- 1). Paint your piece with ivory or off-white paint, if it's not painted already. Don't worry about anything but applying the paint quickly. In fact, you can even skip the open areas and just paint the grooves and crevices, for example where there's a knot hole or routed detail around a drawer face or drawer top.
- 2). Strip the paint with chemical paint stripper. Your paint stripper directions may indicate a rag and a scraper for paint removal, but you can use a wire brush as well as you're going to be further distressing the wood. The wire brush will just add to the effect. Wear safety glasses and protective clothing in case some of the paint stripper is sent airborne by the wire brush or any other means of removal.
- 3). Pound nails into a 2-inch or 3-inch diameter wooden rod, such as a clothes hanging rod in a closet. Any round scrap of wood will do. It should be about 8 inches long. Pound nails partially into the wood, then pound them over sideways, embedding them into the wood. Continue until you have a mace-lick mallet you can use to knock into your cedar, applying years of dings in just a few minutes.
- 4). Tap the cedar with your distressing mallet in a haphazard manner. Rotate your wrist and the angle of the mallet as you go so you can't see the pattern of dents repeated in the wood. It should appear random. Distress the wood a bit more where it would likely be knocked around with use, such as the corners, and less in areas that would be naturally protected, such as the areas adjacent to a drawer-pull.
- 5). Pour about 4 ounces of paint thinner into a jar. Add 2 ounces of linseed oil. Squeeze out about an inch of burnt umber oil paint onto a stir stick. Mix it into the jar until the paint is completely dissolved. It will take a few minutes. Take your time and avoid splashing the pint thinner out of the jar. Add more paint for a darker antique look. It should look like very dark tea or light coffee.
- 6). Apply your antiquing solution to your piece with a rag. Get it in the crevices. Avoid applying the antiquing color on areas that are not exposed, such as the sides of a drawer. You are mimicking the affects of exposure and, perhaps, years of layers of waxing and cleaning.
- 7). Wipe excess antiquing solution off with a dry towel, before it has time to dry. The oil will keep it from drying too quickly, but it may set unevenly if you don't wipe it off immediately after application. Leave the solution in cracks, imperfections and the dings you made with your distressing mallet.
- 8). Sand the flat surfaces of your pieces lightly with 100-grit sandpaper, or finer if you like.
- 9). Apply a second coat of antiquing solution and wipe the excess away again. This will create a subtle, layered effect.
- 10
Sand the flat surfaces with 400-grit sandpaper. Pay special attention to any areas where it appears the antique solution was painted on. Also, break through to the wood on the corners, revealing brighter grain. - 11
Apply a coat of furniture wax, then polish.
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