Upgrade Your Furniture With Bamboo Mats To Create A More Modern Look

Beautiful and distinctive furniture and décor often come with a similarly distinctive high-end price tag. Details like caning, carved accents, and material complexity offer an elevated look that provides both uniqueness and texture to the gorgeous rooms they inhabit. If you're looking for a way to get a high-end look on a low-end budget, you may not need to go any further than repurposing some inexpensive placemats. Their patterns and textures make it easy to add that little something extra to plain and boring pieces like tables, nightstands, dressers, and cabinets. On Instagram, @scarletbay.redesign shows how to use ordinary textured bamboo placemats and some wood glue to turn a simple streamlined dresser into a one-of-a-kind piece with fluted drawer fronts.

Placemats can be an affordable source for a number of materials, like bamboo caning and woven jute, that can be used in the manner of this tutorial. While this can be an eco-friendly way to repurpose old placemats, you can also purchase new mats individually and in sets. Their size makes them a perfect way to add some flair without having to invest in pricey rolls of pole wrap or fluted panels that may go unused. It's also a great strategy to cover up old or battered antique pieces that have seen far better days, turning them into new stylish pieces of furniture and hiding their imperfections, scratches, and watermarks. 

To create beautiful fluted drawer fronts using bamboo placemats, begin by sanding and cleaning the surface of the drawer and removing any existing hardware. Sanding will help the wood glue create a more secure bond without lumps or bubbles. Prepare a placemat by cutting it down to size, removing the backing, and using the caning itself. Slather on a liberal amount of wood glue, then brush it smooth over the surface you are covering. Press the bamboo flat against the drawer surface, allowing it to dry. You can also add other details, like simple molding around it for a luxe recessed look. Paint or stain the drawer and replace the hardware to finish it off.

This high-end textured look works for a number of furniture pieces in addition to drawer fronts, including cabinet doors, side panels, and other open areas on the sides or tops of wood dressers and tables. Cane cabinets could be the modern update your kitchen needs, or you can update inexpensive IKEA finds into trendy fluted cabinets for cheap. It would also be a perfect way to cover a battered headboard in sections or to create a new textured tabletop. This DIY also works with other placemat materials like burlap, cork, or rattan, as well as ruddy woven fabrics like sisal and linen.