Skip The Paint And Try An Affordable DIY To Upgrade Thrifted Furniture Instead

Oftentimes, the furniture that you can find at your local thrift shop needs a bit of love before it can become a viable component of your home's decor. If you need to resurface the exterior of these sorts of fixtures, your first instinct might be to sand things down and then break out a fresh can of paint. However, there's actually a much easier way to give your thrift store furnishings a new life. Instead of painting, you can simply cover everything up with an elegant-looking layer of peel-and-stick wallpaper. This kind of product comes in all sorts of colors and patterns, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find some that complements your interiors. You can easily cut it down to the perfect size with a box cutter or an X-Acto knife so that the corners and edges will look sharp. To complete the DIY, you could install new hardware for existing drawers or doors. 

By skipping the paint and opting to resurface your old furniture with peel-and-stick wallpaper, you'll save yourself lots of time and energy. Plus, the end result might be more unique. If you have open cabinets, you could put the wallpaper on the back panels to better highlight the items that you're displaying. You could also put the wallpaper on the front of the drawer boxes of an old dresser to give your bedroom a brand-new personality. No matter what furnishing you're working with, this DIY trick can help elevate your space with interesting patterns.

If you want to try this simple DIY at home, begin by taking out any drawers that are a part of your furniture. If you want to add hardware to the fronts, you should drill holes before you start applying the wallpaper. For knobs, make sure to measure your drawer fronts carefully so that you drill the hardware holes in the exact center of the fixtures. For pulls and handles, don't forget to use a level when drilling the necessary holes, or the hardware might not be straight. If you don't feel like purchasing new fixtures, there are a handful of thrifted materials that you can turn into unique cabinet hardware. Next up, clean your furniture so that there's no dirt or dust trapped below the wallpaper. Measure the dimensions of the surfaces where you're going to apply the wallpaper. Cut the paper so that it's a bit larger than the surfaces; this ensures that you'll have everything covered.

Now you can carefully peel back the wallpaper and apply it section by section. Use an X-Acto knife or a box cutter to slowly remove the excess around the edges. You can use these same tools for removing the paper that's directly above the holes you drilled for your hardware. Finally, insert your drawer pulls or knobs and screw them into place. There are also plenty of interesting ways to make the most of your leftover peel-and-stick wallpaper once you've finished upgrading your furniture.