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Aging is so Distressing – Techniques for Antiquing Furniture

Aging is so Distressing - Techniques for Antiquing Furniture

Well, despite the fact that I am starting to feel my age, this post will help you achieve that beautiful well worn, loved, aged and antique look on furniture and decor items. This is something you can do to new furniture or to give old furniture a new rustic look.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
Aren’t these layers of paint, scratches and wear marks art to your eyes?

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
Nothing shows character like chipping paint and multiple revealed layers on metal.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
Weathered paint worn thin and rubbed off give a table character!

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
Paint splotches on an old ladder beg to tell stories of the projects it has seen.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

And you can’t forget rust, love that beautiful brown patina!

I have been experimenting with several techniques to add age to “newer” pieces of furniture. Here are a few ways to add some character through distressing. (This post contains affiliate links. To learn more read my disclosure page.) 

Distress Marks:

Achieving a worn look can be as easy as adding dings and scratches. This process can also be a great stress reliever! Grab some chains and let’s work out some of that pent up aggression!

Materials:

distress tools

Throwing a chain at wood gives you those elliptical dents. Dragging the sharp edges of a pry bar across wood will give it some deep grooves. Set a screw on its side and lightly hammer it into the wood. Finally a few random hammer marks here and there finish off the worn look.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

This is the same technique I used on my mudroom bench.

Sanding through layers:

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

The easiest way to add some age to a piece of furniture is to expose layers of paint. Whether you paint a few contracting colors on yourself or you sand a pre-finished piece, sanding is one of my favorite ways to add age. A note of caution: Before you begin sanding, always check for the presence of lead paint. You can learn more about how to detect lead paint in this post.

Materials:

You’ll get the best results using 150 grit sand paper (but use whatever you have on hand). Attach it to your power sander and go to town on the furniture! Work in areas that would normally get a lot of use or abuse. Corners and edges of furniture usually take more abuse. Table center is a good place to show signs of worn paint. Be sure to move the sander around and be random rather than symmetrical.  A good example of a sanded finish can be seen on this Trashy Coffee Table.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

A table that was previously painted white received a sea-inspired blue layer of paint on top of the white. (You could always add a third color if you want more colors showing through.) Sand through the layers of paint down to the bare wood in spots. The challenge with a new piece of wood is it lacks the deeper darker color tone of antique lumber. Unfortunately, when new wood is exposed,  it will look blonde and – well – brand spankin’ new.  Read on to learn how I solve this problem.

Faking Age with Stain:

I have a trick up my sleeve for creating those darker wood tones in seconds! Ready to learn my secret?

Materials:

To hide the look of new blonde wood, carefully paint some wood stain onto the bare wood spots.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

Wipe off any excess immediately with a dry rag.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

If you desire darker wood repeat painting and wiping off the excess.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
My two favorite stains for aging are Minwax Red Mahogany and Minwax Early American, but any dark color stain would work just as well.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

“Tea” Stains:

You can use the same dark stain to give your object a faux “tea stain”. This antique gold 80’s mirror is easily transformed with spray paint and some stain.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

Materials:

If you use regular white spray paint, it will be difficult to “dirty” your object. Instead I like to use Rust Oleum Heirloom White which gives a soft antique white look. (FYI, I used Rust-Oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze for the inside decorative design.)

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
After the paint dries, hand sand some of the edges to expose the stained wood beneath.

Use a dry brush technique* to brush on the stain and wipe the excess off immediately. *Keep your brush dry by dipping in the stain and wipe off your brush on a rag before using it.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

For the best results, use an old shaggy brush or rough up your chip brush. The rattier the brush the better because anywhere the stain lands is where it will remain.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

The end results are pretty tea stains and peek-a-boo dark wood below.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

A totally new look for that sad 80’s mirror. It fits in nicely on our living room gallery wall.

Tips for Creating a Gallery Wall | Pretty Handy Girl
Glazing:

Do the permanency of stains scare you? Have no fear, one of the more forgiving ways to give your object an antique tone is to use a glaze.

Materials:

Glazes add depth and dimension to furniture that has a detailed profile. Glazes can be used on everything from kitchen cabinet doors to table legs and picture frames. But, don’t let that limit the places you can use glazes.

