How to Use Decoupage to Give Furniture a Hand-painted Look

Decoupage has been used since the 17^th century as an inexpensive way to recreate the look of a hand-painted piece of furniture with much less time and expense. Decoupage requires cutting images and using glue to apply cutouts to the furniture surface. The cutouts are covered with layers of varnish, lacquer or decoupage glue. The finished result is hard to distinguish from a hand-painted piece of furniture.

Many years ago, original decoupage furniture was created using hand-colored engravings of original artwork. Available now at craft stores are papers created just for using for decoupage. There are a large variety of styles to choose from, including Victorian floral, fruits and antique postcards or photos. There are specific styles of decoupage papers available that are intended to look as if they were created with brush strokes. These will work best when trying to achieve a hand-painted look.

The cutouts themselves will lend to the hand-painted look, but adding a few painted details will really enhance the look. An example of this would be painting trailing vines, tendrils and stems to the floral or fruit decoupage. Paint on highlights and shadows to soften the edges of the paper decoupage or add stippled effects with the end of a paintbrush. Painting the edges of a table in a contrasting color is another example. Using these techniques will help the furniture appear to be hand-painted by a skilled decorative painter.

Although there are many decoupage designs available in craft stores, any paper can be substituted and glued onto furniture and accessories. Magazine images or wrapping paper will work also. Any paper can be used, but consider the thickness of the paper. A thick paper's edges will be raised higher. However, using several layers of decoupage glue or varnish will help level the furniture surface.