Sheet Music Table Makeover

 

 

 Ikea Sheet Music Table Makeover with Decoupage

Decoupage is a fairly easy process and a great way to customize your own look. For this table I took old sheet music, crumpled it up, ripped it into pieces and edged the pieces with black ink to get what I think is an interesting yet simple look to a previously very simple Ikea piece. What’s even better is the crumpled paper adds a bit of a leathery texture to the surface. This project was inspired by the Brown Paper Bag (faux leather) decoupage table by Gail at My Repurposed Life.

You will need:

–         Piece of furniture with a straight-line type design

–         Flat black paint or black primer (spray paint is okay)

–         Black craft paint – small bottle

–         Round or pouncing type craft paint brush

–         Decorative paper – I used sheet music, about 25 pages

–         Scrapbook ink pad, black

–         Drop cloth

–         Decoupage Glue –  I used Modge Podge matte

–         Sponge paint roller for decoupage

–         Small paint tray for decoupage

–         Bowl of warm/hot water (when decoupaging)

–         Several clean hand towels (when decoupaging)

–         Clear poly wipe on varnish- I used Mini Wax Wipe On Poly in satin

–         220 Grit sand paper

–         Lint free clean rag – I used a flour cloth from the local store

–         Several clean rags

–         Rolling pin ( If you don’t have this you can use a can of spray paint as a roller)

Sand and Paint

Lightly sand surface of the table, then wipe down with clean damp cloth.

Spray or roll on the flat black paint or black primer, either one is okay and will give you the optimal surface to lay your decoupage. Let dry.

Prepare Paper for Decoupage

Decide on your paper pattern, I used sheet music, about 25 pages for this project.

Crumple the pages into a ball then rub them together like you are scrubbing a stain out of a piece of laundry. Then flatten pages back out.

Rip your pages into pieces. You want mostly medium sized pieces a few bigger and smaller are okay, too.

Take your black ink pad and run it around the edges of the pieces. Do this with all pieces, it is okay if you miss a spot here and there, does not need to be perfect.

Place them all in a container such as a box or basket.

Decoupage the Table

Lay down drop cloth and place table top side down.

Have handy a bowl of warm to hot water and hand towels

Tip before you start:  Because ink has been applied to the edges of the paper, there is potential for the ink to smear. I allowed some smearing for this project, as I thought that it blended in with the look I was trying to achieve, but I didn’t want too much smearing, so, I only applied the deco glue to back side of piece, and after every few pieces I put my hands in the bowl of hot/ warm  water to rinse them, then dried them on a hand towel, taking care to keep the front side of the paper as dry as possible from moisture and glue.

Starting at the base of the legs of the table, doing small sections at a time, begin to roll the decoupage glue on to the leg of the table then take paper piece, roll the back side and adhere in place on the leg of table. Then do the next piece, wrapping each piece around the leg, working your way toward the base of table.

Once the legs have been covered, roll a thin layer of decoupage glue, only, to the bottom of the table. Flip the table over and continue where you left off by applying the rest of the paper pieces in the same way, overlapping the pieces through out the whole project.

Once all is covered, look for any missing spots, or particularly smeared spots, and place and additional piece of paper over that area, to blend in.

Check for any stray pieces and with you finger, tack them down with a dab of the deco glue. Allow the whole piece to dry overnight.

Apply another Coat of Decoupage Glue

Apply one coat of decoupage glue over the entire piece with the sponge roller, starting with the legs and working to the top, again. Let that dry overnight

Roll Table Surface with Rolling Pin

Running your hand across the top of the table you may feel some small bumps or wrinkles. If you want to knock those down a little, you can run a rolling pin over the top, sides and legs of the table.

Tip: If you do not have a rolling pin, use a can of spray paint as a roller, just make sure the can is clean.

Apply 2 More Coats of Decoupage Glue

Flip the table and double check for strays, tacking in any stray pieces with a dab of the deco glue.

Apply 2 more coats of the decoupage with a sponge roller in the same way as before, allowing at least 2 hour between coats. Let dry at least overnight. I let mine dry for 2 weeks.

Detail Edges with Black Paint

Lay table top side down again. Dip a round brush in some black craft paint. Tap it on a piece of newspaper or paper towel to get the excess off. Roll the edge of the round brush along the edges of the legs of the table and the edge of the bottom. I did a very light edging just to add a bit more definition, once again, it may be a bit uneven and that is okay. Flip table right side up and finish edging the top. Let dry.

Apply Wipe on Poly Coat Finish

Lay table top side down one more time and apply the wipe-on polyacrylic finish to bottom 2/3 rd of the legs. Flip table up again and apply to top 1/3 of the legs and the rest of the table. Let dry per directions.

Give a very light sanding with 220 grit sand paper and wipe clean.

Apply another coat of the rub on finish. Let dry. Repeat 3^rd coat of finish if desired.

 

I was really happy with how this table turned out. It has really great texture and a unique look that is sure to be a conversation piece for some time to come.