How to Antique Furniture with Paint
In this modern age, it’s a surprise that antique furniture are still very much in demand, no matter how expensive they can be. If you want to have lovely antique furniture in your home, but without spending much, here’s one idea: antique your furniture with paint.
What You’ll Need:
Furniture
Primer
Paint brush
Top paint
Old t-shirt
Sandpaper 60 and 120 grit
Procedure:
Choose the furniture which you’re planning to transform into an antique. To make sure it looks authentic, research on old furniture styles, and pick one that looks very close to those old models. If you’re a beginner, work on something smaller, like a chair or footstool, before moving on to bigger pieces like cabinets or tables.
Clean the furniture. Sand it using sandpaper, to even the surface and remove old paint, if there’s any.
Get your primer. Choose one that’s tinted for the base coat you’re planning to use. A primer that has a vanilla hue is a good option, like antique white or off-white. Using your paintbrush, apply a coat to the whole piece. Allow it to dry for several hours. For best results, leave it overnight.
When the primer has dried, brush the second, top coat of paint. This is your accent coat, and can be in hues such as olive, burnt umber or sienna. If you want, you can mix a couple of paint together, to create custom colors. Just make sure they’re oil based.
Apply this coat all over the furniture, rubbing it around, but leaving some areas darker. If you want less contrast in some areas, wipe off some of the paint using an old t-shirt or brushes.
Allow the top coat to dry. This can take a few hours or overnight.
To make your furniture look old, you must put signs of wear on it. All antique furniture have this, because of years of use. Get the 60 grit sandpaper, then sand very lightly in places that are likely to show wear. A chair, for example, would have wear marks on the arm rest.
Lightly expose the paint under the top coat. Make sure you don’t sand too hard or too deep, though, so you’ll still end up with a smooth piece. To know where to place these wear marks, use the furniture first, and take note where you “connect”.
Get the 120 grit sandpaper, then sand over the same areas, smoothing and making the surface even, as if from wear.
You can also “scar” the furniture a bit to make it look more worn and ancient.
Spending big bucks on antiques might not be necessary, if you know how to antique your furniture with paint. Just follow these steps, and you’ll end up with an eye-pleasing piece you’ll be proud to display.