So, this thing happened last spring wherein I decoupaged my kitchen cabinets with newspaper.
BAM!
You didn’t see that one coming did you? Newspaper and ready-made cabinets dancing together in some unorthodox swirl of muskrat love. How’s that for a Wednesday?
Okay, okay, this opens up two lines of questions…
1. Dude, wtf? Why would you want to decoupage your cabinets like some reject TGIFridays? Couldn’t you just paint them like a normal person?
The cabinets were melamine front (essentially plastic). Painting would have been awesome, but painting required sanding the melamine indoors, which is highly toxic and would be a pain in the butt, not to mention a major respiratory risk to Lola (mi gatita). No go. I tried some liquid sanding products and neither one were adequate products in my book. One wasn’t aggressive enough, the other was too aggressive, smelled awful, and left an uneven surface. So I said aloud to nobody in particular, “Screw it, let’s Mod Podge this mo fo!”
If I hated it, I had a plan B. It was called Ikea. This room will likely get a larger overhaul down the line, but for now, this is fun way to bring the funk to a boring old kitchen.
2. This is from a year ago? Why are you telling me about it now?
I wanted to be sure it would stand up to a year of cooking and cleaning before I recommended this method to anyone else. You know? That’s important sometimes. It annoys the crap out of me when DIY bloggers post about stuff knowing that the results won’t withstand the test of time. I mean, okay, that’s one thing when it’s some crafty doo-dah, but kitchen cabinets are the real deal. I don’t know that anyone reading this will actually attempt to decoupage their cabinets, but if they do, I don’t want some chunk to fall off in their spaghetti sauce. Quality counts.
One year later…
They have been splattered, scratched, picked at, roughed up and scuffed up non-stop for one year and they are just as good as ever. A month after the paper went on I sealed with outdoor Mod Podge, but that was it. I kept some newsprint as scrap in case I need to patch something someday, but so far it has not been necessary. The one thing that did change was the newsprint – it went from grey to yellow in just a couple of months – which is what I wanted, so that’s fine, although it made me switch the hardware to brass a while back. Yes, I’m a fickle one.
The Glue
This is what I used to adhere newsprint (highly porous) to melamine cabinets (non-porous) and make it look slightly aged at the same time:
- Two parts Mod Podge
- One part Wood Glue
- One part Diet Coke (could swap for Dr. Pepper or Coffee or whatever, you could swap for water) ….Why Diet Coke? I wanted the acid in the soda to set off the acid in the newsprint and make it yellow faster. Initially I wanted to have old-looking newsprint with new-looking hardware. Then that looked weird, then I tried some stuff, then I settled on old-ish brass. Well, aren’t you glad that got sorted out?
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| Prepare for this project to take over your entire kitchen for at least two days. |
The Doozing
This is the same as any other decoupage project only bigger; slap on the glue, slap on the paper, slap on some more glue. If you are not familiar with basic arts and crafts decoupage, please, for the love of sequins, start there there before you embark on a major project like cabinetry. It’s easy but don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Tips
- Use your fingers to smooth things out after the brushes are done.
- Use a lightweight paper and crumple it up beforehand (the crumples will allow the paper to absorb the adhesive better and give a smother finish).
- Use a finishing sealer. I thought mixing the woodglue into the adhesive mix would stand up to wear and tear — and it did on the fronts, but around the edges it started to get a little frayed. After the cabinets cured for a few weeks I used outdoor Mod Podge (–it’s easy to control, but you can get spray-on finishes just about anywhere).
I realize 99.999995% of the people reading this will never do this, but, IF YOU ARE REALLY CONSIDERING DOING THIS…
If you really do this, the adhesive is everything. Everything. The adhesive recipe I use to attach paper to melamine front cabinets might be different than the one you use to attach fabric to poly-sealed wood cabinets, or glossy magazine paper to metal. Stuff varies. Do a test patch and let it set a week before doing the whole thing. Okay, okay? And if you do try it, send me a picture!
Oh. my. gosh. Diet Coke in the mixture? never would have thought of that, love it!! And you are right…too many post projects that haven’t been tried and tested. I’m guilty of that. Note to self, hold it for later when you know what happens.
Oh gosh, I wouldn’t worry about that too much. I just meant for stuff that gets used a lot, or stuff that requires someone to risk $…you know? As a blogger, it’s really tempting to churn stuff out that is adequate quality for a photo only to be tossed out shortly after. I try to do that less and less each month, but I also realize that has an effect on the quantity of stuff I churn out. It’s a balancing act for sure 🙂
You are a doll for waiting a year – I absolutely freaking love that. The cabinets have just the right amount of yellowed age! From Diet Coke!?! You fabulous weirdo!
I love Diet coke so much. Too much! Do you think I could use it to marinate fake pearls or something to wear? There must be other ways to craft w Diet Coke!
er.ma.GAWD!!!! I AM SO DOING THIS WHEN I MOVE INTO MY OWN PLACE AS A GROWN UP! (i don’t think i can convince my mom to do this, but man, this is freaking awesome!!! i HATE the melamine cabinets!!)
JUST SAYING…I am going to do this! I have a falling apart melamine kitchen and really, it couldn’t look worse. I will probably use book pages. Seriously, thankyouthankyoutahnkyou.
Julie
WAHOO!
Ooh, the pages of old paperbacks would be really great… (+ absorbency factor)
This had me laughing out loud! “Mod Podge this mo fo!” is now a part of my lexicon. Great idea, and even better that you waited a year to see how it would hold up long term.
