Nowadays, distressed furniture is the most sought-after and this demand led to the development of indigenous furniture distressing techniques. These techniques are used to give a worn out look by artificially aging the furniture. Distressed furniture sports a weathered look, even though it is brand new. These unique pieces are made with the help of different techniques to give them a realistic look. Such furniture is very expensive, as compared to a similar piece, which is not distressed. Don't lose heart, if you are not able to afford a piece of distressed furniture. You can make such a piece, out of the existing furniture in your house. All you need is some tools, a furniture piece and a basic idea regarding how to distress furniture. By undertaking this task, you can create a unique antique piece of furniture for and save money too. If you are a beginner, avoid any expensive, new or antique furniture. You may try the methods on a damaged or a cheap piece of furniture.
Crackling Method
This is one of the popular furniture distressing techniques, which is used to simulate the crackling effect, seen on old furniture. The following are some guidelines for distressing furniture to get this crackling effect. First of all, you have to sand the furniture and clean it with a tack cloth. Now paint it with a water-based color of your choice, so as to cover the entire surface area and allow it to dry for at least one day. Once it dries out, make a mixture of wallpaper paste and gum arabic and apply a thick coat of this mixture over the furniture. This coating has to become completely dry before you can perform the next step. The next step involves the application of a single coat of white latex (or any other light color) over the thick mixture coating. As soon as you finish with the coating, dry the entire surface area of the furniture with the help of a hair dryer. The hair dryer must be on maximum heat, so that the cracks appear quickly. Now you can apply the acrylic paint coating. You may use a mixture of raw sienna, raw umber paint and a little water. Make sure to use small amounts of paint and allow it to enter the cracks. Furniture Distressing With Wax
Waxing is also one of the common distressing furniture techniques, which can be done very easily. All you need is wax, for which crayons or even leftover candles will serve the purpose. Like any other method, you have to start with sanding the selected piece of furniture, which is made of wood only. Once the sanding is over, paint the entire surface area of the furniture with a dark-colored paint, preferably medium to chocolate brown. As the paint becomes completely dry, rub the edges and the raised surfaces of the furniture with wax, as these are the areas that would have been worn out with time. Now you can paint the entire surface area with flat white acrylic paint, which will not stick to those areas with wax. Once the paint is dry, you can rag some wood stain over the white paint, but make sure to give an uneven finish. Let it dry. As the stain becomes dry, remove the wax from the furniture. Iron the waxed areas after keeping paper towels over it. The wax will melt and get absorbed into the paper towels. Your distressed furniture is ready and you may use it for interior decoration. If the furniture still has a polished and finished look, you can once again sand it to get that distressed look.
Distressing Furniture With Paint
Start with applying a matte paint (any color of your choice) over the entire surface area of the furniture. Once the paint is dry, apply a thin coat of furniture wax or paste wax. If you want a distressed look for the entire piece, the wax should be applied over the entire surface area. If you want to distress selected areas, like the edges, legs and around drawer handles, then apply the wax over such areas only. Let the wax dry for one to two hours. After that, apply wood glaze (any color) over the entire piece. Allow it to dry for one or two days and then start sanding. You may sand random or selected areas, in order to reveal the matte paint. You can use your creativity and make distressed furniture through this method, by experimenting with various types of sandpapers or using different sanding techniques.
Other Materials for Furniture Distressing
You can use anything from nails, screws, hammer, keys, wire chains, nuts and bolts, as tools for applying distressing furniture techniques. All such materials can be used to achieve a beaten around, worn out look for painted modern furniture. Start with sanding the areas like edges, around handles, corners and raised areas. You may use sandpaper in various grits to avoid a uniform pattern. Now, beat the furniture with all the tools to create the wear and tear effect. A faux wormhole can be made with a small wire nail and hammer and small scratches can be created with a wire brush. Various impressions can be created on the entire surface area of the furniture by using various tools like a hammer, chain and log. Now, clean the surface with a tack cloth and apply wood stain with a damp cloth over the areas, where you have created the holes and marks. Wipe off any extra wood stain and allow it to dry. Once the stain is dry, apply a sealer or polyurethane over the furniture. This coating will protect the furniture from further wear and tear. By following this method, you can distress painted furniture with the help of various easily available household materials. The above said distressing furniture techniques can help you in creating a distressed piece of wood furniture, which can liven up your interior. You can always unleash your creativity and come up with various ideas and create pieces of distressed furniture.
