How to Distress Unfinished Furniture

Distressed chest

Distressed furniture gives your home a lovely lived-in feeling, but finding the right look isn't always easy. Sometimes it is better to buy an unfinished piece, distress it and finish it in the color you want. A distressed look can be achieved in minutes if the right steps are taken.

Things You'll Need

• Hammer
• Flat-head tacks and screws
• 1 x 3 x 10 inch stick of wood
• Smooth rock
• Ice pick
• Sandpaper

Instructions

1. 

   Decide on the level of distressed look you want to achieve. Everyday wear is much easier to achieve than a long-term aging effect. See the Resources section below for more information about how to achieve different looks in distressed furniture.

2. Pound your piece of furniture with the round end of a hammer in random areas. Pound flat-head tacks and screws into a narrow piece of wood, leaving the heads above the surface by a quarter inch. Beat your furniture piece with the tack and screw heads, so that the whole surface has received the treatment. Be sure not to make marks too close together, and don't create a pattern which will destroy the natural look.

3. Use a rock to create large dents. The rock should be smooth and somewhat shallow, but deep enough to easily hold in your hand. Hit the wood surface in a few spots to simulate the bigger bumps that always come with years of living.

4. Soften sharp edges with sand paper. Wooden rungs on the front of chairs should be slightly flattened. The front edge of a rocking chair seat should be sanded slightly where years of sitting have worn off its sharpness. Take a few minutes and imagine where the natural points of wear might be and sand them lightly to soften them.

5. Create wormholes with an ice pick near the bottom sections. Like hammer marks and nail-head marks, these have to be very randomly placed to be convincing. Genuine wormholes only appear on the lower sections of antique wood furniture.

6. Smooth over your work with a fine grain sandpaper.

Tips & Warnings

• Take care not to hit your wood furniture too hard, which can destroy the surface instead of distressing it.

Resources

• Techniques for distressing furniture