Ideas for Antiquing Furniture

Gilding furniture is one way to make it look antique.

Aging contemporary furniture to provide the appeal of an antique is usually much cheaper than buying authentic antique furniture and introduces a new style of décor to your home. When you set to work on antiquing furniture, operate within your experience, creativity and comfort level with using certain decorative tools and techniques. You want to get a good result for your effort.

Glazing

If you don't want to put in a lot of time, money and effort but still want to give the painted surface of furniture an aged appearance, use glazing techniques. Antiquing in this way is really a simple three0-step process involving rolling glaze onto the surface, working the glaze in with a rag and then adding some flecks by tapping a brush against a wooden ruler. The most effective way to add age is to use colors like umber or sienna mixed with small flecks of black or gold.

Crackling

One method for giving furniture an antique appearance is to create a crackling effect using special crackling varnish and paint. You can get the most gain from crackling varnish by making sure that the drying period between applications of the base coat of varnish and the top coat of varnish remains consistent across the full surface of the furniture. This is easy on a piece of furniture with a small surface. When crackling larger surfaces, use a timer to ensure uniformity of drying time.

Gilding

An elegant technique for antiquing that endows a piece of furniture with a higher level of sophistication is gilding. Gilding is the process of adding a metal finish to your furniture. Gilding is an aging process that is better put off until you become more comfortable and experienced because it requires significant investment of time, materials and dexterity. The primary tool used for gilding is the metal leaf that must be carefully applied. An important thing to remember about gilding is that your choice of metal works best when applied to specific background color. Warmer metals gild more effectively over warm backgrounds while cooler metals gild more effectively over cooler colored furniture services.

Waxing

Liquid wax applied with a brush can be used to recreated the aged appearance of dirt ingrained into the finish. This effect is most easily accomplished by using a steel wool pad to buff the wax after it has been applied over a painted surface. A small toothbrush is quite handy for getting the liquid wax into tiny areas like corners.

References

• "Decorative Painting Step by Step;" Larry Johnston, Ed.; 2005
• "Decorative Paint and Faux Finishes;" Carol Spier, Ed; 1999
• "10,001 Hints and Tips for the Home;" Jude Garlick, Ed.; 1998