Your cabinets have much more personality now! You are really a very patient person to wait a year before posting this.
I did something similar to my fireplace last autumn: http://afewprettythingsgr.blogspot.gr/2012/11/blog-post_20.html#comment-form
fab-u-LOUS! !! Glad you finally posted this. When you get tire of this and need to change it, you can make them look like leather, because you have a good texture already. I hope this goes viral. Ann
I know, right? I was thinking about that. Leather kitchen cabinets would be pretty awesome!
Love. It. Girl. It reminds me of being a kid at Wendy’s with the newspaper topped tables. This rules!!!
OMG I was trying to remember other places for newsprint collages..that’s it, WENDY’S!! I was thinking it was Bennigan’s. Nope, Wendy’s for sure.
You are amazing! I’ve got a kitchen with a bad case of the uglies too. They’ve gotten painted twice and are likely headed for a third round. So much better to live with until my lottery winnings come through and I can rip the whole thing out.
BTW mod podge, likely a clever alien invention.
Aunt Peaches,
I’m late to the party, but I was so delighted to find out about Book Lamp. I thought you might enjoy the Project Gutenberg site. Books that do not have a copyright can be downloaded or read online for free. The site is http://www.gutenberg.org/
You are a very brave lady and I give you props for this project. Do you think you’ll be adding layers to the newsprint once you get tired of the look? Mod Podge and maybe some items found in the “junk drawer” perhaps?
In reference to eateries that had newspring collages, I seem to remember a hamburger chain, many moons ago, I think it was called “Wimpies”. They were known for burgers and their sundae bar.
At first I thought, this looks horrible! And then I saw the pulled away view with your fridge and it actually looks pretty great. I would never have thought to do such a thing. It’d be nice with old book pages, too.
Hey,
I am actually right in the middle of putting pages of an old dictionary onto a big wooden cabinet in my living room. I have already done the same to our surround speakers, whose fake wooden finish didn’t go so well with the dark floor. I love the speakers but am not so sure about the cabinet yet. I hope it will look better when finished.
It looks great in your kitchen. I have an ugly fridge as well, if I find some paper I like, maybe I’ll decoupage that too 😉
Love,
Anicron
I “wallpapered” my bathroom wall with slightly naughty jokes I printed out or cut out of magazines and newspapers. Looked great! Downfall…people were spending too much time in there giggling. Was awkward.
You are a caution! That’s why I love reading your wonderful blog. When you said “You didn’t see that coming” you were so right! Never had I thought of papering over my cabinets. But now its in my head……
*sigh* This is why I need to get rid of my husband LOL. Sort of.
That is such a creative idea! I love it!
You are one amazingly amazing person and seriously your blog has been the best one EVER to follow, for me, the past few years! You go girl!!!!!
This is fantastic!
My kitchen looks like glowing 70s vomit. I was planning to murder the ugly with white and blue paint soon, and I love this idea so much. I’ll almost certainly use it.
Thank you so much, Peaches! =D
This is fantastic!
My kitchen looks like glowing 70s vomit. I’m planning on murdering the ugly with white and blue paint soon, and now I’m seriously considering using this idea.
Actually, seeing your wallpapered fridge and then this post has reminded me of all the old wallpaper I have hanging around (no pun intended). I’m now thinking I could wallpaper the cabinets. Hmm…
Thanks for being an inspiration, Peaches! =D
Ok, MAD props for taking on the cabinets!! My friends thought I was insane for mod podging the fridge…looked great though. ;~) I went with Beatles sheet music & a few photos, but now I’m lovin on the newsprint! Stumbled onto your blog from pintrest a few minutes ago & fell instantly into fandom. Thank You!!!!
MAD props to you for taking on the cabinets! I did my fridge with Beatles sheet music & some photos a few years ago…I loved it! Sadly, the fridge died & roomate won’t allow me to mod podge the new one. Missin that fridge now. I love the newsprint & am so glad pintrest led me here!! Looking forward to seeing whatever you come up with next! Thank You for sharing!!
Good morning Peaches, I love this project you did !! I want to do my old cabinets that are white. Could I use scrap booking paper? I found some that looks like crackle and I really want to use it. The size of paper is 8 1/2 X 11 but is thicker than newspaper so not sure would work and also not sure about diet coke for aging. Thank you for sharing your project and I hope I can make this work in some way. Maybe you could tell me of other paper that would work for me. Thank you and have a great day!!
Sally
Sally, how thick is the paper? Does it have any sort of gloss coating? Are your cabinets flat? If the surface is flat, and you can soak/crumble the paper without it falling apart, I would go for it (Test a patch on a piece of scrap wood first perhaps?) I would be weary though if the paper has any sort of coating on it. I have found that a lot of scrapbooking paper is cheap construction and stays together because of that coating…it makes for difficult soaking and then it falls apart when wet. Then again, maybe that would work with a crackle finish? Hmmm… well, again, I would test on a small piece before diving in or spending much $$. Good luck with it! Sounds fun 🙂
I absolutely ADORE this!!! I’ve done this to tables and chairs before with newspaper, magazine paper, sometimes even patterned tissue paper, but I NEVER would have thought to do this to my cabinets!!! If I didn’t live in an apartment, I’d do this now, like RIGHT NOW! =]
Hi Peaches, still have not done my cabinets:( I don’t really want to use the newspaper but don’t know what kind of paper to use. I did not use the scrapbook paper I asked you about. My house is very country and my kitchen is red, mustard and black.. Any ideas would help. I have the white cabinets!!! But have cute metal roster knobs:)
Thank you and have a great day!
sally