How To Distress Furniture To Look Aged And Time Worn

I'm so excited to share this painting and distressing technique with y'all today! I just love how this piece turned out and It's super easy! So grab a cup of coffee or your favorite tea and follow along with me as we transfer this piece.

I picked up this amazing side table at a local estate sale for a steal! This piece is actually a part of a antique vanity, however unfortunately this was the only one I found. While in this picture she looks like she's in great shape, there was some chipped veneer and the table top was in three pieces. After a few repairs with the top and gluing some loose veneer down we're ready for paint!

While she's not perfect, we're going to embrace the flaws and work with what we've got. Now before I started painting, I needed to clean this piece. Old pieces like this tend to collect dust, dirt and grim through the years. You'll need a clean canvas in order for the paint to perform it's best!

I chose this beautiful color "Dune Grass" by Country Chic Paints. It's subtle blue-green hues seemed just right for this piece. Not to mention, I love colors in the blue family when distressing furniture. Country Chic paint is one of the easiest paints I've worked with that allows for quick distressing work. This fabulous paint is a mineral based, environmentally friendly, VOC free and dries quickly.

You'll only need to paint on one thin coat for this project since we'll be going for a time worn look.

Paint in the direction of the wood grain for a more seamless look. Once you've applied full coverage, allow your piece to fully dry. Drying times will vary depending on humidity but should dry within the hour.

This is is what one coat of coverage will look like. It may look like it needs another coat but we're going to skip the second coat because we'll be going for a aged look.

Once you've allowed it to dry we're ready to start distressing. I'm using 120 grit, sand paper. I'm using what I have available, which happens to be a sanding sheet from my orbital sander.

Start sanding in the direction of the wood grain, back and forth in a continuous motion to achieve a consistent look. Soon you'll see that beautiful wood grain showing through.

Focus on the edges of your piece, sanding them to bring out those lovely details. 😍

You want to embrace sanding those pretty details and even those flaws.

See how beautifully it's tuning out, this is mostly because we did one thin coat. If we had done two coats, we would've had to work a lot harder to achieve this look.

WOW! ❤ I just love getting my hands on these beautiful detailed pieces, they just don't make furniture like this anymore!

Here we are all finished up! She's a charmer for sure! We've achieved that time worn look, like this piece was painted years ago and passed from family to family with years of love & use.

Grab some Country Chic Paint and start your own project! If you're located in Shreveport, LA we carry their paint in our shop space at Kings Antiques. If you decide to tackle your own project, I'd love to see it!

Thank you for taking the time to read through my latest project! I look forward to sharing more projects with y'all in the future!

XOXO -Leigh