How to Make a Unique Upcycled Garden Bench

How do you upcycle a grotty old garden bench? How about some cool decoupage with designer paper napkins and transform it into a Marimekko bench?

Yes, you can decoupage for outdoor furniture, and as long as you use the proper protective varnish, it will last.

I am a huge Marimekko fan. I love their fabrics and Scandi/Nordic style. For those who don’t know, Marimekko is a Finnish home furnishings and textile company.

I wanted some of that Marimekko style in my garden. Therefore, instead of just painting a neglected bench in my garden that desperately needed cosmetic attention, I decided to Marimekko it!

I got the idea from some Marimekko decoupage shoes I’d made a few months ago. I still had some *Unikko napkins left over from the shoe revamp, so I used these to upcycle and pimp my bench.

(*Unikko is probably Marimekko’s most iconic print. It was first designed in the 1950s, very mid-century modern)

Using Decoupage to Make a Marimekko Bench

This method of upcycling a bench with paper napkins can also be applied to other outdoor furniture. I’ve upcycled an old wooden table with different Marimekko designs and turned it into Scandinavian Christmas wall art.

There are also many other fabulous designs besides Marimekko. That is one of the significant advantages of using paper napkins to upcycle garden furniture; they come in thousands of great designs.

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What you need to make a Marimekko Bench

• Old wooden bench or other garden furniture that needs a revamp
• Whitewood paint
• Orbital sander
• Paint and glue brushes
• Marimekko Napkins – I used Unikko blue ones, one packet was enough for my bench.
• PVA Glue / Mod Podge – or other white glue suitable for use with paper
• Crystal clear yacht (or outdoor) varnish

How to Decoupage for Outdoors

Step 1: First, prepare the bench or outdoor furniture for decoupage. To do this sand it smooth with the orbital sander.

Step 2: Next, give the bench a coat of white paint. One coat should be enough; the paint ensures that the paper napkin pattern is visible.

Step 3: Prepare the paper napkins for decoupage by separating them. Most paper napkins are 3-ply thick, but we only want the top printed ply for decoupage. If you roll the napkin’s corner between your thumb and forefinger, the ply layers should separate.

Step 4: Tear the flower patterns out from the paper napkins. If you wet the napkin first where you want to tear it, the flowers will come away easily. It is better to tear rather than cut the napkins as you get a feathered edge which blends in better.

Step 5: Next, spread glue onto the bench where you want to decoupage and then place the cutout flowers onto the wood, one by one. The napkins are too delicate to apply the glue directly to. Gently brush out the napkins as you lay them on the bench.

If you screw up some cling film into a ball, you can use this to gently push the napkins onto the bench and smooth them out a bit.

Step 6: Carry on decoupaging the bench with the flowers until the whole bench is covered in Marimekko Unikko flowers. This took me a couple of hours. You can do this in stages. It doesn’t have to be done all in one go.

Protecting Outdoor Decoupaged Furniture

Step 7: Leave the glue to dry thoroughly. Once it is dry, cover the entire bench in two coats of crystal clear outdoor/yacht varnish. Make sure you use a crystal clear varnish, as it can have a yellow tint.

This varnish will protect the decoupaged Marimekko bench from the elements. It has been a few years since I decoupaged this bench, and the outdoor varnish has protected it from all the English weather can throw at it.

I told you it was easy, and I now have a bench to match my shoes!

If you’re not a huge Marimekko fan, you can use this method to upcycle a bench with the napkins of your choice.

Other Marimekko Crafts and Decoupage Ideas

Since upcycling my garden bench with Marimekko, I have painted my garden shed to match the same Unikko pattern but in a different colour.

I have also created a beautiful floral display of decoupaged Marimekko planters using paper napkins in many designs, brightening up my garden on the dullest days. And in the summer, I even have a Marimekko giant cactus I bring out into the garden for fun decor.

Marimekko isn’t just for the garden; my stairs have also been wallpapered in the Unikko design.

You will find more unique upcycled garden ideas and decoupage ideas here.