J.N. Taylor and Co.: Washi and decoupage makeover for Bekväm stool By: Isabelle McAllister

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Washi and decoupage makeover for Bekväm stool By: Isabelle McAllister

In Sweden almost everyone owns a Bekväm. It’s a great stool but kind of boring so I made an upgrade. You can see more of it right here.

Map it! I took this stool and spray painted it with a Montana Gold Lychee 3000. You can paint it with normal paint as well – just this is so easy. Then I used a glue and varnish 2 in one (decoupage glue will work fine or Mod Podge). Cut out a paper world map poster. And used the varnish/glue on top. I could have used a normal glue to get the poster to stick and then just coat it afterwards with a wood varnish. A tip is also to cut the poster slightly smaller than the surface to prevent the edges from fraying. The surface will get harder with every coat of varnish. Just let it dry in between coatings.

The dotted one is made with classic decoupage technique. I used black and white dotted napkins from Lagerhaus. Then used a glue and varnish – 2 in one (decoupage glue will work fine or Mod Podge). You have to peel the layers of the paper napkins so you use only the pattered layer. Glue the surface and then stick the paper on it. It’s easy to tear of the edges. I did all the surfaces separately. It’s possible to glue around for example one leg and then cover it all with paper but I thought it was easier to do one surface at a time. Then seal it of with more glue/varnish. After a while you use multiple layers of glue/varnish to make the surface strong. On the stairs I put extra layers because of the wear and tear! I liked that the white kind of melted away and the stool got a wooden dotted feeling.

The washi tape stool DIY. The light in this photo is quite bad so the colors on this photo doesn’t do the stool justice but you still get the idea. On this one I simple used some washi tape to make the stripes and then sealed it with the same glue/varnish as before. At least 5 coats of varnish. Here it’s also possible to use a normal wood varnish on top of the tape. The legs got spray painted in Montana Gold Malachite6130 and yes – you can use normal paint if you like. I just couldn’t wait for “normal” paint to dry.