How to Redo a Chair for a Teen's Room

A teenager's room should be her place of solace and individuality.

The teen years are a time for an exploration of the sense of self and a bold expression of individuality. A teenager's room needs to be his haven from the rest of the world. In a perfect world, you would go out and purchase furniture that he likes best and feels best expresses his personal style, but that's simply not possible in a lot of homes. Rather, using creativity, you can transform an average looking chair into something perfect for a teen's room.

Things You'll Need

• Magazines
• Scissors
• Electric sander
• 100-grit sandpaper
• Tack cloth
• Decoupage glue
• Paper bowl
• Foam brush
• Clear varnish
• 3-inch nylon brush

Instructions

1. Go through magazines and cut out glossy photographs of people, images and words your teenager would like. Bear in mind that girls and boys like different things, so stick to magazines based on the sex of the owner of the room. Place all your clippings aside when finished.

2. Spray the chair with an all-purpose cleanser. Allow it to air dry. Attach a piece of 100-grit sandpaper to an electric sander. Run the sander across the surface area of the chair. Rub a tack cloth against it to collect all the dust from sanding.

3. Arrange your photos around the chair, experimenting with layouts that you like best and keeping your favorite pictures in prime positions on the chair.

4. Pour your decoupage paste on to a plastic bowl and dip your foam brush in it. Dab the brush onto the seat of your chair and press a photo on to the glue. Continue in this manner until you cover the surface area of the chair, overlapping all your photos collage style. Allow the chair to dry overnight.

5. Dip a 3-inch nylon brush in clear varnish and apply a coat of varnish to the chair. Allow it to dry overnight and then apply a final layer of varnish, allowing this coat to dry overnight as well.

Tips & Warnings

• This project works best on a wood chair, but you can achieve close to the same results with plastic or metal.

References

• Cut Out and Keep: Collage Chair