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How to Antique Paint a Piece of Wood Furniture

Antiques, Antiquing, Wood Furniture, Wooden Furniture

Painting a piece of wood furniture so that it provides the feeling of age is a simple process involving sanding, painting and glazing. The color that you want from the antiquing process is dependent upon the particular style and period that you want represented. Some effective recommendations are green, blue and an ochre that resembles pine wood. Use darker hues to better simulate woods like mahogany or any other wood that lent its name to a bad Diana Ross movie.

Use a piece of sandpaper to remove the topcoat of existing paint on the furniture. You can achieve the most positive effect from your sanding in regard to making the wood look like an antique by giving special attention to the areas of the furniture that would normally receive the most wear and tear. A good piece of advice is to move the furniture around and let the kids play for a few hours around it while you watch. This will provide the ammunition you need to properly antique your wood furniture so that the areas of wear and tear are most highly simulated when you start your technique.

Give special attention to the backs of chairs and wooden rails on other pieces of pine furniture. This will increase the antique look of the furniture by simulating or enhancing the effect of years of being handled. Sand the edges and legs of furniture to give it the look of years of being knocked and scraped.

Apply a coat of white primer and then follow this with a coat of the particular color of paint you desire. Lets this top coat of paint dry completely. Choose a base coat that is a color that will provide a contrast to the primer. This process will provides the look of several layers of paint being applied over the age of the furniture.

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Use an electric drill equipped with an extra-fine bit to create small holes in the wood. This procedure adds simulated woodworm holes into the wood to give it a more realistic effect of aged wood.

Sand the paint off in random sections. Make sure to concentrate the sanding process on areas of the furniture that are most likely to receive wear and tear. Go for the result of allowing primer and bare wood to peek through in those places.

Give your glaze an initial test by applying it to an area of the furniture that won’t be immediately visible. Use a foam brush to apply the glaze when it meets your satisfaction. Put the glaze over one small area at a time. Don’t mind the cloudy look of the glaze as this will disappear as it dries.

Wipe the glaze off with a clean, moistened cloth. Pay special attention to those areas of wear and tear. Allow more glaze to collect in the grooves of the pine to give the wood a more satisfactory aged effect. Seal with a coat of polyurethane when glazing is complete.