Have you noticed Anthro and Ethan Allen are showing furniturepieces with an uber distressed look? You will be surprised to learn this look is just one additional step beyond what I typically show you. All you need is your Weatherwood Stain and some leftover chalk paint. For this project, you'll learn how to distress furniture without having to sand off the paint. It makes for a quick layered look and a lot less work.Ready?
Materials
- Pine Furniture
- Sand paper and Hand sander
- Paint
- Rags
- Weatherwood Varnish Topcoat
Directions
1.] SAND: Begin by sanding the wood piece, that way the wood will easily accept the stain and create a good pallet to begin your work. Start with a rough grit with a 120 grit.
2.] STAIN: Once the wood has been stripped or sanded back down to raw, you can stain it using Weatherwood Stain's Reclamation stain. Simply apply Reclamation with a sponge brush, brushing product onto sanded wood and allowing it to air dry. Allow to dry one hour. You'll see in the above time-lapse, the color change is subtle and is pretty similar to Restoration Hardware's "Natural" color.
Tip: The result is this pretty tan color you see below (left). If you're looking for more of a gray color (right) use Weatherwood Stain's "Pining."
 |
| Pining |
 |
| Reclamation |
3.] COLOR WASH: You can use any paint to paint over Weatherwood Stains. First, you want to put some chalk paint in a bowl and add about 20% water. Dry brush the piece of furniture with a thin coat of paint. Before the paint has time to dry, take a wet rag to remove and distress the paint, to reveal weathered wood beneath. The cotton rag should be wet, but not dripping. Just rub off the wet paint, making sure to rinse your rag if it gets too loaded with paint. Allow to dry 24 hours. You can continue to layer colors or seal the piece.
4.] SEAL: Apply a wax or varnish seal coat to protect the piece. Dead Flat Varnish will give the look of raw wood, but the protection of cabinetry!
It's that a gorgeous look, highlighting the grain and the lines of the piece.
Don't forget, if you're looking for a subtler white effect, Weatherwood White Maintenance Oil will do a great job. This was a custom piece of furniture, loosely inspired by Anthropologie's Betelline Coffee Tableusing a poplar top, Reclamation stain and White Maintenance Oil finish. We love the all-wood take on this beautiful coffee table!
Looking to create a chippier painted finish? Check out this tutorial: Faux Chippy Farmhouse Finish
Hope to see you at the party tomorrow!
