Man creates magical Harry Potter chest of drawers for just £45
- Adam Eaton, 33, bought an old IKEA chest of drawers on Facebook Marketplace
- He used Wilko wallpaper and Amazon wallpaper paste and varnish
- The project cost him just £45
If you’ve been wishing you could escape the coronavirus lockdown and head for the more magical world of Harry Potter, you’ll love this furniture transformation.
Adam Eaton, 33, a Garden Centre manager from Surrey, managed to turn an old IKEA chest of drawers into a Marauder’s Map-inspired piece - and the transformation cost just £45.
Adam, who lives with his wife and two children aged two and five, told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk: “I'm the manager of a garden centre where we have a range of decoupage materials. I had always liked the idea of it but never had a go myself.
"I found someone selling an old set of wooden drawers on a Facebook community selling page and thought I would have a crack at it. I researched the basics of how to decoupage online and and watched a couple of YouTube videos.
“Essentially, all you need is your blank canvas, which for me was my drawers, a paper material and mod podge.
"The drawers cost me £20, and the wallpaper was £13 - I used one roll from Wilko. The mod podge, which is like a specialist wallpaper paste and varnish all in one, was £12 on Amazon but they do also sell smaller sizes. All together, this cost £45.”
Once Adam got started, it took him a day to complete his project - and he was delighted with the results.
"It took a full day to complete, starting at 8am and finishing at 6pm,” Adam explains. "I started by thoroughly cleaning all surfaces on the drawers and removing the knobs.
“Then I cut the first pieces to go along the top to the unit so that the pattern followed (I cut a little extra in each direction so that all the edges of the paper are on the inside of the drawer unit as this gives a neater finish).
"Then I did the sides and finally the most fiddly bit which was the drawers. I found it worked best if you first generously applied the mod podge to the surface of the drawers and then stuck the paper down and applied mod podge on top.
After it dried in a couple of hours I reapplied another coat all over to toughen it up. This can be repeated a couple more times. I used a sharp Stanley knife for all the cuts as the scissors tended to not cut cleanly once it was wet.
Once it was dry I just needed to reattach the knobs. Don't be tempted to put it all back together too soon as the drawers will all stick to each other!”
Adam says that although he did the project before the lockdown, decoupage is the perfect activity for those who are bored in self-isolation - and adds that most of us have some furniture that needs up-cycling.
"This is a perfect lockdown activity for anybody crafty and it requires very little skill,” Adam adds. “All the products can be ordered online and most people already have an old item of furniture at home which needs a facelift.
"The other good thing is it doesn't just have to be Harry Potter - the range of wallpapers is now huge to suit all tastes!
"I felt it turned out better than I expected and as a big Harry Potter fan I loved it. The children love it too!"
Tom Church, co-founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, comments: “It really is magical how much seeing a Harry Potter-inspired transformation can lift our spirits.
“Adam turned a drab chest of drawers into an amazing piece of furniture for just £45, which will inspire all the Harry Potter lovers out there that they can add that Hogwarts touch to their home for an affordable price.”
What to read next?
My eldest loves Harry potter. She would love this maybe I need to give it a go. I'm currently decorate her room anyway.
Absolutely knockout!
Love the result, and hats off getting those edges on the drawers done neatly.
What a transformation it is stunning and obviously any HP fans would pay good money for this ***