Add pattern to your furniture

First, find yourself a simple piece of furniture. We have used a flat-pack chest of drawers, but these steps can easily be adapted to any item of furniture, new or old. Avoid pieces with lots of mouldings - or paint them in a toning colour. Coffee tables work well.

You will need: a roll of wallpaper, scissors, wallpaper paste and brush or roller, a clean cloth or sponge, craft knife, clear gloss varnish, and a paint brush.

1. Cut wallpaper to size before assembling furniture. Match pattern carefully. Allow extra to wrap under top. Treat front of chest as one piece.

2. Cover the legs of your flat-pack chest, pasting the paper, and then wrapping it around each leg.

3. Paste one side of the chest, and carefully apply wallpaper, smoothing it down with a clean, dry sponge or cloth. Repeat for the other side and then the back.

4. Paste top, and apply paper carefully. Mitre corners and wrap paper around and under top edge. Allow to dry. Leave fronts of drawers uncovered.

5. Assemble chest, then paste the front, and apply one piece of wallpaper over all drawers. Allow to dry completely, then cut along each drawer opening with a craft knife, and carefully smooth down the edges.

6. Wait until the wallpaper is completely dry, then apply three coats of thin gloss varnish, letting it dry thoroughly between coats.

7. Add knobs to the chest - either the ones that came with the flat-pack (perhaps painted) or something more striking.

* Line the inside of drawers with the same paper to complete the look.

This project uses wallpaper and tools from B&Q (www.diy.com).