The table legs on my DIY Farmhouse Table have Van Dyke glaze on it that accentuates the rope turns.

Aging and Antiquing Furniture | Pretty Handy Girl

This dresser needed more than a coat of paint to give it an attractive new look. I added black glaze for pretty gray tones.

Facelift for a Knotty Pine Dresser | Pretty Handy Girl

Simply brush on the glaze (again use a ratty almost dry brush.) Push more glaze into the gouges and crevices to show off the details.

Aging and Antiquing Furniture | Pretty Handy Girl

Wipe off any excess with a clean dry rag.

Aging and Antiquing Furniture | Pretty Handy Girl

The glaze stays wet for longer than the wood stains. It can be wiped off immediately if you make a mistake. Once you like the look, let the glaze dry to permanence.

Side_across_coffee_table

When working with black glaze, use the same technique of wiping on and blotting off. The black glaze gives you more gray tones and gave this picture frame a dirty distressed look:

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

It may take a while to build up the glazing. But, you end up with a really nice final product.

 

Spattering:

Another technique I like is adding paint or stain spatters. This is easy to do, but if you aren’t wearing protective clothing you might give yourself some freckles.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

Materials:

Dip a foam brushTechniques for Antiquing Furniture into the stain and wipe off any excess. Then gently tap the brush on a stick or handle of something sturdy. (A large screwdriver or other solid object works well.) This time I don’t wipe the stain off. Let it dry a little then dab up any excess.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

With these techniques, you can take a plain painted side table from this:

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

To a more sophisticated antiqued older sister:

Make Your Own Mosaic Tile Lampshade | Pretty Handy Girl

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

Protective Coating:

Once you have achieved the antiqued look you like, be sure to put a protective coating over your furniture. I prefer using Minwax Oil-Based Polyurethane. This adds the perfect age to furniture. (If you use new oil-based poly, it will yellow in a few years time.) If you don’t like the yellowing effect, stick to Minwax Satin PolycrylicTechniques for Antiquing Furniture.

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

You can also use a good quality furniture wax for a satin finish. Or use an antiquing waxTechniques for Antiquing Furniture to really give it an old appearance.

Make Your Own Street Sign | Pretty Handy Girl

Now, don’t be distressed, grab some sandpaper and a brush and give your furniture an age boost!

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl
Yard Sale spice rack turned rustic! Chalkboard lids tutorial here.

Watch a live tutorial to see how I accomplished an aged paint look on this trough. And be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to get notifications when a new video is uploaded.

Now that you have some aging and distressing techniques under your belt, you can push your skills by trying your hand at some more complicated techniques! Like creating a faux wood texture on surfaces following this tutorial.

Faux Weathered Gray Wood Grain Tutorial | Pretty Handy Girl

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

As a follow up to this post, I divulged my top secret recipe for making new wood look old!

Make New Wood Look Old - Aging Wood FAST!

And how to get the true chippy paint look:

Techniques for Antiquing Furniture

You may also want to check out my gallery of rustic and distressed projects!

How to Age, Distress & Antique | Pretty Handy Girl

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128 replies
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  1. Jessica @ MyLoveOfStyle.com
    Jessica @ MyLoveOfStyle.com says:

    Wow, girl you are good!! I have tried so many ways of distressing and have tried it on so many different pieces of furniture and I have the absolute hardest time getting it just right. I think my problem is I don’t know how much to distress. For instance when I”m using glaze I can’t ever seem to get the “strokes” right. Is there a certain way that you go about brushing on the stain (up and down, side to side and how much should you brush on). I am just amazed at how good you are!! WELL DONE!!! 🙂
    ~ Jessica

    Reply
  2. Devon
    Devon says:

    Great post! Love the idea’s! Ever tried Webster’s Chalk Paint Powder? It’s a cheap alternative to chalk paint; however, it’s a powder you mix in to any kind of paint you have and BAM- chalk paint! Gives furniture a vintage, matte look. You should check it out!

    Reply
  3. donna
    donna says:

    You recommend 2 different glazes to use in distressing furniture and then you say that they’re not your favorite aging technique! Well, what IS your favorite technique??

