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About this Paint Finish
Yes, I did.
1 - Wood Project
3-5 Different Paint Colors
Paint Brush
Clear Top Coat
120 Grit Sandpaper
Glaze
How to Paint Furniture Finish Instructions
Choosing a Project to Paint
Choose a piece of furniture with lots of different boards and planking. Notice how this piece is a planked top. The more different boards you have, the more opportunities you have to paint different colors and finishes. You can build my Farmhouse Bedside Table with these step by step plans.
Finding the Right Paint Colors and Types
If I had to do this finish again, I'd pull colors from the room, for example, this quilt, and use those colors for the finish.
Painting Board by Board
Then just start painting, painting the entire board as if you reclaimed each board individually. You can either make a plan and stick with it, or just paint random boards.
I thought of painting board types each color, for example, all the 2x2s would be white, the 1x6s would be blue, the 1x12 green and so on. But really, it's up to you and what you want.
Perfectionist Need Not Apply . . . Paint that Is
It's Okay to Make Mistakes
And here's where I thought bright green would work . . . but again, my mistakes are going to save you time.
The Hardest Step . . . Waiting for Paint to Dry
This step was truly the hardest step. And one of the most important. You have to wait the full 24 hours (as directed on the paint cans) for the paint to fully dry.
If you are not using gloss paints (semi gloss or high gloss or anything that is non porous when dry) you will want to apply a clear top coat to protect your paint from picking up the glaze.
Distressing
When you are sure the entire project is dry, begin distressing the finish. Make sure the paint comes off even, like the finish is time worn. If your paint is not dry, it will come off in clumps, not resembling natural wear.
Distress to the point that you like, avoid over distressing. Concentrate on spots that would be more susceptible to natural wear, most likely edges.
Notice that despite my bedside table being a walnut stain, the sander takes the wood down to the natural wood. We are going to need a glaze to stain the wood.
Easy Glazing
Once you are happy with the distressing, apply a glaze (you can either use the specialty stuff or I've used Minwax Express Colors with success to save money) to the exposed wood. The glaze will stain the wood and deposit itself into wood joints, creating the ever so coveted "hand glazed finish."
This process is very easy and quick - don't be intimidated.
What Happens if You Hate It?
But after all that work . . . I just did not like the results of my hard labor. No worries though, the beauty of this finish is in layers of color, so I just picked out what I did not like (the green and bright green) and replaced it with what I did like (the blue and white), followed with distressing and glazing.
More Layers = More Character
You can see the green showing through in the left door face where I added a coat of turquoise. This was of course followed by distressing and glazing.
High Wear Areas
Protecting Your Finish
Love your patchwork
Ana your layers are beautiful and to be honest the brown was boring! Bet Grace loves her new 'quilt table' and now you can make something new for your room.
Thank you so much! After
Thank you so much! After putting tons of work into building a project, I'm often too afraid to try a unique finish and "ruin" it but the great part about this finish, is it's always "fixable." Thanks so much, the best part, I truly enjoyed painting this bedside table.
Beautiful, beautiful!
Just love it, Ana. It may be "fixable", but you're still darned brave to take your perfectly good night stand and paint, paint, paint! And, it turned out to be just the right thing to do! Love it.
Love, Love, Love this! I
Love, Love, Love this! I will be trying this on my daughters dresser we made her when she was born. It needs something new. And this is it! Thanks so much for sharing. Love your stuff!
The table (and the quilt) are
The table (and the quilt) are GORGEOUS!
Breath Taking
I don't usually use the words "Breath Taking" with furniture but I did when I saw the table. This is absolutely a piece that I need in my home. It makes me want to redo my entire bedroom suit. After 10 years of dark cherry finish, I would love to have this look. Bravo! Question: What grit of sand paper did you use?
Gorgeous!
Really well done! Looks great. Mind, I'm boring (and - gasp! - not a fan of the distressed look for myself) so I would have left it brown. Looks perfect in her room and with that quilt though! Also, the bit about the crayon highly amused me. :)
perfect
I love your reclaimed-look finish. The best part is, it could be perfect in SO many different ways! It's really beautiful.
REAL HONESTY
I love how this turned out, but what I love even more is that you didn't NOT show the first outcome. That's just how it goes sometimes when painting furniture, so thank you for showing the reality of how things go sometimes...and to not freak out! But to sort it out and try again. It really looks great BOTH ways! :-)
LOVE! Perfect for my 100+
LOVE! Perfect for my 100+ year old house. Have a modern farmhouse end table waiting for a finish. Think I have finally found it! Thanks for sharing!
