How to Give a New Piece an Antique Look

I am humbled and honored by all the encouraging responses from my DIY Trumeau Mirror (tutorial here) I shared last week. You all are the best! As promised, here is the tutorial on how I gave this new piece an antique look.

This antique paint technique could obviously be used on almost any piece, but I’ll be sharing specifically for this project so that you can recreate your own Trumeau mirror if you so desire.

Materials needed to give a new piece a painted antique look:

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• (remember, the piece was glued, nailed, and caulked before these steps began! see mirror building tutorial here)
• chalk paint in two colors (I used Country Chic Paint in Lazy Linen and Vanilla Frosting), medium paint brush
• medium grit sand paper
• stain (I used Mixwax Dark Walnut), fine tipped artist brush, old rag
• clear wax (I used Country Chic Paint clear wax, but any clear furniture wax will do, including paste wax if you’re looking for a budget option… just know that paste wax takes a little more effort to put on and buff because it is not as soft as furniture waxes), wax brush
• dark wax (I used Annie Sloan dark wax), old rag

How to give a new piece an antique look:

Note: I began with a combination of raw wood (for the trim) and raw MDF board (for the main body).

1. Give the entire piece 1-2 coats of paint (working to achieve full coverage). I used Lazy Linen on the body and Vanilla Frosting on the trim.
2. Paint any decorative pieces before you glue them on, if possible. It’s so much easier!
3. Use your medium grit sandpaper on the trim (not the mdf!) to reveal the raw wood.
4. Use your stain and artist brush to darken the raw wood you revealed with the sandpaper.
5. Use your old rag to soften the look of the stain, making it look like natural wear to the wood underneath.
6. (not pictured) Give the entire piece a coat of clear wax, using your wax brush or a rag.
7. Using an old rag, rub dark wax all over – concentrating especially in the creases and corners.

There are about a million and a half ways to achieve antique painted looks… I could have stained the whole thing dark and then painted and distressed it… But that sounded like a lot of work, I confess! This process still gave the effect of an old piece whose paint is wearing off, but I only had to stain the portions I revealed.

This would also work well on a piece that was already painted. You can simply sand off a few spots (make sure it’s real wood underneath!), add your stain, and then add some dark wax over the entire piece. I was inspired by this gorgeous Trumeau mirror by Horchow, and I’d say the overall effect was achieved.

Any questions? Don’t hesitate to ask!

 MORE CREATIVE PAINT TECHNIQUES:

Chippy Metal Finish Tutorial 

How to Give Metal a Rich, Vintage Patina

Aged Wood Tutorial