How to distress furniture
At threethriftyguys.com we aren’t always about being thrifty, but we are also about being resourceful. Here is a story of how my wife and I distressed a kitchen cart.
Over the fourth of July weekend my wife and I the opportunity of making a distressed kitchen cart. We found this cheap black kitchen cart at Gordmans, with a 20% off coupon, and decided to embark on our first distressing adventure. Here are the supplies we used, steps we took, and a few pictures along the way.
Needed Supplies:
- Paint brush
- Small paint roller
- Sandpaper (180-220)
- Steel wool (optional)
- Knife
- Flat paint (two colors)
- Paste Wax
Steps for distressing your furniture:
- Sand your piece of furniture so it will take first coat of paint (I used 180 grade sandpaper for this)
- Wipe dust off (from sanding) and prep to apply first coat of paint (I recommend using flat white paint)
- Apply one or two coats of white paint (I used two because I was working with a black piece of furniture to start). This can be applied either with a paint brush or roller
- Apply two coats of final paint color (using a roller on the final coat will help get a clear uniform application).
- Now time to have fun!! Get out the sandpaper and start sanding the edges and raised areas to give it a worn look. Go crazy. Typically the “uh ohs” that happen are the best accents to your piece.
- Use a knife to peel away paint at the edges to add to the worn look. I like scrapping the paint away at an angle to get as much black (original coat) and white (second coat) to show thru.
- Let paint dry and the wipe off the furniture so no foreign matter is left on it
- Finally apply the paste wax. Make sure you apply it lightly – kind of like you are waxing a car. Apply it to the wood in a circular pattern.
- Wait 15 minutes and buff it off with a dry cloth
Here is a great how to distress furniture video too. BeachBum offers some great tips that will definitely help.
Here are a few pictures of the kitchen cart. Hope you can have some fun with this project and save yourself some money by “repurposing” a piece a furniture. (Related Article: How to Decorate with Old Photographs)
Comments are closed.