A Girl Can Dream: masking-taped chair & table set

project tuesday: masking-taped chair & table set

I was happy that no one guessed correctly, so this reveal should be a bit of a surprise! And yes, that is colour (um, inbetween all the black and white!). There is actually some more to this makeover – a little more of a project is involved, but you’ll have to wait until next week as it’s being featured elsewhere first.

So, being the sheep that I am, I caved and bought some Japanese masking tape. Not just one or two rolls but… 25. Yep, 25 rolls of masking tape (although one purchase was 20 in a box). And you’d think there are only so many things you can do with it, but it turned out a good half of them came in handy for this project. Originally I wanted to do different widths and just a few colours, but looking at them all sitting oh-so-prettily in a row in their box, I just used the brightly-coloured ones (and one grey) in the order they came with. And because there was NO chance of them staying put as is, I covered the tops with clear contact which seals the tape to a degree and also means the table is sooooo easy to clean. I have no idea if it’s going to last, but so far its survived Zak and Layla with oil pastels, pens, pencils, toy cars, their lunch and Layla banging it with a toy hammer, a wooden block and her drink bottle (she likes to make noise!). Here’s what I did.

Toolkit
1. Clear contact adhesive from the supermarket/newsagent
2. Japanese masking tape, $US27 for 20 pieces, from Karaku
3. Wattyl glossy enamel in Colorbond Nightsky
4. Scalpel
Oh, you’ll also need a dodgy chair and table set to make over. Mine is the LATT set from Ikea, $49.99. Would also look good on a dresser front (my original plan) or side table top.

How to:
1. Masking tape (ha! use the plain boring white stuff) the base of the tabletop and chair seat and paint the frames.
2. Once dry, tear strips of the coloured masking tape and stick on the base from one edge to the other. Continue with the colours of your choice until the bases are covered, overlapping at each edge. I left a tiny gap inbetween. (see pic, above left)
3. Smooth over the whole base with your hand so there are no bumps. Press the edges gently into the ridges of the seat to avoid tearing the tape in the next step.
4. Using your scalpel on a slight angle, press the point into the tiny gap between the seat base and frame and run the scalpel the full length, cutting through the tape. Be careful at the corners because they are not perfect – a little piece of wood juts out slightly. (see pic, above right)
5. Cut a piece of contact slightly larger than the surface you’re going to cover, peel off the backing and smooth over from the middle out, again jamming it into the edges.
6. Repeat step 4 to cut through the contact, ensuring the whole surface is totally smooth and bump free the whole time.