Furniture with antique or retro finishes are the downfall of some people who want to decorate their home in an original and different way home in an original and different way. If this is your case, you have two options: either buy an old piece of furniture directly or make it yourself, but not before cleaning it properly.
We will show you how to decorate your furniture in this way. Don’t worry, because the methods we will explain are safe and will not spoil it. If you are interested in this topic, read on, as you will learn everything you need to know.
Three very effective tricks for aging furniture
The good thing is that you have many options to choose from. There is no single formula to give your furniture a vintage look. In this section, we will introduce you to the methods that convince us the most. They are as follows:
With vinegar
You will need fine steel wool, a jar or bowl, rubber gloves, a brush, a strainer and vinegar, a condiment you are sure to have at home. The process is very simple: first, you must put on gloves to protect your hands. Then, you have to crumble the steel wool and introduce it into a bowl or container together with the vinegar.
Cover the mixture and wait a quarter of an hour if you want to achieve a light tint, and a few hours if you want it to be darker. Afterwards, all that remains is to apply it to the wood. You’ll love the result, especially because it’s so easy to achieve!
With chalk paint
You will need to gather the following materials: alcohol, ammonia or varnish; soft sandpaper; a peach skin roller; chalk paint of any color; masking tape; gloves and mask and a fine bristle brush or paintbrush, depending on the result you want to achieve. The first thing to do before getting down to work is to clean, condition and prepare the furniture, removing dirt and protecting it with masking tape.
Then, apply a first coat of chalk paint and let it dry for a few minutes. Once it has dried, use the sandpaper on edges, corners and those areas to emulate wear and tear produced by the passage of time. You can also use it to smooth those areas that you consider rougher. Finally, protect the furniture by dipping the brush in alcohol, ammonia, alcohol or varnish and wiping it over the surface.
With Judea Bitumen
This material is a petroleum by-product and is also known as asphalt. You can buy it ready-made or make it yourself at home from turpentine and asphalt. For this technique, you will need to have a primer, varnish, a brush, water, a towel, turpentine, Judea bitumen and gloves.
The first thing, as with all the tricks we have taught you so far, is to clean well the furniture where you are going to work. Use the filler and let it dry for about 5 hours. Then, mix the bitumen of Judea with a little water and, when it dissolves, apply it on the wood using a cloth. In this way, you will make the imperfections stand out, thus achieving a vintage style in your furniture. If you want to retouch a specific area, repeat the process only in that area.