How To Distress Painted Furniture Like a Pro

Instructions

1. Paint Entire Piece of Furniture
   For the first step, paint the furniture with 2 coats of paint. Satin or semi-gloss white paint works best.
   Apply the first coat of paint evenly without using too much paint.
   As a quick tip, use a thin coat of primer on bare wood or on an already painted surface.
   
   
   
   Next, apply a second coat of paint after the first coat completely dries.
   Semi-gloss or satin/eggshell paint works best for distressing painted furniture.
   The sheen makes it easier to wipe off distressed areas as I’ll show you in later step.
   Keep in mind, flat or matte paint can be distressed.
   However, you lose control over the distressing process.
   
   
2. Sand Painted Furniture (Optional)
   Use a sanding block, orbital sander, or hand sander to sand the corners and edges of the painted finish.
   Any grit between 120 grit and 220 grit sandpaper work well.
   The light sanding should expose the bare wood in areas of the furniture which get handled most often.
   
   
   
   
3. Apply Stain or Wax to Paint
   You should use contrasting colors for the best results. In other words, light stain or wax on dark paint and dark stain or wax on light paint.
   For a vintage look, use gray wood stain to distrtess white painted furniture.
   
   
   
   Brown creme wax produces a stronger distressed look.
   
   
   
   First, apply wood stain to a section of the painted furniture with a brush, staining pad, or rag.
   The section should be small enough to wipe on and wipe off within 10 minutes.
   Also, chip brushes work well to apply stain to paint. They are inexpensive and produce a natural look.
   These brushes work better than rags for this furniture distressing technique.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   The creme wax is very thick and dries very quickly.
   Therefore, a nitrile glove and your hand works best to spread the creme wax over the paint.
   If you try to use a brush, it will dry very quickly.
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Wipe Excess
   Use a rag to wipe the stain or wax from the paint until you achieve the distressed look.
   
   
   
   
   
   The paint sheen allows you to control the distressed look.
   However, the stain will absorb into the paint no matter how much you wipe.
   The more you wipe the more stain will be removed.
   
   
   
   
   
   The stain will saturate the corners, seams, and other hard to reach places.
   Obviously, this makes the furniture look naturally distressed.
   
   
5. Move to Next Section and Repeat
   Move to the next section and repeat the process.
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. Allow to Dry
   Allow the stain or creme wax to dry for 12 to 24 hours.
   
   
   
   
7. Seal Distressed Furniture
   As a last step, apply a water-based sealer or wax top coat to protect the distressed finish.
   To protect and seal the distressed finish, use 3 coats of polycrylic.
   
   
   
   As a quick tip, lightly hand sand with 220grit sandpaper between coats for better protection.
   
   
8. Stain or Creme Wax for Distressing Painted Furniture
   Ultimately, both furniture distressing techniques produced awesome results.
   
   
   
   The dark creme wax produced a more distressed unique look.
   I used the entire can of wax for the console table and the can was $10.00.
   Also, the wax required a bit more elbow grease.
   
   
   
   The stain produced a vintage look and was a bit easier to apply and control.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Also, the stain goes a very long way. I could distress 15 to 20 console tables with one can of stain.
   The 32 ounce can of stain costs $16.00.