Antiquing Wood Trim

Making wood look antique is a faux finish.

A home has a certain style. Some people love to fill their home with antiques. A way to enhance this look is to antique the trim in the rooms that have antiques. It's not always feasible to find old antique wood. So this process gives the look of antique wood without having to search for it. This also gives the antiques an appropriate backdrop. Use new pieces of ceiling trim and flat trim to antique. Do this process outside so you won't have the mess in your home, or the fumes.

Things You'll Need

• New trim
• Old chairs or sawhorses
• Chain
• Stain (two colors)
• Glaze
• Sandpaper
• Matte finish
• Beeswax
• Steel wool
• Paint

Instructions

1. 

   Make new wood look old by antiquing.

   Lay the pieces of trim across some old chairs or sawhorses.

2. Distress the trim by hitting the wood with a regular chain or a bicycle chain in spots. This will randomly put dents in the wood and make it look "worn."

3. Apply stain in the color you wish the trim to be. Then, put a glaze over the stain. Allow to dry. Sand the trim in spots on the top and bottom edges to look worn. Apply a much lighter colored stain on the sanded spots. Allow to dry.

4. Apply a matte finish. Run over the trim with beeswax on steel wool to make the final finish.

Tips & Warnings

• If you like the old peeling paint look, apply beeswax in random spots over the stain. Paint quickly and let the paint dry. Very lightly paint on a glaze. Let dry. Rub the spots where the beeswax was applied and the paint will peel off. You will have random spots of stain showing through with peeling paint.

• This is an adult project. Do not let children near the paint, stain or glaze fumes.

• Stain and paint outside in the open air.

References

• Manage My Home: Antiquing Wood Furniture with Paint
• Kitchen Cabinets Design: Creating Distressed Wood Cabinets