How to Apply Re-Design with Prima Furniture Transfers — In 5 Easy Steps

ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers are easy to apply and give your projects a beautiful hand-painted look. Did I mention furniture transfers are easy to apply? 🙂 If you can figure out a scratch-off lottery ticket, you can apply ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers.

And you will win every time because your painted furniture projects will be so beautiful!

Here’s my tutorial on How to Apply ReDesign with Prima Furniture Transfers in 5 Easy Steps. (There’s also a video at the end if you learn better by watching.) We sell ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers at our store All Things New Again in Leesburg, VA or you can buy them online here.

Tutorial: How to Apply ReDesign with Prima Furniture Transfers

Step 1: Cut the ReDesign with Prima transfer (if needed)

ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers can be cut with scissors easily. This allows you to arrange the design to fit the space on your project perfectly.

Step 2: Tape transfer in place and remove backing

The transfer has two sheets to it: the top sheet with the design printed on it + the white backing. Arrange both layers of the ReDesign with Prima transfer however you like on your piece. When you love how it looks, secure the top sheet with tape and carefully remove the white backing. I start in one corner and remove the backing/tape in place at the same time, slowly working my way around the entire section.

This is the trickiest step, in my opinion. On larger pieces it helps to have a second person hold the transfer while you remove the backing and secure it with tape.

Once the white backing is removed, your design will be sticky. On some surfaces, you may be able to lift up the design and re-position after you have removed the white backing. On other surfaces, like glass, the design tends to stick right away.

I don’t like to take any chances with re-positioning. Once the backing is removed, that’s where I’m leaving it. No pressure! You just need to be a little bit careful with this step.

Once the transfer is in place, smooth out any wrinkles or bubbles with your hands before moving on to Step 3.

Step 3: Rub the ReDesign with Prima transfer to apply it

ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers come in a tube. Each tube comes with a special application tool AKA a little stick. Use the little stick to gently rub all over your design until the image transfers from the plastic onto your surface–just like scratching a lottery ticket.

Step 4: Burnish (That just means rub some more.)

Once your entire design has been transferred onto your piece, you need to burnish it. This is just a fancy way of saying you need to rub it some more.

Rub it a lot more.

Burnishing smooths out any air bubbles that you may not be able to see. Pay special attention to the edges around your piece. You don’t want them curling up and peeling off later. Burnishing helps prevent this.

I just wrap a clean rag around my fingers and rub all over the design, again paying extra attention to the edges. When you think you have burnished it enough, burnish it some more. This is really important!

Step 5: Seal your project

ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers are super-thin slices of paper. They need to be sealed for protection. You can use wax or your favorite water-based top coat, but don’t forget to seal your piece.

A note about Dixie Belle Gator Hide…

We also sell Dixie Belle Paint Company products here at All Things New Again. I love Dixie Belle’s Gator Hide polyacrylic top coat. However, I have seen lots of complaints online about transfers peeling up when Gator Hide is used to seal them. The issue seems to be specific to Gator Hide. Dixie Belle wax and other top coats are OK–and I use them all the time to seal transfers with no problems.

Dixie Belle says that Gator Hide does not cause ReDesign with Prima transfers to peel. They say peeling occurs because the projects were not burnished well enough prior to applying Gator Hide. I’ve also seen online commenters who use Gator Hide over transfers all the time with no issues.

I’ve had mixed results with Gator Hide. (I thought I burnished it enough!) 🙂 I’m just mentioning this here as a warning. If you use Gator Hide, please be extra, extra thorough with your burnishing step.

Step 6: Enjoy!

This is totally an extra step, but I think we get so caught up in creating, we often forget to do this. ENJOY your finished project! It looks beautiful!

Buy ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers here. We ship nationwide.

Here’s the video tutorial I did over on Facebook in our All Things New Again Artisans Group. You are welcome to join our group! We do a lot of painting tutorials, Coffee with Courtney on Monday mornings and, most of all, we love seeing photos of your work.

Thanks for watching!

~ Courtney

All Things New Again is a family-owned furniture boutique and paint studio in Leesburg, Virginia (about an hour or so west of Washington, D.C.) We sell hand-painted furniture, home decor and several lines of paint and supplies for your next DIY project, including ReDesign with Prima furniture transfers. We also offer furniture painting classes every month. See our class schedule for details.

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