This is one of my favourite tricks. Carbon paper makes it really easy to transfer words and images on to the surface of your furniture – it’s foolproof and saves so much time, like painting by numbers. Here, I created a simple typographic design with a drop shadow in a contrasting colour. Before you begin, remove any existing handles and fill in the holes left behind using wood filler so that you have a flat surface to work on.

Materials

Screwdriver

Wood filler and scraper

Sanding block and electric sander

Clear, water-based varnish

Primer

Paintbrushes

Satinwood paints

Painter’s tape

Printed letters

Carbon paper

Pencil

Artist’s brushes

New handles (optional)

Drill and drill bit (optional)

1 Sand the legs and add a coat of clear, water-based varnish, then leave to dry. Prepare and prime everything else and apply a base coat of paint. For the diagonal stripes, I used painter’s tape 5cm/2in wide. To keep the spacing even, I used a small piece of tape as a guide.

2 Make sure that the tape is secure and paint the diagonal lines in a contrasting colour. Add a second coat if you need to. Remove the tape as soon as you have full coverage and then wait for the paint to dry.

3 Your lettering should be printed out at full size – you may need several sheets of paper. I made sure to include the drop shadow. Tape each of the letters in position, making sure everything lines up correctly.

4 Place the carbon paper behind your first letter with the darker side facing the painted surface. With a sharp pencil, trace over the outline of the letter and its shadow.

5 The outline will be transferred onto the piece of furniture. Move the carbon paper to the next letter and repeat step four until you have traced the whole of your design.

6 Using an artist’s brush, paint the letters in your chosen colour. You may need to apply two coats. Leave to dry completely.

7 With a thinner brush, paint the drop shadow in a different colour. Again, you may need two coats. Leave to dry.

8 Touch up the edges of the letters with more paint as needed so that all the lines are neat and crisp. Leave to dry.

9 Paint around the edges of the letters using your base colour as well. This will take a little time, but it will make a big difference in the end. Leave to dry.

10 Finally, if you would like to add new handles or other hardware, you can do this now. I chose these small brass handles, which don’t compete with the lettering.