Distressed Painted Wood

Distressed wood looks beautiful in so many styles of homes from farmhouse shabby chic and country cottage to even industrial and modern.

Distressed painted wood.

The great thing about this wood painting technique is that if you can t find authentic reclaimed lumber for your project you can use new materials and apply surface distressing techniques to simulate centuries of use and wear. See more about these techniques in the wet distressing and dry distressing sections above. Distressing is the process of manipulating furniture to appear older or to have been more heavily used says jane henry of jane henry studios a full service antique conservation and restoration shop based in new york city. Once your final paint coat is dry you can start distressing it with either a wet rag or fine grit sandpaper.

When distressing painted wood you will create a bit of dust. You can also repeat the process on the same piece with several layers of paint. Don t worry if it has scratches or watermarks. Distressing wood generally means weathering it by hand using tools or chemicals to add enough imperfections to provide age and character but not so many that it becomes unusable.

The painted finish will hide those flaws. If you re looking for an affordable way to give a piece of wood furniture a beautiful patina you might want to consider distressing its finish. Scour flea markets or secondhand shops for a piece that s solid wood with a stained finish. I would avoid distressing flat areas since those parts normally don t wear away if that makes sense.

Before getting started choose the piece of furniture you re going to give a distressed paint finish. Make sure to wipe your project with a lint free cloth to remove the dust created during the distressing. You want your distressed painted furniture to look as natural as possible. Jan 29 2020 explore debra smith s board distressing painted wood on pinterest.

Look for a wood furniture piece with lines you love and that will look good in your space. This technique works great on both already painted wood and unpainted wood. The key is to sand random areas that tend to get bumped or scratched naturally so it looks organic. Distressed wood can bring your rooms a rustic aesthetic.

Sealing your distressed painted wood. The most simple and straight forward method to distress wood is to sand some of the paint off. Whether painted or unpainted aged wood has character with weathered textures and darker richer colors. Let each layer dry and sand in between layers.

See more ideas about painted furniture redo furniture furniture makeover. Try using a combination of these methods and use both a wet cloth and a sanding sponge to create the look you want.