Create a mother-of-pearl piece at home

Marcie K shows how to achieve faux mother-of-pearl inlay without the hefty price tag

While real mother-of-pearl inlay takes a true artisan to hand-carve decorative pieces from shells and embed them into furniture, this faux project can be done by any of us – I even used a clever mix of silver and champagne metallic paints from Guild Lane to create the look of the pearlised shimmer. When you see the price tag on real inlay furniture you’ll appreciate this block-printed drawers project, easily created in a few hours.

This technique can be used on anything from rugs, curtains, lampshades, blinds or bedspreads.

Step 1

Prep your drawers by sanding back the surface (Image A). Wipe them down with white spirit and leave to dry.

Step 2

Use Guild Lane’s Jubilee paint in Gainsborough Blue for the base coat, applying with a low-pile roller or a synthetic brush to avoid brushstrokes (Image B). Add one to two coats, as required, and leave to dry.

Step 3

Using a straight edge, draw a line across the centre of your drawers (Image C) and have a think about which way you want the design to run – you could have the block printing running vertically on the front, and horizontally on the sides and top.

Step 4

Pour a small amount of Jubilee paint in Dover Chalk into an old tub, dip an old sanding block into the paint (Image D), then have a practice printing on scrap paper to get the right consistency and pressure.

Step 5

Start from the middle of the drawer and lay your first block print (Image E). Line up the bottom edge of the block on the drawn line then gently roll it down, rather than just pressing it down in one go. Wipe any excess paint off the edges with kitchen towel or use a roller to make it more even. Keep going until the whole set of drawers is covered (Image F), then leave to dry.

Step 6

Pour a small amount of the champagne and silver metallic paint into a tub or on to a scrap of cardboard (Image G). Don’t mix them together, but dip the block and wipe off any excess. This will give a textured effect when printed. Start going over the previous block prints you have made (Image H), then use a small brush to get into corners or crevices. Repeat all over and leave to dry completely.

Step 7

Lightly sand the surface, if needed, to smooth any raised edges on the block printing. Seal the top with a clear varnish for extra protection, or you could even have a piece of glass cut to fit. Paint the hardware with the champagne metallic paint as a finishing touch (Image I).