Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - How do I distress furniture?
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kapel
08-19-05, 02:18 PM
My husband just built us a bed, with an old solid wooden door as the headboard. We want it to have the distressed (white rustic) look. How would we go about doing this? Thanks so much-The NewlyWeds
mako
08-19-05, 05:04 PM
The best way to distress furniture is to eat as much Haagen-Dazs and Krispy Kreme as you can, and in no time flat you will be distressing all the joints in the furniture, and your legs as well.
Really, though, I'm not a pro at distressing, I prefer making new things that look new, but I have several colleagues that distress stuff for a living. According to them, the key is to find areas that actually get high traffic or areas that are "out on a limb", like sharp corners and such.
Once everything is well painted and such, they use a fairly fine grit sandpaper, like 220, wrapped around a block of wood, to smooth out sharp corners and such (though not necessarily all of them), and pay more attention to the corners that you will actually be bumping and scuffing at times. More distressing is usually done, in my observation, at the foot level, especially where those shoes will be kicking.
Also important, however, is to put a bit of paste wax in areas that you expose raw wood. You can even use a wax that is tinted kinda dark since raw wood darkens with time. In addition to the added darkening, the wax will protect the wood a bit.
You can also buy a can of glazing to rub into creases and other areas that tend to gather dirt and lightly apply to those areas to make it look old and somewhat dirty (oddly this dirty look is nice with distressing). The only disadvantage is the need to cover the entire piece with a clearcoat to keep the glazing from gumming up or coming out.
Really, though, I'm not a pro at distressing, I prefer making new things that look new, but I have several colleagues that distress stuff for a living. According to them, the key is to find areas that actually get high traffic or areas that are "out on a limb", like sharp corners and such.
Once everything is well painted and such, they use a fairly fine grit sandpaper, like 220, wrapped around a block of wood, to smooth out sharp corners and such (though not necessarily all of them), and pay more attention to the corners that you will actually be bumping and scuffing at times. More distressing is usually done, in my observation, at the foot level, especially where those shoes will be kicking.
Also important, however, is to put a bit of paste wax in areas that you expose raw wood. You can even use a wax that is tinted kinda dark since raw wood darkens with time. In addition to the added darkening, the wax will protect the wood a bit.
You can also buy a can of glazing to rub into creases and other areas that tend to gather dirt and lightly apply to those areas to make it look old and somewhat dirty (oddly this dirty look is nice with distressing). The only disadvantage is the need to cover the entire piece with a clearcoat to keep the glazing from gumming up or coming out.
kimeyers
08-19-05, 08:47 PM
Well, if I send my two kids ages two and 3 1/2 over, they will distress you bed and you. In fact, you may decide to never have children . . . LOL
Another trick to get dings and dents is using keys (get keys that were bad cuts at the depot for free) and hook about twenty keys on an old metal coat hanger that you have looped around. Then beat the tar out of chosen spots on the bed. Gives nice light dings and scratches. If you glaze over it, you will make the dings really stand out.
Another trick to get dings and dents is using keys (get keys that were bad cuts at the depot for free) and hook about twenty keys on an old metal coat hanger that you have looped around. Then beat the tar out of chosen spots on the bed. Gives nice light dings and scratches. If you glaze over it, you will make the dings really stand out.
mako
08-20-05, 05:18 PM
Lol, I wonder why the distressed look hasn't carried over into the automotive world yet? My truck would be quite the looker if distressed vehicles were in vogue.