Gorgeous! Love it!
Gorgeous! Love it!
Wow!
This is so beautiful. I liked the table before, too, but now it's simply amazing. Thanks for sharing this in detail with us. I always wondered how to get a nice "shabby" look and here is the perfect diy instruction...
Distressed Wood
Problem I have had with the 'Shabby Chic' look over this side of the pond is that people find over distressed pieces as just that worn out and in need of a sanding and a coat of paint.
They just do not get it....
Lightly distressed or aged pieces are more acceptable.
I do not mind how rough it is but think I would use a couple of colours [personal choice]
On the question of priming some do some don't, if you are going to age something do you really need to prime?
Well I like it that is all that matters
I'm in love
Just beautiful. :) Looking at your table make me happy. Now, if I can just get my husband on board with the distressed look . . . .
Oh be still my beating heart!
Beautiful.
Any chance you can add some house plans. I'm going to need something with about 8 bedrooms by the time I finish everything I added to my to do list.
Saving this post!
I'll be saving this post so I can remember your technique when it comes time to finish my built in kitchen bench. I love that you detailed all the steps and gave some hints as to what type of paints works best. Thanks!
I just love it! Thank You
I just love it! Thank You for talking about the glazing. I will have to find something I can do this to!!!
I just love it! Thank You
I just love it! Thank You for talking about the glazing. I will have to find something I can do this to!!!
Prefer the brown...
While your second attempt does look nice, I definitely prefer the original finish. It looked beautiful to me. But maybe I've just got boring tastes.
love this!
love this!
Looks great!
Looks great!
Thanks everyone! You totally
Thanks everyone! You totally made my night, I for sure thought this table had been destroyed. I'm so looking forward to seeing your patchwork furniture!
Farmhouse bed side table
Looks like some of my furniture from my past (before I was able to afford to purchase new stuff) It brings back many happy memories of working with or on these tables without fear of getting scratches or dings, as they would blend right in. "great Work"....Old is new again....
I love your bed side table!
I love your bed side table! Thank you for sharing. :)
I've basically (accidentally)
I've basically (accidentally) started this exact process with the kids bathroom vanity. I've painted it numerous times over the past few years as I really never like the color and then don't use a protective coat. Now I just need to get a little crafty and viola! I'll have a beautiful distressed vanity like your piece
Absolutely love it!
Absolutely love it!
Love It!
The table looks great! I'm glad orange crayon is all the way over at your house, though. Orange crayon is my nemesis. He always finds his way into my dryer.
great inspiration!
In the process of building a home to fit our big family and I have quite the list of furniture for my husband to build (and I plan to learn along as he does it!) I love your tutorial and am inspired to try for some unique and fun finishes! Love your blog and that you are a fellow Alaskan:)
AWESOME!
WOW....I would have never tried to use different colors...but this is just awesome!
This has totally changed my
This has totally changed my mind about the distressed look! I've not been a fan of distressing, always thought it just looked old and messy. So I was planning on doing my sewing/guest room in all white furniture. But your table turned out so nicely and it looks so pretty with that quilt underneath, I think I might just do a piece or two in the room with this technique just to give it some interest.
Question about glazing
Ana, I love this paint technique & I am about to try it!! My only question is in regards to adding a clear coat if you are not using gloss or semi-gloss paints...Does this clear coat go on after or before the distressing? In the directions it looks to be before, but it seems the gloss would just get sanded off. Thanks!!
Trying this today on $15 Habitat for Humanity restore bookcase
Found a 78"H x 36"W x 16"D bookcase at the restore for $15
Was going to build one but at this price - who can resist
Painted a boring off white but with your instructions and a bit of work - hopefully it will turn out as sweet as yours. Thanks, as always for the info.
Best of luck! Looking
Best of luck! Looking forward to seeing pics!
paint color
This turned out beautiful! I am going to be painting some pieces and this is exactly the distressed look I want to create. Whats the color of the turquoise you used? That is my new accent color for my living room. Also, Do you think you can have too many distressed pieces in one room? I want to be rid of all my dark old furniture in the living room. Would it look bad to distress them the same way and same colors? Thank you!
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