Wooden Furniture
1. Paint unfinished wooden table or workbench with your choice of acrylic paint – two coats should be enough.
For furniture with a finish: thoroughly sand the entire piece to “rough up” the finish so that it will accept paint. You will probably need 3 – 4 coats of paint to cover the finish, especially if it is dark.
Set aside to dry.
2. Distress wooden furniture using an Xacto knife, emery board, and sandpaper. Concentrate on the surfaces that would normally see the most wear: edges and corners. You can also use the Xacto knife to nick the top surfaces of the piece. See the samples for ideas. Continue until you are pleased with the results – you can make it look as worn as you like!
3. Paint on a coat of wood stain or American Accents Rust-Oleum Antique Top Coat (make sure you stir it first). Work in small areas at a time, and wipe off fairly quickly with small lint-free cotton rag (t-shirt material works great). Set aside to dry.
4. To simulate dirt and wear, dry brush the kitchen stool with some or all of the following paint colors (your preference): Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Green Umber, Avocado. I normally squirt a dime-sized amount of each color in a plastic cup, and take turns with each color using a fan brush. Dip your brush into the paint, then wipe off most of it on a paper towel. Then, lightly and quickly brush on the stool until you are pleased with the results. Remember you can always add more, but it’s hard to take off! Set aside to dry.
5. Make a paint “wash” with a little Burnt Umber paint and water. Paint this all over furniture piece. Set aside to dry.
6. Spray with Matte Sealer. Set aside to dry.
Plastic Furniture
1. Paint plastic furniture (such as the Chrysnbon chair or the Handley House Classics kitchen stool shown in picture) with Buttermilk acrylic paint or in your choice of color. These will need two coats of paint. Set aside to dry.
2. To simulate dirt and wear, dry brush the kitchen stool with some or all of the following paint colors (your preference): Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Green Umber, Avocado. I normally squirt a dime-sized amount of each color in a plastic cup, and take turns with each color using a fan brush. Dip your brush into the paint, then wipe off most of it on a paper towel. Then, lightly and quickly brush on the stool until you are pleased with the results. Remember you can always add more, but it’s hard to take off! Set aside to dry.
Aged Chair & Stool
Copyright 2011 Kathryn Depew
