by Catherine Woods

Created on: March 12, 2010

If you want the look of old furniture but do not want to pay the price for an antique, why not distress your wooden furniture yourself?  Though distressing furniture can be tricky, it can also be a lot of fun.  Just follow these steps to get a great distressed look that will last for years.

Remove It

Hardware and glass need to be removed from the furniture.  If you are not wanting something on the furniture to be destroyed or stained, then go ahead and take it off.  You cannot ruin something if it isn’t there to be ruined.

Strip It

Take off any finish that might be on your furniture.  Whether it is paint or stain, get it off and start fresh.  You have the opportunity to completely revamp this piece, so do it!

Hit It

Now it is time for the fun part.  Find some heavy metal pieces around your home to use to dent and ding your furniture.  Hammers, locks and screw drivers are all great things to use to distress your wooden piece of furniture.  So without getting too carried away, hit your piece randomly with different items to create a well loved look.

Smooth It

Once the distressing is done, sand down any rough spots that might have been caused by the distressing.  You do not want to get splinters from your furniture.  Then just lightly sand the rest of the piece to give your stain something it can hang on to.

Stain It

Is your piece sanded?  Great!  It is time to stain it.  With one old cloth, apply the stain in small sections and then gently wipe off with a dry cloth.  By lightly wiping off stain shortly after you apply it, more stain will build up in the distressed areas and draw attention to them.

Repeat It

Continue to wipe on and wipe off your stain until the entire piece is covered.  Let the first coat dry and then you just repeat until your wood furniture is the color you want.  This may take a time if you want a dark color, but the look is definitely worth it.

Protect it

Now that you have stripped, sanded, hit and stained your furniture, it is time to protect the finish that you worked hard to get.  Purchase some polyurethane and apply a light coat over the entire piece.  Make sure you give this plenty of time to dry as it will help the coating protect your wood better. 

Enjoy it

Once your protective coating has completely dried, all you have to do is enjoy your distressed wooden furniture.  So get started creating a distressed look for much less than you would pay at an antique store. You can rest assured knowing that the look you create will with stand the test of time.

Learn more about this author, Catherine Woods.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.