    Reply
    • Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl)
      Brittany (aka Pretty Handy Girl) says:

      Donna, I meant, I’m not a huge fan of glazes. I prefer to sand and stain. However, I recently mixed the mocha and the asphaltum glazes by Valspar to get a darker black/brown color and definitely like that glaze!

      As for a favorite, it just depends on the piece of furniture. Some I like to sand, some I don’t it just depends. That’s why I shared so many in this post so you can choose your favorites ;-).

      Reply
      • donna
        donna says:

        Hi Brittany~Ok……i think i get it!! I think after reading and re-reading your article and your response i’ll try mixing the 2 Valspar glazes……i wasn’t sure which one to use anyhow. I got both and tried them on a sample and couldn’t decide. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for your help……and your patience!!!

  4. donna
    donna says:

    You recommend 2 different glazes and then say they’re not your favorite aging technique. Well, what IS your favorite technique? I thought that was what your article was about…..i’m confused!

    Reply
  5. Bettybb
    Bettybb says:

    I tried the paint on paint method but found sanding to be difficult. It took such a delicate touch to expose the undercoat of paint rather than the wood. Also, after sanding the paint tends to look a little scratched. But I don’t want to use the poly. Too shiny. Is there something else I can use to buff it up at bit. I’ve heard some people use Minwax but I’m not sure if that is a good idea. I’ve seen some pieces that look more rubbed than sanded. How does that differ in technique?

    Reply
  6. Coco
    Coco says:

    Annie Sloan Chalk paint is also a GREAT way to apply different colors, then sand off for varying tones and colors when distressing.

    Reply
  7. Kelsey
    Kelsey says:

    Thank you for this post!I work in the paint department at lowes and had a customer ask me today how to do some of these techniques. I had just browsed over your entry and gave her some techniques but also refered her to it. Also, just an fyi lots of stores are discontinuing the Valspar Asphaltum glaze. My store has already phased it out but the mocha is still a stock item! Lots of colors can be mixed into our translucent glaze mixing base so you can use any color glaze youd like!

    Reply
  8. Andreea
    Andreea says:

    Hey there! Found your blog just in the nick of time … I have a room divider (raw douglas fir) being put in at my new office and I meant to stain the wood but then made the mistake of painting it with primer … I thought all was lost but it looks like maybe I can salvage it trashy coffee table style. … So – do I just get the sander and go to town on the white primer I just painted on and then stain, or paint with another color, then sand and paint? … I would love for the wood grain to show through but is it too late to go for that? . .

    Reply
  9. Catherine
    Catherine says:

    I love this idea. I have a question though. Have you distressed a vinyl table? The legs are wood so that wouldn’t be hard but the actual table top is what I’m worried about. It has that nasty vinyl strip on the edge of it as well that I know could last through an ice age. This table has been in the family since the early 80’s so I don’t think any hard feelings will be touched but if you have any tips or ideas on how to go about this table please enlighten me. Thank you!

    Reply
  10. Sarah
    Sarah says:

    Wow awesome blog!! I just transformed a lime green and teal dresser into a mocha brown (I used some paint from a room I did). I then took your idea form the “Make Me Beautiful” blog you had previously and covered it with leftover white paint I had. I plan on tea staining it with some leftover stain, so ultimately the whole dresser cost me nothing!! It looks fabulous thus far and I’m super excited about trying the other distressed tricks you have provided 🙂

    Reply
  11. Kathy
    Kathy says:

    My friend just did a old cabinet with a glass door ,painted it lime green,then turquoise over it dry brush effect,I look so good

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. […] wrote another post about aging and antiquing that shares some other techniques, but today I’ll focus solely on making new lumber look […]

  2. […] sure that the stain or paint soaks into the wood grain the way that you want. (p.s. here’s a great way to age painted wood, if that’s your […]

  3. […] “Get Inspired” antique furniture- https://prettyhandygirl.com/2010/09/aging-is-so-distressing-techniques-for.html “Get Inspired” suitcase table- http://cupcakesandcashmere.com/updated-guest-room/ […]

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