How To Paint & Distress Furniture Shabby Chic Style?
Shabby Chic is a style option in which the furniture gives an aged appearance. The style can either be achieved naturally or by distressing the existing furniture by following the below-given steps:
- Prepare The Surface:
The first step will be to prepare the furniture surface by removing drawers & hardware from it followed by washing it up with soapy warm water. Once the furniture surface is clean, the user needs to thoroughly allow it to dry. After that, the user needs to sand down the entire furniture until it becomes ready to accept the finish treatments. - Rub The Wax:
After sanding, the user needs to rub the candle wax on to the furniture surface at areas where he wants cracking or peeling. The candle wax helps in rolling & cracking the paint in certain areas. - Apply Paint:
The next step will be to apply a decent coat of paint on to the furniture and then allow the paint to dry completely. The recommended paint for the step is satin or flat paint. Also, the user doesn't need to apply a coat of primer before the paint because showing the wood through the paint is part of the process. The user can apply another coat of paint on to the surface once the first coat dries in order to make the paint look solid. In Case of two-tone look, the user can apply the first coat of paint with one color. Once the first coat dries, the user needs to apply more wax on to the furniture surface followed by applying the second coat of paint with the second color. The second coat of paint can come off at places where the wax was applied in order to give the furniture a worn look. - Distress The Furniture:
As soon as the top coat of paint dries, the user needs to follow it up by giving the furniture a distressed look. In order to give the furniture a distressed look, the user needs to rub the surface with sandpaper or steel wool at the desired places in order to remove paint from such places. The user can also make gouges to the furniture surface with the help of screwdriver, chain, or nails. After gauging, the user can rub tinted wax on to gauged areas in order to darken them. - Seal The Paint:
Before sealing the paint, the user can peel the paint more by running the heat gun at a low setting on to the entire furniture. After that, the user can seal the paint by applying one or two coats of satin or matte polycrylic on to the entire furniture surface.