What paint finish do i need for a white distressed look for furniture?

Question

i'm not sure about whether i need a flat/matt finish or if it needs to be acrylic or oil paint etc. i rather like the 'calky' white finish some pieces have.
further, do i need to sand back varnish or can i just do extra coats?
thanks!

Answer 1

Certainly a trip to a local home improvement store will offer you many options. If you already have a finish you've seen, that you like, go with it on a sample board,,, as well as any others you might want to experiement with.

I'd stay away from "Crackle" but that's just my opinion.

Matte finish would better define an aged piece, not well cared for, and if that's what you're going for you might even have some areas that retained some better levels of a finish. Keep in mind that a distressed piece is pretty obvious, and if it's not a Theme, you'd have to think of it as an old piece you found at a sale that you wanted sitting amongst your highly polished mahogany.

It might be advisable to sand off any clear coat that exists, or at the very least "Clean" anything you choose to paint.

I suggest acrylics, but they would be better suited to raw wood, or wood that wasn't supposed to have a high sheen, wood brain look.

Without knowing more detail regarding what exactly you want to achieve this effect on, you should have no problems in asking someone of equal knowledge, in person, at a decent paint store.

No offense to you at all, but i wouldn't do this to existing furniture, that might be of value now, or in the future. The faux finishes are nice, and trendy, but they also might get tiresome.

If you have a budget that allows, get a piece from a thrift shop and practice on it.
Rev. Steven

Answer 2

The simplest approach to a 'distressed' paint look is to lightly sand some scuff marks into the paint. Since you mention using this in an outdoor living space, you will want to apply a good sealant to all of the surfaces, to help protect it from moisture also. Using a standard urethane top coat can result in some yellowing of white paint over time, so if you want a urethane finish, use a 'marine' grade finish, also commonly known as a 'spar urethane'. Now - since you mention an 'uneven' paint and question if it was sold as a 'bleached' piece of furniture, I have to question - is this actually a paint finish, or a stain? Because it does make a difference. Stain soaks into wood, where paint sets on top of the surface. There is also a 'pickled' type of finish which some folks like - while I've done a lot of it over the years, it was never one of my favorites, lol. IF this is a stain and not a paint, you would spend a lot more time sanding, trying to get thru the layers of wood that have soaked up the stain. The easier approach to a distressed look with stain, is to actually use a solvent, to help 'strip', or remove the stain from selected areas. If this is a stain, you could take a little acetone on a clean rag, and make some swipes along the wood grain, not hitting all of the surface, just here and there. Afterwards, using another clean rag, and some cold water, wipe over those locations again, rinsing out your rag often. This step is to help 'neutralize' and remove any acetone that was left behind in the first step. Acetone keeps working over time, after it has been applied, if left unchecked. I would recommend giving the piece a few days after the 'cleaning' step, before applying any kind of sealer or top coat...otherwise you'll find that the new top coat will tend to bubble off. Paint is especially affected by acetone, which is why I mentioned it is important to know if this is actually a paint or stain. You can take a rag or paper towel with a little acetone, and just wipe it across a painted surface - immediately wipe it again with a dry cloth - and it looks ok - but give it a day or two, and that surface will actually wrinkle up, and come off. Have Fun

Answer 3

Painting Furniture White Distressed Look

Answer 4

Lightly sand the whole piece and wipe it down good to remove any dust. I like to then use a slightly off white color of acrylic paint and put on 2-3 coats for a good finish. After this i hit the most touched spots with sandpaper to make it look old....such as knob areas, corners, edges, then i use a water based minwax stain, light pine usually, and a soft rag and wipe the whole piece down with the stain to give it an aged appearance. You can then leave it as it is or go over it with a sealer if you want it to have a shine or to keep it from aging more. I leave mine with just the stain on it and let the pieces age.

Good luck, hope this helps.

Answer 5

follow the above answer only ,rather than stain use a glaze as it will adhere to the surface better and quicker and it will give you better control of the areas you want to wipe off or leave on.
Painting contractor

Answer 6

Want you like to get instant access to over 16,000 woodworking plans?
Check it out https://tr.im/64742
Along with stone, mud and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood. The development of civilization was closely tied to the development of increasingly greater degrees of skill in working these materials.