Posted by frenchicfinland Admin
ABC - LEARN TO DISTRESS AND CREATE PATINA WHEN PAINTING FURNITURE
Would you like your furniture to look old and beautifully aged - like an antique, but without the antique price tag?
You can create a worn, patinated look on any piece of furniture - just choose which piece in your home to start with.
You’ll need chalk paint, a sanding sponge or sandpaper, and a free afternoon
Different painting techniques are fun to try!
The easiest and most straightforward way is to sand the paint off the corners and edges.
There are other ways to give furniture a patinated 'Shabby Chic' look, such as painting with a dry brush 'Dry Brushing' or using the candle technique.
Read this Frenchic blog to find out how easily and enjoyably you can create an old, worn-looking finish on your beautiful furniture.
The chest of drawers in the photo is painted in two shades: green Apple of My Eye and white Wedding Cake.
Lots of distressing and brown and clear Frenchic wax. Learn more about using waxes in this blog post.
Gather your supplies - here’s what you’ll need:
- Dust sheets or cloth
- Sandpaper or sanding sponge
- Paintbrush
- Paint
- Microfiber cloth
- Steel wool
- Furniture wax
- A piece of candle
How do you distress furniture?
1. Preparation
Start by laying cloths or fabric under the furniture in your work area. Remove the furniture’s fittings, knobs and handles - store them carefully in a box. Gather the supplies you’ll need to clean, paint and sand the furniture.
2. Clean and sand the furniture
- Wipe and wash the furniture with Sugar Soap detergent, then rinse and dry. Lightly sand any loose or flaking paint and sharp corners.
- Use varying pressure as you sand different areas of the surface - this helps the paint absorb unevenly and gives it an aged, patinated look.
- While you’re at it, go over the remaining sharp corners and edges, rounding them off by sanding to give them the look of old furniture.
- Wipe away the sanding dust with a slightly damp microfiber cloth, and you’re ready for the next step.
3. Paint
Now you can start painting! There are many different techniques you can use and combine to create a vintage look.
You can paint along the wood grain, boldly in a “here and there” style, or using figure-eight brush strokes.
Remember, you’re creating a worn, vintage look, not a perfect finish.
Once the first coat has dried, decide whether you want a random, textured finish or a more opaque finish with the next coat.
Now try different techniques on the surface or combine them!
Reveal the layers of color
If you want your furniture to look as if it has been painted several times, choose two different shades. The first coat will show through the top coat in the distressed areas.
The most fun results come from using shades that contrast strongly with each other, such as complementary colors. If you want the wood grain to show through the paint, one shade is enough for this technique.
Dry Brush technique
'Dry Brush', painting with a dry brush: use this technique to highlight edges and corners, or paint over the entire piece.
For this technique, use only a little paint on the brush, as you’re not aiming for an opaque finish.
Try a white or gray shade using the 'Dry Brush' technique over a darker shade - this creates a beautiful, gauzy finish.
Candle technique
Rub a candle over the areas of the furniture where you don’t want the paint to stick.
Especially on corners and edges. Paint the furniture and you’ll see that the paint won’t stick to the areas treated with candle wax.
Wipe the paint off those areas with a damp cloth. Try this technique on dark, unpainted wooden furniture - pair it with light-colored paint.
Distress the surface and edges with steel wool or sandpaper
Once the painted furniture is dry, you can start distressing it with steel wool or sandpaper - or both, depending on how pronounced you want the distressed effect to be.
If you applied two coats, try using steel wool to sand through the paint and reveal the wood underneath.
Try using steel wool in circular sanding motions and lengthwise along the edges.
Vary the pressure to create beautiful, natural-looking areas.
Distress the areas that would naturally wear: corners, edges, drawers, raised details, and other high-wear areas, such as around knobs and handles.
Start sanding gently and continue until you’re happy with the look. Finally, wipe the sanding dust off the surfaces.
Waxing
Once your furniture has been painted, dried, and distressed, apply furniture wax with a wax brush.
Apply plenty of wax, and remember to always wipe off any excess.
The purpose of the wax is to soak into the sanded-through and worn areas of the wood surface. Thin coats of wax look beautiful.
Brown Frenchic wax over the paint adds a worn look and beautifully “ages” the surface. You can also add patina over the paint with other colored waxes.
Do you like a cracked paint finish?
You can easily create this look on a new or old piece of furniture using Frenchic range Easy Crackle crackle medium.
Crackle medium is applied between two coats of paint - and the top coat cracks, revealing the color of the coat beneath.
You can use two different shades or the same shade in layers.
Easy Crackle can make even a brand-new piece of furniture look antique, and the cracked paint finish resembles old, cracking oil paint - you can create the same finish on other items too: mirror or picture frames, chests, etc.
Tip: If you like the Shabby Chic style and light-colored furniture, try crackle medium between two coats of white paint.
The result is a refined crackled look. You can add patina by finishing the surface with brown or gray wax, which further emphasizes the cracks.
Frenchic waxes are wonderful, beeswax-based, and easy to work with. Read more about using waxes in this blog.
Image: Try different tools to create a worn look: dab with a sponge, build up layers - sand and wax.
What kind of paint should you use to create a distressed look?
You can use any paint and wear it down when painting furniture, but one paint stands above the rest - chalk paint.
It’s thicker than regular furniture paints, so you don’t need much on your brush (this is an advantage for chalk paint brush techniques).
Chalk paint also lacks the plastic-like, thick finish often seen on furniture painted with latex paint, where paint builds up around the edges and the drawers or doors no longer close properly after painting.
Lazy Range range
If you’re using chalk paint for the first time, our Lazy Range shades are ideal when you’re trying out these techniques.
Lazy Range shades are self-leveling and don’t need to be primed or protected separately - and your free afternoon just got a whole lot easier!
Color shown: Moody Blue from the Lazy Range.
Simply dip, paint and go!
