A Simple Way to Make New Furniture Look Antiquated

Sometimes homeowners find themselves in need of new furniture but want it to look older or antique. It might look better with the other furniture or it may just come down to taste. With just a little work, you can actually get the antiquated look you’re hoping for without doing any damage to your new furniture.

Step 1: Of course, is selecting the right furniture. If you select a very modern piece, it might not look good with an antiquated feel to it.

Once you have your furniture picked out, determine if it is a solid stain or if there is paint on it. If there is any paint on it, you need to remove it with stripper. About 15 minutes after applying the stripper, scrape off any paint that comes off with a putty knife. When doing this, make sure to work against the grain so you don’t scratch our gouge the wood.

Now you’ll want to wipe the chair down. Use a simple wet cloth or rag or, if you prefer, perhaps even steel wool. Do this as soon as you can so any remaining stripper doesn’t dry on the wood.

You’ll want to sand down the furniture next, making sure you get it as smooth as possible. Once you’ve got it sanded smoothly, you can then put on your primer. Choose your color carefully, though, as the primer is more often than not going to serve as the base of the final color of the furniture.

Step 2: In this step, begin to add your creativity and start to outline the direction for the final look. It can be helpful to use a scrap piece of wood to test different paint colors. This can help you decide whether you like what you see before you commit to the final project.

From this point on, your creativity and vision can run wild. Using tape or paper, place “distress” marks strategically; these will be laid down during the rest of the project and will really add to the look. Add some highlight colors to the surface, but only ones you have tried out on a sample piece of wood and know you like. Some people elect to use sandpaper to wear down the fresh primer, giving certain areas a gritty antiquated look. You can even add another layer of color detail after this step. If you do, be sure to use several light coats as opposed to one very heavy coat to really nail down that antiquated feel.

After everything has dried, remove the tape and paper you used for the distress looks. After that, the final step is applying a clear finish. Then you have a new “old” piece of furniture!