Decorate with newspaper
I recently bought one of those simple, minimalist pieces of furniture from Ikea for a small room where I needed some storage. Since it was a very functional piece, and I planned to keep it tucked away in a corner of a rarely used room, I didn’t mind that it wasn’t particularly attractive.
It served its purpose perfectly for a while, but recently I started thinking about how to make the most of it and give it a more appealing look within the room’s décor, as I was beginning to use that space more often.
While searching for DIY furniture makeover ideas, I found a very interesting solution: decorating furniture with newspaper. There are countless examples of people using newspaper for creative home decor — from walls and small accessories to furniture, and even items entirely made from newspaper, such as lamps or trays.
The idea was to find a simple and inexpensive way to “modernize” a piece of furniture and make it more attractive using recycled materials.
It turned out to be an extremely easy way to change the look of that plain piece of methacrylate and wood, and it didn’t take much time. In less than a day, I had completely transformed it into something far more modern and stylish.
To decorate with newspaper, or to cover any piece of furniture, you’ll need the following items:
Newspaper or magazines. You can choose between regular newsprint or glossy magazine pages. If you prefer a gray-toned look, use traditional newspaper. If you want something more
colorful, use the Sunday paper, as it usually contains more color.
Scissors, a craft knife, and a ruler.
White glue, which you can find in any store. Mix it in the following ratio: one part glue to three parts water.
A medium-sized paintbrush.
To cover the furniture with newspaper, first apply a layer of the diluted glue mixture to the surface using the brush. Then dip the newspaper sheets into the mixture and carefully stick them onto the furniture.
Next, apply another layer of glue over the surface where you’ve placed the newspaper.
Once dry, you can apply a protective varnish, although the glue itself will form a thin plastic-like film that provides some resistance.
Personally, I recommend applying several coats of diluted glue to the paper, followed by a final layer of water-based varnish to improve durability.
Alternative option
I recently came across a material that can help in this redecorating process — a vinyl decal with a newspaper-inspired design. The advantage of using this vinyl over the previous method is that it’s self-adhesive and doesn’t require additional varnish for protection.
