Decoupage Ideas for Tabletops

Pictures

• Turn your photos into furniture accents by printing them out on paper and creating a collage on a tabletop. Use pictures of your childhood and create a special gift for your parents or make copies of your wedding album to dress up your master bedroom’s nightstands. Use a photo editing software to play around with colors. Consider options such as black and white for a classic look or antiquing the images to fit in with traditional decor.

Vintage Items

• Capture nostalgic moments in time by using old newspaper clippings, magazine advertisements or copies of genealogy records to decoupage a tabletop. For example, collect retro ads talking about soap and softeners to cover a folding table in your laundry room. Other theme ideas include collecting advertisements featuring fashion icons for a tabletop in a teenage girl’s room or sport heroes in a man’s study.

Travel Mementos

• Turn your collection of postcards, matchbook covers, napkins and menus into a tabletop for your foyer or living room. Arrange them in a collage by date or subject and mix them with photos from the trip before sealing the project. Other ideas include collecting information about places that you want to go from brochures or magazines and make cultural tabletops to study and work on. Use the decorative table top as motivation to work hard and save up to eventually go on your dream vacation.

Fabric

• Fabric is one way to hide a damaged tabletop. The problem comes when the fabric gets worn and dirty as well. Fix that issue with decoupage. Secure one solid piece of fabric tight over the tabletop and seal it in with a few coats of decoupage medium, varnish or lacquer. Another option is to collect fabric scraps until you have enough to cover the top of the table in a colorful collage. For example, create an heirloom quilt tabletop using the quilting squares from your grandmother that have been passed down in your family but remain in storage because you do not sew.

Finishing Touches

• Finish off the look of any decoupage project with complementary trimmings. Attach decorative molding around the edges of the tabletop, paint the sides and legs a color found in your decoupage pattern or create other decoupage items to set on top. For example, decoupage an old jewelry box to hold your earrings, rings and other pieces in and set it on your decoupaged bedside table. Other projects include vases for entryway tables, bins for mail and containers for potpourri.