Let’s Make Laminate Look Like Leather!

I have another project for you that involves changing the look of laminate furniture. If you’ve tried to paint laminate, you know that it is no easy task. I have found that chalk paint works very well on laminate. There is no need for sanding before painting, no priming needed, and it resists being scratched. Before this project, the last piece of laminate furniture I refinished was a small table for my mom. Instead of painting it, though, I used brown paper bags & Elmers glue to create a unique look for the top of the table. I am using the same technique with a bit of a twist on a corner shelving unit for my son’s home study room. This time, the result made the piece look even more like leather!

Table Of Contents

Mom's table
Son's corner shelf
Step 1 – Gather supplies
Supplies Used
- Laminate to leather process
Step 2 – Rip and scrunch
Step 3 – Soak in glue mixture
Step 4 – Starting the process
Step 5 – Moving to the front
Covering the edges
Step 6 – Stain & Paint
Step 7 – Sealing
Finished project
Before, During, After
Instructions
For your convenience
Want more project ideas?

Mom’s table

My mom was given a little side table by a neighbor. I offered to refinish it for her. Even though it had been sitting out in the weather and had some damage, it looked like a quick project. I figured it would just need a light sanding & a clear coat. While that technique was great for the side & legs of the table, the laminate top was a different story. After giving it a bit of thought & considering the supplies I had on hand, I decided to try a technique that I’ve seen but not used before – decoupaging with brown paper bags! After all, mom already had glue and I had seen a stack of paper lunch bags in a kitchen drawer. Applying the bags to the top was a quick process and both she and I loved the result!

Son’s corner shelf

The corner shelf that I am refinishing in this project is one that I have had for years but was no longer using. When my son bought his house, I gave it to him.

The shelf sat in the corner of the room that he planned to use as a home office/study. His vision was for the room to have an old English library/study vibe. He wanted a deep green on the upper walls, wall paneling on the lower 1/2, a leather chair, wood floor, and a desk that was already worn in.

As the room came together, it was obvious that the stark white laminate corner shelf was not going to work with the vibe of the room. I told him that I thought I could make it look like leather. He liked the idea so we loaded it in my car so I could bring it back home.

Step 1 – Gather supplies

The paper bag technique is easy and requires very few supplies.

When I used the technique on mom’s table, what she had in the house was brown paper lunch sacks. For the shelf project, I used what I had at home which was brown paper grocery sacks. *You can also use brown wrapping paper or craft paper*

I also used white Elmer’s glue, as I did on mom’s table. *Here, again, you have options, you can use Modge Podge or wallpaper paste* Since the glue works better when it is thinned with water, I used a plastic bowl for mixing the two together.

Since I planned for the shelf unit to look even more like leather, I planned to stain the paper once the glue had time to dry. The stain I had on hand was Minwax water-based stain in Provincial. It was the perfect color!

Supplies Used

Brown paper bags
Elmers white glue
Water
Bowl for mixing
Wet rag for clean-up
Dark stain
Black paint

Below is a video of the process to change white laminate into aged leather

Laminate to leather process

Leather-look shelf

Step 2 – Rip and scrunch

Once your supplies are gathered, the first step is to tear your bags into smaller pieces. The size you use is up to you but I find it easier if the pieces are not too big. Smaller pieces also provide a more interesting pattern.

When the pieces have been torn, you scrunch them into a ball to make them wrinkly. This will give them character. After the pieces have been scrunched, smooth them out a bit.

Step 3 – Soak in glue mixture

To create the glue mixture, I placed about 1/2 a bottle of the glue into a plastic bowl. I then added water a little at a time while mixing it with my fingers. When the glue was well mixed in with the water, it had a thinner consistency. Now, it was time to start soaking the paper.

I didn’t take a picture of the paper soaking in the glue mixture with either project. Here is a picture of mom’s project after several pieces of paper were glued to the table. I used a paintbrush to apply additional glue to the top of the paper.

For the shelf, instead of using a paintbrush, I just used my hands. I placed a couple of pieces of paper in the glue mixture and allowed them to soak for a bit before applying them to the shelf unit.

Step 4 – Starting the process

For this project, even though (or especially because) the back will not be seen, I decided to start gluing the pieces on the back of the shelf unit. I did this because I was using grocery bags and the paper is much thicker than the lunch sacks I used on mom’s table. I wanted to get a feel for how the paper would react and find out if it would stick well to the laminate before I placed in on the front of the unit.

Since I was just testing out the paper on the back, initially I didn’t wrap it around the spine. As I worked on the unit, I decided to completely cover the back – even though it won’t be seen. The grocery bags were from several different stores with a variety of thickness & color. I really liked the look the difference in color made when the paper had dried.

Step 5 – Moving to the front

Now that I had an idea how the heavier bags would work, I moved to the front of the unit. By the time I had finished covering the back of the unit, most of the bags I had left were from the same grocery store. What that meant was there would be very little variation in the color on the front of the unit. When I started applying the pieces to the interior of the shelves, I found that if the pieces were smaller, they were easier to work with.

Covering the edges

The trickiest area to cover was the curved edges of the shelves. If I made the pieces too big, they didn’t lay flat. So, I tore the pieces into about 1″ x 1 1/2″ sections. Working with the smaller pieces made covering these edges much easier.

To prevent this shelf unit from falling, it has built in brackets that are designed for a screw to be inserted to secure it to the wall. I didn’t apply the paper on the brackets so they would be easily visible when it was time to attach the shelf to a wall. After finishing with the paper, I painted the brackets with black chalk paint to help them blend in better with the color of the paper.

Step 6 – Stain & Paint

When the entire unit was covered with paper and the glue was dry, there were a few areas where the paper was not totally glued down. To fix those areas, I applied Elmers glue in full strength and pressed them down with my fingers. That little bit of glue was enough to seal the pieces in place. Even though I overlapped the paper, when the glue dried, some of the white laminate could be seen. To cover the white, I applied a bit of black chalk paint which actually added to the character of the piece.

I wanted to make the unit look aged. While the areas of black paint helped with that, I thought that staining the piece would bring out even more character. I had a few different stains in brown tones and settled on one with the deepest color – Minwax’s Provincial. I wasn’t sure how oil-based stain would react with the glue mixture so I chose to use water-based stain. I applied the stain using a strip of t-shirt material. It didn’t take long to see what a beautiful change it made to the look of the paper!

Step 7 – Sealing

The last step is to seal the paper. Using a paintbrush, I applied 2 coats of Minwax water-based polyurethane in satin. The sealer helped to deepen the stain making it look even more richly aged.

Finished project

This really is a quick & simple project. It just seems long since I broke it down into tiny steps.

Tear & scrunch paper bags
Soak pieces in a mixture of glue & water
Apply paper to furniture
Touch up small bare spots with paint if needed
Stain if desired
Apply polyurethane

Here is the shelf unit with the desk in my son’s study. He is still creating the space. There will be a bookcase filled with books and artwork on the walls. I can’t wait to see it once he has it completed!

Before, During, After

Now it’s your turn to transform a piece of laminate furniture into one that looks like leather!

Instructions

Mix Elmer’s glue with a little water
Tear brown paper bags into small pieces & crumple
Flatten pieces of paper back & lay into the glue mixture
Apply wet pieces to furniture
Allow drying
Apply water-based stain using a soft cloth
Apply two coats of water-based polyurethane

For your convenience

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