How to Paint and Distress Furniture

In this instructable, I show you how to paint and distress furniture using white paint along with wood stain or creme wax. These simple techniques can be used to revive outdated furniture or to flip furniture for a profit.

There are several things which are difficult to fully explain with words and images, so be sure to check out the video tutorial.

Materials

Weathered Gray Wood Stain

Americana Decor Creme Wax, 8-Ounce, Deep Brown

Polycrylic Spray Finish

Latex Paint (Satin or Semi-Gloss)

Paint Primer (For Bare Wood)

Nitrile Gloves

Tools

Orbital Sander

Chip Brush

Shop Rags

Finish Brush

Paint Brush

4" Nap Roller

Hand Sander

For the first step, paint the furniture with 2 coats of paint. Satin or semi-gloss white paint works best.

Apply the first coat of paint evenly without using too much paint. As a quick tip, use a thin coat of primer on bare wood or on an already painted surface.

Next, apply a second coat of paint after the first coat completely dries. Semi-gloss or satin/eggshell paint works best for distressing painted furniture.

The sheen makes it easier to wipe off distressed areas as I’ll show you in later step.

Flat or matte paint can be distressed. However, you lose control over the distressing process.

Use a sanding block, orbital sander, or hand sander to sand the corners and edges of the painted finish. Any grit between 120 grit and 220 grit sandpaper work well.

The light sanding should expose the bare wood in areas of the furniture which get handled most often. This will make the furniture look as though it aged naturally from heavy use over time.

You should use contrasting colors for the best results. In other words, light stain or wax on dark paint and dark stain or wax on light paint.

Option 1: For a vintage look, use gray wood stain to white painted furniture.

Option 2: Brown creme wax produces a stronger distressed look.

Before you decide on which to use, checkout the final results in this post.

First, apply wood stain to a section of the painted furniture with a brush, staining pad, or rag. The section should be small enough to wipe on and wipe off within 10 minutes.

Chip brushes work well to apply stain to paint. These brushes work better than rags for this furniture distressing technique.

The creme wax is very thick and dries very quickly. Therefore, a nitrile glove and your hand works best to spread the creme wax over the paint. If you try to use a brush, it will dry very quickly.

Use a rag to wipe the stain or wax from the paint until you achieve the distressed look. The paint sheen (Satin or Semi-gloss) allows you to control the distressed look better than flat or eggshell sheen.

However, the stain will absorb into the paint no matter how much you wipe. The more you wipe the more stain will be removed.

The stain or wax will saturate the corners, seams, and other hard to reach places. Obviously, this makes the furniture look naturally distressed.

Move to the next section and repeat the process.

Allow the stain or creme wax to dry for 12 to 24 hours.

As a last step, apply a water-based sealer or wax top coat to protect the distressed finish. To protect and seal the distressed finish, use 3 coats of polycrylic. As a quick tip, lightly hand sand with 220grit sandpaper between coats for better protection.

The stain produced a vintage look and was a bit easier to apply and control. Also, the stain goes a very long way. I could distress 15 to 20 console tables with one can of stain. The 32 ounce can of stain costs $16.00.

The dark creme wax produced a more distressed unique look. I used the entire can of wax for the console table and the can was $10.00. Also, the wax required a bit more elbow grease.

Ultimately, both furniture distressing techniques produced awesome results. Personally, I like the look of the stain more than the wax. Plus, it was easier to apply.

I hope this instructable provided you with value. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions - I'm happy to help.

Be sure to checkout my YouTube channel and my website for more DIY tutorials.