We all have different approaches to what we do with a book once we’ve finished reading it. Some people sell them or donate them to charity, some people pass them on to friends and family and some people, me included, keep them…forever! I am unable to rehome a book regardless if I enjoyed it or not. Then there are the books I love, like the Harry Potter series. I not only have the copies that I originally read in my youth but also a brand new boxed set with limited edition white covers. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that my book addiction is real, and its fierce! So, what better way to appreciate a books life then create something with it, and that is what I decided to do.
I have a set of bedside drawers, they have been painted over the years to match in with my bedroom theme and now was their time to shine in my literary mission. I bought a used copy of The Prisoner of Azkaban, my favourite of the series as there was absolutely no way I could bring myself to destroy my own, and began to cut out the pages using a utility knife. Once the pages were loose I used a pair of scissors to cut the pages into sections, using the paragraphs as guidelines. With the pages prepped it was time to turn my attention to the drawers.
First off I sanded away the old paint and made the wood rough enough to take a coat of paint. Once the drawers were sanded and then completely dust free I set to work. I chose a dark grey paint and covered the top, bottom and drawer fronts with two coats, lightly sanding between the coats to create a roughness the paint could stick to. I chose to leave the feet white for now to see how they looked on the finished piece.
Once the painting was all done and completely dry it was time to get creative. Using PVA glue I began sticking my cut outs onto the unit. At first I tried to be methodical with my sticking but then I realised it looked much better when they were overlapped and there was no real flow to the words. So, this is what I did until the entire sides of the drawers were covered.
I left it for a few days so that it would dry thoroughly before starting to gloss it. I decided to use a matte gloss as I wanted to keep my pages looking authentic and not shiny. Each coat took about 24 hours to dry and needed to be sanded and dusted in between. Now the idea of decoupage is that once it’s finished you shouldn’t be able to feel the edges of your paper, it should feel like a completely flat surface. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite manage this but I was pleased with the overall effect for my first attempt.
I added some simple porcelain handles and used self-adhesive metallic shelf liner to line the drawers to freshen them up after years of having make up chucked in them.
All in all, I am extremely pleased with my new piece of upcycled furniture and look forward to doing more in the future.