Decoupage Advice for chest of drawers

[kemosabeimalone]

I have a little project to give this chest of drawers a bit of a makeover using this wonderful heavy weight wallpaper I bought online (see pics). It wasn’t cheap so I’m nervous about making a mistake so any advice gratefully received. The paper has been cut into two halves (separating the two birds) so there is some pattern matching to do. The two blue herons would make the obvious centre. There are also ‘cut in’ handle spaces rather than knobs on the drawers which I will need to cut around very accurately - I find this sort of thing hard so advice here very much needed. I’m planning to stick the paper on using repositionable spray mount in case I need a few goes to line things up. I’ll then seal it all using a varnish gloss but I’m happy to defer to better experience if any one has used other products more successfully. Thanks so much!

That paper is gorgeous. It'll be a lovely project. I'm no expert but I'd probably remove the drawers and draw around them on tracing/parchment paper to make templates. Then use these to draw around in pencil and cut out the drawer shapes from the wallpaper. You'll be able to see where the birds etc are if the paper is reasonably translucent. It's a bit like 'fussy cutting' in quilting I suppose. When you're happy with the position of each piece and you start gluing them down, possibly use a bank card or something to smooth the paper and get rid of any air bubbles as you go. I hope that's helpful. Please post a photo of the finished result!

That’s brilliant advice kungfu - really helpful thank you. I toyed with a number of ideas for cutting yesterday but all of them felt like they were working blind to a degree. Your idea completely sorts that! Feeling loads more confident now! Thank you

Happy to help. Also, if you're thinking of painting the rest of the piece, consider using chalk paint (Annie Sloan is good) and finishing with a coat of the recommended wax. It's easy to use, doesn't have a strong smell, dries quickly and doesn't need any primer or preparation. If you're painting, definitely have the drawers out and away so you don't mess up the lovely paper!