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How to upcycle a bedside table with wallpaper

Child's bedroom with bed, toys and chest of drawers covered with wallpaper

Overview

Give your unwanted bedside table a new lease of life with a lick of paint, new handles and some stylish wallpaper. It's super easy. Here's how.

Steps

1Find yourself an old bedside table

Old bedside tables are easy to find on Facebook Marketplace or Gumtree. Once you've found one, give it a spruce up by sanding back and applying two coats of white paint. Find out more about how to upcycle a table with paint.

2Remove drawers

Before you do anything else, take out all your drawers, and use a screwdriver to remove all the old handles. Make sure your drawers are clean and dust free – you'll want a nice, clean surface to work with.

3Cut your wallpaper

Grab your roll of wallpaper and cut off enough to cover the entire front of your drawers. 

Person cutting a roll of wallpaper with scissors

4Apply wood glue

Pour your wood glue into a paint tray, ready for application. Use a roller and roll the glue all over the front of your drawers. A word of warning – make sure you roll your glue ONLY where you want your paper to stick.

Person pouring wood glue into a paint tray

5Stick down the wallpaper

Press your wallpaper against the sticky surface of your drawer. Make sure it's nice and straight before you do this – once it's on, that wallpaper ain't going anywhere! Once everything's stuck down use a float to smooth it out, making sure there are no air bubbles beneath. Turn your drawer upside down and allow your glue to dry for one hour.

Person smoothing wallpaper with a float

6Cut your wallpaper to fit

Once the glue is dry, grab a stanley knife to cut your wallpaper to the perimeters of the front of your drawer – you may like to use a ruler for this bit to make sure you cut it all nice and straight. And remember your safety gloves .

Person cutting wallpaper on the front of a drawer with a utility knife

7Attach your new drawer handles

Use a tape measure to find the centre of the drawer, then mark up that point with a pencil. Find the centre of your drawer handle and position either side of your marking, then mark again where the screws will go. Once you'd done this, grab your drill and drill two pilot holes (use a drill bit that is a similar size to your new handles' screws), then use a screwdriver or phillips head drill bit to tighten. Repeat this process for each drawer – and you're done!

Strap type handle attached to the front of a drawer

8 And now, we rest

How easy was that? You've now got an updated, stylish addition to your bedroom – and you haven't broken the bank. Winning!

9Watch more from the series

For more simple D.I.Y. inspiration check out the full episode from Make It Yours Episode 5: Kids Bedroom Makeover by Poppy Lee.

Health & Safety

Please make sure you use all equipment appropriately and safely when following the advice in these D.I.Y. videos. You need to be familiar with how to use equipment safely and follow the instructions that came with the equipment. If you are unsure, you may feel it is safest to consult an expert, such as the manufacturer or an expert Bunnings Team Member.

Grave health hazards are linked to asbestos, which may be in homes built up to 1990. Health hazards may result from exposure to lead-based paints in older materials and copper chromium arsenic (CCA) treated timber. For information on the dangers of asbestos, lead-based paint and CCA treated timber and tips for dealing with these materials contact your local council's Environmental Health Officer. You can also use a simple test kit from Bunnings to indicate the presence of lead-based paint.