Have you ever wondered how to easily distress finish stained furniture? Well this is what you will learn about in this post. This is something anyone can do and it really is not that difficult. If you have an old table that is not looking very good and you want to give it a new look this post will tell you how this can be done.
We can all paint and sand or scrub so you should have no trouble with this method.
Supplies Needed
Red Devil 0320 8-Pack Steel Wool, 0000 Super FineMagnolia Brush 233 Low Cost Single Thickness Paint or Chip Brush
paint brush
paint
brillo pad
4 X 4’s
2 X 8’s
nails
polyurethane
Step by Step Instructions
So today we are talking about how to distress paint over stained furniture.In the video you see he is working on a big heavy what he calls a farm table or what I might call a picnic table.
You might have this or a table like this in your back yard to use as a picnic table for your family or for when company comes over.
You might also have a table that is not build with such big heavy wood but would still look good when finished using this method.
The table in the video has four by fours underneath as a frame with two by eights covering the length of the top of the table.
The table is very sturdy and sits about 32 inches from the ground.
You can give the wood some personality by doing some pre distressing before applying any paint at all.
This will bring out more character from the wood with different designs underneath the paint making the entire table unique all by itself.
You can use a torch to burn the wood a bit to give it that look where the darker grain will show up more in certain areas.
You can also hit the wood with a chain or hammer to again make marks in the wood that will bring out the character of the wood when the paint is applied. You can also use a skill saw to make saw marks for another type of look. Have fun with it and make it your own.
The paint gets into these little cracks and grain and when sanded brings out all kinds of mew and unique characteristics you are looking for.
The next step is to apply the paint. Generally when painting a house etc. You just stick the brush into the paint and get a lot of paint on the brush. Then you just apply the paint evenly and fairly thick to cover everything.
In this situation you do not do that. You just dip in the brush to cover the ends of the bristles with paint and then apply with very light strokes and not to heavy a cover.
This is the dry brush affect.
You can use any outdoor paint you have lying around as long as it is the colour you want.
If it is on a table or piece of furniture in the house then use indoor paint.
When applying the paint take light brush strokes across the wood not worrying about a nice smooth finish. You don’t have to cover every inch of the wood with the same consistency as this will give you the look you are after.
You don’t have to be precise and you can use different strokes over certain grains to bring out the woods grain.
If when you are done one coat and you feel you might want more paint just apply a second coat using the same technique again.
Just be sure to use nice long light strokes on the top of the table so you don’t have a blotchy look with a bunch of paint in one spot and hardly any in another spot.
You can make it how you like it or if you are doing it for someone else make it the way they would like it. Use more paint or any colour that you like.
Once painted let it dry for 20 to 30 minutes. Do not let it dry completely because you will remove some of the paint for effect.
Once dried you can use some good old fashioned elbow grease with a Brillo Pad or sand paper to take off some of the paint to get that distressed finish.
The video shows how some boards look when they have been sanded compared to others that have not. The grains are brought out and the look is distressed.
When using different sanding motions like circular, angled or straight it will bring out the characters of the knots and grains that were already in the wood. Very neat.
Use a fine Brillo Pad to start so you don’t take to much paint off. If the pad is more coarse more paint will come off if you press harder. Be creative and make it yours.
It’s nice when pieces of the paint are actually coming up and other areas stay giving you a look of an old piece of furniture. Ah, yes just what we want.
Work a random pattern so you have that unique look across the entire table top. You want that aging look.
You might try things like putting a cup on the table in a wet spot so you get that ring affect as the water soaks into the wood giving just another type of look.
Pulling up some paint and then distressing the paint that stays is a look that is very appealing.
Putting a couple coats of polyurethane gives this table which will be used for eating on a great finish.
The polyurethane enhances the look and really brings out the grains and features of the wood.
In the video you see how it looks after two coats of polyurethane and there is still one more coat to apply.
Everything looks a lot cleaner and the grains are really popping for that beautiful distressed look.
This is a fun and relatively easy project for you to do and you can create pretty much any look you like.
Doing a project like this is a great way to bring you’re family together enjoying great food and fellowship on a table that stirs conversation and brings fun to a happy time.
Don’t be afraid to try new techniques to achieve the look you are after.
You will be the envy of your friends when they see how great you’re table looks and the food tasted pretty good too.