it’s always fun to see a before & after that doesn’t involve a chair. this makeover comes from d*s reader dawn gahan, who had been eyeing this shoji screen at a local hobby lobby store for some time. turned off by its $70 price tag, dawn managed to knab a damaged screen for $20 and decided to take it home to fix up. after removing all of the backing, dawn painted the frame white and then meticulously cut out a beautiful selection of scrapbook and origami papers to fit the panes, gluing them on to create a patchwork effect. i love the way dawn made the most of a damaged piece of furniture and was able to use leftover origami to create a truly custom piece that speaks to her own sense of style. great work, dawn!
44 Comments
Wow! What a transformation, and a beautiful addition to the room.
I have a screen almost exactly like that. I am printing these pictures right now. :)
Wowee!!! This has inspired me to make over an ugly old lamp I have ;)
That is beautiful! Can we get some more info on how the paper was inserted into the screen? Are they glued on? Close-up shots would be appreciated!
oh WOW. what an incredibly beautiful and surprising screen!!!
Just wonderful!
OMFG, that is beyond brilliant! I absolutely adore this!
Oh my goodness! I love it! Doesn’t help my current sewing obsession one bit. :)
It’s soooooo cute!
From hohum to work of art! Fantastic!
it is absolutely fantastic!
A wonderful and creative idea – and it’s executed perfectly! Great job!
Hey! That’s neat!
Oh wow. That is beautiful! How was the paper inserted into the screen? I just discovered this website yesterday and spent about 5 hours on it (I’m in college and should have been studying) but I think this might make me re-examine my hobbies!!
that’s beautiful. sounds like a lot of work, but definitely worth it.
I love origami paper and am always looking for a good use for it. Great Idea!
Absolutely amazing!
Stunning! What a great idea!
the black is perfect
I have a screen like that too (just sick of it). Thanks for the inspiration, I am excited about the possibilities now!
A very creative idea, and very beautiful.
wow! what a fabulous idea. the screen turned out gorgeous, i totally want one now!
Ohhhh I love this. I want to do this with my prints.
lovely work! At first glance I thought it was quilting material. I’m inspired to do one in greens! Thanks for the great idea!
that looks like a hecka lot of work. good job.
Hmm, interesting. A bit… girly, and yet not?
Awesome. I love patchwork. This would be a fantastic headboard.
soooo pretty!
this is adorable. nice transformation.
what a fabulous idea!
Oh my goodness…beautiful!
beautiful, Dawn! I know you’re so proud! :)
I can’t sew at all but am in love with the fabric bundles at purlsoho and now I have use for them! Great idea!
wonderful!!!!!! that’s a cool idea :)
Brilliant idea; beautifully executed. Well done!
A winner!
Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments. I only wish you could all see it in person; pictures don’t do the colors justice.
To answer the questions about how I adhered the paper . . .
I cut out the paper so that it would slightly overlap onto the back of each pane frame. I glued each piece down using Weldbond glue (one of my favorites). I “painted” the glue onto a pane frame using a paintbrush, and using the glue at full strength. I then placed the paper, good side down, and burnished it around the pane using a popsicle stick. This took out any air bubbles and kept the paper laying very flat.
The screen is in three panels. I worked on one panel at a time, laying out the paper and then picking it up in a specific order, creating a neat stack that I just pulled from. When I laid out the next panel, I looked the panel next to it so that designs did not duplicate or wind up next to each other.
The black is actually a scrapbook paper that is a cut-out filagree, so you can see through it. It’s my favorite part of the screen. I’m always wanting to inject some black into my decor but have been a bit fearful. This was a good first step!
The back of the screen is not pretty to look at; just a bunch of pieces of overlapping paper, but I can’t cover it with fabric because of the black filagree paper.
The project was extremely relaxing to work on. And I periodically check my local Hobby Lobby to see if they have any more screens with ripped backing. I’m ready to do another one!
I will try to post some close-up pix on my blog this weekend.
Dawn
Very cool!
This is absolutely stunning and beyond creative, I love it!!!
This is really great; lot’s of work, lot’s of ingenuity, and lot’s of great color sense. Thanks so much for sharing this. Patchwork has become one of my favs (you see it on the runways right now too) and to have one statement piece like this just can make the room.
Fantastic!
What a clever idea for what now looks like a high-end screen. I was thinking of doing something like this with mu own rather battered screen using fabric but the paper idea is so much smarter. It looks so charming. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
So beautiful!
OMG that is gorgeous
I am soooo going to make something similar – I love the idea of using scrapbook papers or even fabric – this is so lovely
I was so inspired by this project that I have been scouting for the perfect paper. I wanted a more Marakesh look. Well, I found some amazing scrapbook paper called “Taj Majal” and have started the project. Can’t wait to finish! It is time-consuming but so far, it is worth it!
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