently holding it with tongs, heat it over the candle until it acquires plasticity;
• further, quickly form the desired element using a special tool (bulks);
• the image, fragment by fragment, is laid out and formed on a latex mat, then transferred to the subject of decoupage.

The meaning of this technique is to combine the picture and the background, the transition between them becomes completely invisible. The result is achieved in three ways.

• Smoky... This technique is considered basic in artistic decoupage. It imitates the real painting of the artist, creates a visual volume. Initially, the decoupage object is primed and painted, the drawing is glued, and then, in various ways, a smoky background is created using paint.
• Classical... You need to choose the right colors and enhance the influence of the picture. The effect is achieved with the help of shadows, shading paints, painting on. Working in this genre makes you feel like an artist. This method is considered the most difficult, but the appliques look like a real painting.
• Decopatch is a type of decoupage. This technique decorates not only the countertop, but the entire table, using a large number of fragments. The method resembles another popular type of creativity - patchwork, when things are created from many multi-colored patches.

In spacious rooms, you can place a table made in black and white technique - it will attract attention with its severity and original execution.

Today, pictures copied from vintage postcards are most often chosen. They are used in the style of Provence and shabby chic.

Any surface - glass, wood, leather, stone, ceramics - is suitable for decoupage technique, you just need to choose the right tools and materials. Different structures require different types of paints, varnishes and products to create distinctive effects.

Nowadays, it is not difficult to find everything you need to work with the decoupage technique; there are special stores offering goods for creativity. They sell rice paper, lacquer prints, decoupage cards and napkins with ready-made collections of drawings. In addition, the most incredible acrylic paints are available today: metallic, pearlescent, chameleons. Texture pastes with various fillings allow you to add volume to the image, they help to imitate stucco molding, create relief structures. With the help of stencils, fantastic effects are achieved.

So, to work on decorating the table, you will need:

• table;
• working drawing;
• grinding tools;
• putty;
• acrylic tonal paint;
• degreasing liquid;
• glue produced for decoupage (PVA can be diluted with water);
• shading sponge, brush;
• craquelure, if you need an aging technique;
• texture paste (if applicable);
• varnish;
• candle.

Tabletops differ from each other in the structure of the material, and their preparation for decoration takes place in different ways. The table chosen for work can be kitchen wood, writing polished or coffee glass.

It is enough to degrease the plastic or glass surface with alcohol and you can start working. Sliding materials should also be worked with emery to increase the adhesion of the surface to the pattern. But with an old wooden table you will have to tinker a little longer. The preparation will take some time and effort, but it is necessary. It makes no sense to cover the gnarled surface with a picture - the deplorable state of the piece of furniture will not change from this. The preparatory event is carried out as follows.

• The wooden table should be cleaned of old paint with sanding tools or sandpaper.
• Irregularities, cracks and scratches must be carefully putty.
• Cover the table with a layer of plaster primer.
• After drying, paint the surface with tonal acrylic paint in several layers. There is an interesting technique for dyeing the final layer through tulle, which acts as a stencil and leaves behind a beautiful mesh pattern. The paint color of the last and the previous coat must be different.
• Before drawing a picture on the surface of the countertop, the painted table is completely dried and then degreased with acetone.

If you buy pictures for decoupage, you don't have to prepare them for work. And with other types of images, you will need to carry out a certain series of actions. For example, ordinary napkins need to be layered to get the thinnest patterned layer.

Decoupage cards or magazine versions of drawings are soaked before use. The printouts are covered with hairspray on the side of the drawing. You can use glue for decoupage, but, most importantly, to get from four to five layers of coating, with complete drying of each layer. The resulting material is sent to warm water for five minutes, then gently dried with a towel. To free the picture from unnecessary layers of paper, it is carefully rolled from the surface, starting from the central part of the sheet, and brought out towards the edges. The remaining thin pattern should be handled with extreme caution.

For those who want to make a designer thing from an old table with their own hands, we offer a master class for beginners. Before starting to work with the picture, the primed and painted surface of the furniture should dry well. We will give the further procedure step by step.

• The prepared, cut out thinnest drawing is laid out on polyethylene (image down) and slowly smoothed with a damp brush. If the picture begins to tear, it is carefully corrected with a needle. It is important that the brush is soft and moderately damp, not dry or wet, otherwise the drawing will tear or get wet.
• A picture is laid out on a tabletop greased with glue, then the cellophane is carefully removed, and the picture is smoothed from the central part towards the edges. The brush should be moderately damp, as in the previous step.
• The surface is covered with a layer of fixing glue.
• If the image is deformed, after drying it is covered with tracing paper and leveled with a non-hot iron.
• The main work is done. Then fantasy and skill are included. You can paint patterns with acrylic paint, retouch the background, apply craquelure, patina or paint with a touch of mother-of-pearl.
• After the creative process, the last few coats of topcoat are applied.

Video instruction for decoupage a table with your own hands:

There is no table that cannot be decorated using decoupage technique. Children's, kitchen, writing - any can be decorated with your own hands. We invite you to familiarize yourself with the different types of tables and finishes.

• Corner coffee table, made on the theme of African motives.

• An example of a deco-patch technique - varieties of decoupage.

• Use of letter images. Colonial style table - covers the topic of geography, travel.

• Movie lover's coffee table in retro style, black-and-white photographs of actors are used.

• Round coffee table.

• Old writing desk got a second chance thanks to decoupage decoration.

• Examples of direct and reverse decoupage techniques on two different glass surfaces.

• Dining furniture group.

• Serving table, made in the style of shabby chic.

A beautiful, unique decoupage technique has practically not changed over the long years of its existence. The only difference is the availability and variety of modern working material. Today everyone can update the old table and turn it into a "highlight" of the interior - all that is needed is inspiration, desire and diligence.