How to Antique a Table
Jul 26
I bought this little side table to fit in a weird spot against the wall next to a fire side sitting chair. I found it at a furniture consignment shop in Floyd. It wasn’t antique, but after looking in several antique shops, this was cheap, and pretty much what I was looking for. It was a painted, though – a plain black matte, which really didn’t look right for this particular room. I knew it needed painting, but I couldn’t decide what color would look right and was pretty sure I’d go with cream. So I got out the paint can and started painting, thinking I’d add in a smidge of the barn red or the wall color of this room – a sea mist blue. I ended up mixing the paints in a spare container, getting out the brown trim color and adding a bit of that too, and came up with a sort of terra cotta peach color. So I painted the table this new color; it went with the room, but I wasn’t satisfied yet. I took the straight brown and a dry brush and started adding some brown to the edges and then blending it with a rag giving it a worn, weathered look. Now about here is where I get out my camera because this is getting interesting. Too late for a before pic, but I captured the steps you need to create your own antiqued table. So I continued to add the brown one section at a time so that I could go over it with the rag a few seconds later (may need to play with drying time) to rub it in some. Then if I had too much brown I could go over it again with the base color to get it just how I wanted it. Once this was dry I took some sandpaper to the edges and along the legs to expose some of the black paint and wood underneath giving it the look of a well aged piece.
Click on the photos to see larger images and steps.
