New furniture and wooden fittings can look bland and boring and may not fit into your existing dcor scheme. Distressing cabinet doors, in kitchens, bedrooms or elsewhere, is a way of treating wooden fittings to co-ordinate your dcor. Ageing techniques can be useful whether your home style is antique elegance, 'shabby chic' or cottage rustic. Faux painting offers several methods for simulating age and banishing the 'too-new' look.
Distressing Techniques
You could give your cabinet doors a managed beating with hammer and chisel to create texture and interest. This will certainly distress your door, but with faux painting techniques you can choose amongst several aged or antique looks and achieve a total finish.
The basic technique involves creating the illusion of wear and age-related texture using two layers of paint. For a more variegated effect, more than two colors can be used. Scraping and scarring the topcoat so the layer beneath shows through gives the impression of age. It is possible to achieve a similar effect by painting streaks with a fine brush, but this may require more artistic expertise. Applying a top coat and then, before it has dried, using the dragging or combing technique to remove areas of paint can also create a distressed look on wooden doors.
Any contrasting color combination can be used to create the appearance of depth. Brown and gray is another possibility. More usually, it is used as part of an antique natural wood finish, with a rich dark brown topcoat masquerading as the patina of the decades or centuries, covering lighter wood beneath.
Distressing With Wax:
One of the most popular methods entails using wax to ensure that the base paint layer is exposed. Beeswax is especially suitable though candle and other waxes can be used. The wax is applied in streaks and/or patches and allowed to dry before the second coat is applied. When dry the door is then sanded down. Paint applied on top of the wax comes off easily, exposing the undercoat. Depending on how vigorously you sand, a textured effect with clean 'wood' showing through the patinated surface will result.
Ageing with Crackle Glaze :
Old varnish dries, crackles and crazes. Crackle glaze simulates this effect, making it look as if your door is far older than it is. You need to use latex paints with the crackle glaze, not oil-based paints, for the crackling to occur. The order of painting is base coat, crackle glaze, top coat.
Pickling:
Your cabinet door may not be particularly ugly and may even have an attractive wood grain that you don't want to conceal with paint. With pickling you can create contrast and texture without covering up the original wood. All you do is paint your door in the contrasting color of your choice and wipe off paint while it is still wet.
Distressing is a relatively uncomplicated way of adding texture and color to a uniform, flat surface, enhancing its visual interest.
Distressing Techniques
You could give your cabinet doors a managed beating with hammer and chisel to create texture and interest. This will certainly distress your door, but with faux painting techniques you can choose amongst several aged or antique looks and achieve a total finish.
The basic technique involves creating the illusion of wear and age-related texture using two layers of paint. For a more variegated effect, more than two colors can be used. Scraping and scarring the topcoat so the layer beneath shows through gives the impression of age. It is possible to achieve a similar effect by painting streaks with a fine brush, but this may require more artistic expertise. Applying a top coat and then, before it has dried, using the dragging or combing technique to remove areas of paint can also create a distressed look on wooden doors.
Any contrasting color combination can be used to create the appearance of depth. Brown and gray is another possibility. More usually, it is used as part of an antique natural wood finish, with a rich dark brown topcoat masquerading as the patina of the decades or centuries, covering lighter wood beneath.
Distressing With Wax:
One of the most popular methods entails using wax to ensure that the base paint layer is exposed. Beeswax is especially suitable though candle and other waxes can be used. The wax is applied in streaks and/or patches and allowed to dry before the second coat is applied. When dry the door is then sanded down. Paint applied on top of the wax comes off easily, exposing the undercoat. Depending on how vigorously you sand, a textured effect with clean 'wood' showing through the patinated surface will result.
Ageing with Crackle Glaze :
Old varnish dries, crackles and crazes. Crackle glaze simulates this effect, making it look as if your door is far older than it is. You need to use latex paints with the crackle glaze, not oil-based paints, for the crackling to occur. The order of painting is base coat, crackle glaze, top coat.
Pickling:
Your cabinet door may not be particularly ugly and may even have an attractive wood grain that you don't want to conceal with paint. With pickling you can create contrast and texture without covering up the original wood. All you do is paint your door in the contrasting color of your choice and wipe off paint while it is still wet.
Distressing is a relatively uncomplicated way of adding texture and color to a uniform, flat surface, enhancing its visual interest.
About the Author:
Creating distressed cabinet looks in your own home? Visit ThatPainterLady.com for more ideas and discover useful tips for creating a distressed look on a kitchen island.
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