Making a Small Japanese Chest of Drawers

Desktop mini dresser is very convenient. It is great to store small things, materials for craftswork in such a dresser, because all the boxes are small. In terms of decor, such a piece of furniture can be a great part of the interior. For example, my customer wanted to add a touch of the East. The technique is very simple. It is only important to determine the characteristics of the selected style.

So, we will need:

1) a chest of drawers made of plywood (I ordered it from a wonderful craftsperson, who does everything carefully);

2) acrylic primer for wood (or white acrylic paint if there is no need to buy an undercoat, you can use ordinary paint, adding water);

3) red, black and gold acrylic paints;

4) brushes.

5) glue for decoupage, napkins with drawing in Japanese style;

6) scissors;

7) varnish;

8) sandpaper "0" (the most delicate).

Let's get started!

1. Undercoat.

After smoothing the surface with sandpaper and brushing off dust with damp cloth, cover the chest of drawers with a layer of undercover evenly. Wait till dry. Repeat again: sandpaper-cloth-undercoat. Take sandpaper again. Make the surface smooth, pleasant to touch.

2. Black paint.

Paint the sides with black paint in two layers and smooth the surface with the sandpaper. If necessary, paint three layers of black paint: the surface should be evenly "deep black".

3. Gold paint.

The same way, paint the front surface of the drawers. At least 3 times, do not forget to smooth it a little with sandpaper. They should be "deep gold", pleasant to touch. I do not advise to paint the side surfaces of the drawers, so as not to have problems opening them (the paint layer is thick).

4. Red paint.

With a thin brush, paint the butts of the drawers with red. The edge between the black and red sides should be very smooth — I think this is the most difficult part of decoration. You can help yourself with a masking tape.

5. Composition.

Cut out the elements as "clouds", without details, to make composition. I suggest making upper part of the pattern lighter, airy, and arrange the pattern in frames, as if repeating the outline of the front side of the dresser.

After the composition is "drawn", cut out the pattern along the contour carefully.

6. Decoupage.

Glue the selected element with a decoupage glue. Separate the bottom of the napkin. Apply it carefully on the glued surface. Straighten the folds very carefully and, almost without pressing, smooth the pattern with a soft flat brush from the center to the edges. Napkin should not tear and have folds.

7. Correction.

After drying, with a thin brush in gold paint, paint uncut areas of light background. Also paint the surface along the picture to make it evenly thick.

8. Pre-treatment.

After it has dried, smooth the edges of the picture with sandpaper to remove boundaries.

9. Final processing.

Apply any acrylic varnish as the undercover: apply — dry — smooth with sandpaper — remove dust. Repeat 2-3 times. The task is to get closer to the effect of the drawn, not glued image.

10. Completion.

Choose plug-in handles (in Japan, they are in simple geometric shape, minimum decoration).

The dresser is ready!