Swedish Inspired Furniture Makeover

This article shares a tutorial for a Swedish inspired furniture makeover to create that charming European style in your home.

If you are new to this blog: Welcome! My name is Anna and I share information on collecting antique/vintage items, refurbishing furniture and making small crafts/projects. The purpose of this blog is to show you how to use creativity and antiques to make your home beautiful. In addition to information on the blog, you can also follow me on the following social media accounts Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest.

Handcrafted Society

Welcome to the Handcrafted Society! This is a group of talented bloggers who come together monthly to collectively craft creations using a shared medium or theme. This month’s theme was “geometric patterns”. Each blogger created a project that incorporated a geometric pattern.

The projects by the Handcrafted Society are fun and inspiring because we see the varied perspectives and interpretations of the theme by each participant. These women are amazingly creative in making projects for each month’s theme. Towards the conclusion of this post, you’ll find images and links to the projects made by each blogger. I hope you enjoy browsing through all the ideas these ladies have created. Simply click on the image or blog name to view their full post.

Back Story

Although I have always been drawn to a country European home style, I have always particularly loved Swedish designs. Most notably, Gustavian furniture. Some hallmarks of Gustavian furniture are pale paint colors, gingham upholstery, wood cut diamonds adorning doors and cupboards, and ornate neoclassical details like tapered legs.

Incorporating some of these elements into an existing piece of furniture seemed like the perfect project for this month’s handcrafted society challenge. In this tutorial, I will show you how I incorporated these Swedish inspired elements into two furniture makeovers.

Swedish Inspired Furniture Makeover

To keep things simple, I worked on two small pieces of furniture. The first is a step stool and the second is a small wooden cupboard.

The key with this process is only painting a decorative pattern on top of an existing finish. I painted a Swedish inspired pattern on the top of step stool and on the door of the small cupboard.

Supplies

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These pieces were already painted so I just gave them a quick update. I already had all the supplies available for this project. However, for your convenience, I am linking similar products from online sources.

• Rustoleum chalkpaint in Serenity Blue and Linen White
• Polycrylic Matte Sealer
• 2 inch paint brushes
• Furniture transfers
• Sandpaper – 120 grit
• Gold paint pen
• Painters Tape
• Measuring tape and/or straight edge ruler
• Rag to wipe down furniture
• Screw driver – to remove any hardware

Prep Your Furniture Surface

Using your sandpaper give the surface where you want the design a quick scuff sanding. Then wipe it down with a damp rag to remove all dust. Use your measuring tape to find the center point of each side of furniture and mark it with a pencil. The center marks are going to be your diamond points.

Be sure to remove any hardware – such a knobs, latches, or pulls from your furniture. I decided to paint the outside of the cupboard Serenity Blue first and then found the center points (length and width) of the door.

Create the Diamond Shape

Using your painters tape, carefully connect the lines between the center points. In doing so, you will create a diamond pattern. Once the tape is securely on the surface, apply the paint on the inside of the diamond. Wait for the paint to dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Create Gold Accents

Using the painters tape create thin lines on the edges of the diamond. I used two pieces of tape on each edge of the diamond to create a thin line. Then with the gold paint pen, filled in the thin lines. Wait for the gold paint to dry before moving on to the next step.

Optional – Inlaid Rectangle

The geometric pattern on the foot stool needed something more than a diamond. So, I decided to find the center point on each side of the diamond and connect the dots with painters tape – thereby creating an inlaid rectangle. This step is entirely optional.

Apply Furniture Transfers

I had some furniture transfers in my stash. After sorting through the different images, I selected a some leaves for the foot stool and a bird egg for the cupboard door. Rub the transfers onto the geometric pattern and ensure they are completely attached to the surface.

I used the birds egg above for the cupboard and a leaf pattern on the stool.

Seal the Geometric Pattern

Apply 3 coats of polycrylic to your Swedish inspired furniture design to protect the painted pattern and the transfer.

I used a clear matte finish. Satin and gloss finishes are available too.

Final Swedish Inspired Furniture Makeover

Here are some photos of the final result. Pin any of the images below to bookmark this post for future reference.

Handcrafted Society Geometric Designs

As mentioned above, I am participating in the Handcrafted Society with other bloggers who also created projects with the theme of “geometric pattern”. You can see what they made below! To learn more about any of the projects, simply click on the image.

In Closing

Thank you for stopping by the blog today. If you liked this post, you might enjoy the projects below. Happy creating!

Peel and Stick Wallpaper in a Cupboard

Doily String Lights

Candle Centerpiece with Moss and Eggs