Well aged

Our quick tricks to age furniture.

1. Smear petroleum jelly on areas of the furniture that would normally wear, such as sharper edges or corners (see the side table below right). Paint the furniture with a waterborne enamel, such as Resene Lustacryl, allow to fully dry then wipe away the petroleum jelly to expose the raw timber underneath. You can also use this technique using two colours – paint the basecoat (this is Resene Twizel), then add the petroleum jelly, then a topcoat. Once the petroleum jelly is completely removed, finish the full piece of furniture with Resene Aquaclear to protect the paint and the bare timber.

2. Dragging creates a finely striped effect often associated with antiques. Dragging (often referred to as strie) is a finely striped paint effect created by dragging a dry brush or comb through the wet paint. Where the brush makes contact with the surface, the dragging medium is removed to reveal the basecoat.

3. Another quick and easy aged technique is to simply sand away the paint to expose the timber. Or by using two different colours, say a cream first, then a slate blue on top, when you sand away the paint you can expose layers of both the first cream coat and the timber. You can use wire wool instead of sandpaper, but do this before the topcoat of paint hardens properly.

4. Try Resene FX Crackle finish. The crackle glaze allows peeks of the base colour to show through and contrast with the topcoat colour. Apply a basecoat of colour (this is Resene Sambuca), then brush on a smooth even coat of Resene FX Crackle. Allow to dry then fairly quickly, brush on your topcoat colour (this is Resene Castaway). Apply in one direction. As the paint dries, the cracks will form. This happens quite quickly. Don’t brush the paint once it has crackled otherwise you will damage the finish.

Chalk paint

Karen Walker Chalk Colour from Resene ColorShops creates a beautiful velvety matte finish when applied to furniture and other surfaces, even small decorative items. For most surfaces, simply wipe down and start painting – no priming, sanding or sealing needed. Depending on the look you want to create, apply one or two coats of Karen Walker Chalk Colour and finish with Karen Walker Soft Wax or for a more ‘aged’ French provincial look, use Karen Walker Vintage Wax.

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