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  3. A zigzag chest of drawers: paint it yourself in just 3 steps

A zigzag chest of drawers: paint it yourself in just 3 steps

Upcycling
Project
A chest of drawers with a black zigzag pattern in a lounge, with a bike leaning next to it against the wall.
A chest of drawers with a zigzag pattern can provide a Scandinavian touch to any room.
  • Difficulty
    medium
  • Cost
    50-100 £
  • Duration
    1-3 h

Could you see yourself decorating your entire home in geometric patterns? Then we’ve got an easy project for you: give a chest of drawers a makeover with zigzag stripes, in just three steps. So, grab your masking tape – and let’s go!

You need
Step13

Measure your stripes and mark up the pattern on your drawers

A man sitting in front of a chest of drawers, marking up a line with the help of a cross-line laser.

Mark up the lines on the drawers using a pencil and ruler.

You need:
Cross Line Laser
, meter rule, ladder or chair

To ensure the zigzag pattern on your drawers is clean and even, project the lines on to the drawers using a cross-line laser positioned 10 cm away. Place the device on a ladder or stool, depending on how high the line needs to be. Of course, if your laser came with a tripod, you can also use that. If you have the PLL 2 set, adjust it to 45° (you’ll have to adjust other cross-line lasers manually). Make sure that the laser line runs horizontally – i.e. that the cross-line laser is positioned exactly at the same height as the laser point. Otherwise, 45° may be incorrectly displayed. Transfer the pattern on to your chest of drawers using a ruler and pencil.

Tip
TO SAND OR NOT TO SAND?
To help the paint take better to your drawers, you may want to sand them down first. You’ll find instructions on how to do this in our mid-century chest of drawers project here.
Step23

Stick masking tape around your pattern

A man applying masking tape to a chest of drawers, in a zigzag pattern.

Ensure the lines you create are clean and press down firmly on the tape.

You need: adhesive tape

As with our grey-on-grey wall decoration, you first need to stick masking tape around the outline of your pattern. Make sure you closely follow the lines you’ve already marked in pencil, and press down firmly on the tape to prevent any paint from running beneath it.

Step33

Paint your zigzag pattern

A paint roller is used to paint stripes on the chest of drawers.

Paint in between the tape with a paint roller, going slightly over the edges – that way you’ll get nice, clean lines.

You need: paint roller with tray, 2-in-1 paint/primer in the colour of your choice, e.g. black, around 200 ml

Now it’s time to get painting. Pour some of the paint into a paint tray, dip the roller in it and then cast off any excess paint before painting in between the tape on the drawers. Let the paint dry and then apply a second coat, if needed. To achieve nice, clean lines, try to paint over the edges of the masking tape slightly (see photo). If you're leaving the drawers in the chest whilst you paint them, you should cover the drawers beneath or tape them up. You can also remove the drawers to paint them – in which case, you should put down some protective floor covering first. Once you’ve finished painting and the paint is completely dry, carefully remove the tape. And viola – you’ve painted an entire chest of drawers in just three steps!

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