Tips for Antiquing Furniture

Antiquing furniture is the process of making any piece of furniture look decades old. Furniture, especially those made of wood, typically undergoes natural aging as time passes by. The piece may look worn out, distressed and has paint wearing out or wearing thin in some places. Aging is caused by the elements. When the furniture is placed in a sunny area of the room, the rays of the sun causes the paint to lighten while exposure to moisture and air also damages the furniture finish. More so when the furniture is heavily used or moved in different places in the room or in the house; it could get scraped, bruised and beaten plus the doors, knobs and other furniture accessories could worn way too.

But somehow, the natural effect of aging and use seems to make furniture pieces look interesting. There is drama, depth and personality when you see a distressed piece. And do you know that you can make even new wooden furniture appear distressed just by following a few tips. Here are some antiquing furniture tips:

1. First, decide what after effect or the finished piece would look like.
2. When you have a particular piece in mind then you could start your antiquing process.
3. You can check out different distressed furniture pieces online or you may have seen a particular antique furniture style that you have seen in a newspaper or magazine.

One of the most common antiquing processes is fading the exterior paint. This depends on the existing paint and the finish of the furniture. If you want a two color finish then you can follow these steps.

1. First, sand the furniture piece completely.
2. Remove hardware such as knobs and locks.
3. Wipe the newly sanded wood with tack cloth
4. Paint the wood with the first color that you want to dominate the theme (a brighter color is suggested).
5. When this layer is dry, apply the second color and then allow to dry again.
6. When the second layer is dry, sand the areas that you wish to show the first color. Sand carefully so it would look like the furniture has aged.
7. Apply water-based polyurethane paint so that the areas will retain its beautiful distressed look for a long time.

If you want three colors then the same antiquing furniture process applies. Make sure that you allow each layer to completely dry off for about a day before applying another layer.