How to Distress a Dining Table
A room furnished with well-worn pieces is easy to live in. Distressing new furniture means giving it a faux antique look by denting and scratching it. You can use this technique to make a new dining table blend into a room full of antiques, or you can distress a whole room full of furniture to give it a more comfortable, lived-in look and feel. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Rub a painted table with steel wool. Concentrate on the areas that would naturally receive the most wear: the edges, the corners and any raised designs. Sand until the wood begins to show through. If you wish to remove part of the wood, use sandpaper--or even an electric sander--before you use the steel wool.
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Rub unpainted furniture the same way. This will round the edges and lighten the finish in these areas.
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Use a length of chain to beat dents into the furniture. Again, concentrate on the areas that would naturally receive the most wear: the top and the edges of the top. If your table has a pedestal base, put lots of wear marks on the top of the base, as if generations of people have rested their shoes there.
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Lay a screw on the table and pound it with a hammer a few times for an interesting dent pattern. Repeat this in another spot with a different-sized screw. Twice is enough--you do not want to make a pattern. Add a few random hammer dings.
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Place hot pots and pans on top of a plain wood kitchen table to make burn rings. Most people do not want to damage their tables this much, but it will give an old farm table a very authentic look.
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Rub the distressed areas with steel wool to remove any splinters. Finish with several coats of beeswax or furniture polish.
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Tips & Warnings
You may waterproof your table with a few coats of polyurethane.
Be careful not to hit yourself or others when you are swinging the chain.
Be sure the edges of the table are well rounded and the top is deeply scratched before you add any burn marks, or it will just look like a damaged new table.
References
- Photo Credit 19th century Tin Tea Pot on Old Painted Table image by loongirl from Fotolia.com
