The antique look is very fashionable right now and you should know that there is a very specific technique used to achieve an antiqued look while painting. This technique might take some practice so it might be useful for you to try your first attempt at antique finishing on a piece of furniture that isn’t incredibly expensive and easily ruined.
Picking Paints
The first step in the antique finishing process is to pick the paints. There is always the right paint for the right job and you’re going to need a primer, some spray paint or latex paint, and some final clear finish. The colors are completely up to you but you should know that it’s popular to paint darker furniture a lighter color after the sanding process is completed.
Get Rid of the Old Finish
The first step of the process is fun and easy. You’re going to need some stripper and a scraping tool such as a putty knife. Use gloves and a brush to apply the stripper all over any areas where you’d like to remove the old finish. Let it sit for a few minutes to soak into the wood. Be sure to use protection to apply the chemicals as they can burn and irritate the skin. Next, you’re going to need to take the scraping tool and scrape along the grain to remove the finish. It should come off in thick, peeling chunks. Once you’re satisfied, you can discard the peels and get ready to sand.
Start Sanding
Get some 150- and 220-grit sandpaper. You can choose to sand by hand or use a power sander, but if you choose to use the power tool, be careful not to overgrind the wood. Some pros prefer to sand by hand because while it takes longer, they can control it better. Start with the thicker sandpaper to get all of the areas on the wood as smooth as possible. You’ll start to see the wood grain popping out, which is the first sign that it’s starting to look antiqued. Next, you can move up to the finer grit sandpaper and create a weathered look by targeting specific areas aggressively. Make sure to sand consistently but to also pick out some patches to focus on so that there are blotches of worn wood remaining.
Apply Primer, Paint, and Finish
Start by adding a generous amount of primer and then sand some of it off. The purpose of this is to make the piece of furniture look worn in some areas but still in decent condition in other areas. By sanding some primer off, you create a distressed look.
Next, get some more paint on the piece of furniture. Go slow and use several coats. You can always continue to sand off paint if you feel as if there’s too much on the piece. The sandpaper won’t catch all of the paint in the grain so it’ll really accent the wood grain when you sand it.
Finally, after the painting is done, add a few coats of lacquer to give it a clear polished finish. This way, the paint will look worn but it’ll stay protected and permanent. Then you can admire the finished antique-look product.
