How you can paint semi-antique wood with your own hands and carefully

The surge in demand for antiques has prompted designers to think about how to meet consumer demand for antiques at an affordable price. There are simple ways to transform modern objects into objects visually similar to antiques. To do this, you need to know how to paint a semi-antique tree yourself at home.

Overview of tree aging methods

To transform standard helmets, typical products into antique masterpieces at home, several aging techniques are used. Scratches and cracks on the painted surface give new items a faded look. Crack and facet varnishes are used to obtain artificial cracks. To depict scratches, acrylic paints (in one or two layers), sandpaper, wax, metallic pigments are used.

Painting wooden elements

Before applying the paint, the wooden surface of the product must be treated in order to achieve high-quality adhesion. Preparation involves several steps:

1. The old layer of paint/varnish is removed. Existing fittings are removed from the product.
2. The surface is sanded with an abrasive agent: first coarse, then fine.
3. Wood dust is carefully removed.
4. The tree is impregnated with an antiseptic primer to protect it from fungal attacks.
5. Existing cracks and chips are not treated to give the item an "antique" appearance.

The paint is pre-applied to a small inconspicuous area to ensure that the result after painting matches the intended plan.

Creation of the effect of decay and wear

The brushing method (artificial weathering) is often used for natural wood furniture. To achieve the shabby effect, you need acrylic paint and sandpaper. For painting, matte shades are chosen to create the illusion of dusty traces. An object with a prepared surface is tinted and dries well. Then, using fine-grit sandpaper of any shape (as fancy suggests), they create a suitable texture. Remove sanding residue and fix the result with a second thin coat of paint.

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The appearance of wear is mimicked where it should have appeared when using the furniture. To do this, a hard, dark wax is applied to these places with separate strokes. Rubbing the wax into the crevices increases the visual effect of antiquity. The product is varnished with a clear varnish.

Use a special varnish

For wooden objects which have a large surface without drawings or carved decorations, the decoration technique is the crackle technique. The essence of cracking is the formation of cracks on a wooden surface.

There are four ways to form a “network” of cracks:

1. In one time. Acrylic paint is applied to the furniture element (the color of the cracks depends on its color).After drying, the painted layer is covered with a cracked varnish. The width of the cracks depends on the thickness of the varnish layer. After complete drying, the surface is painted with acrylic paint in a contrasting matte tone. Smears should be unilateral, without recurrent movements, in a single thin layer. Thanks to this technique, furniture in the Provence or country style is decorated.

For one-step cracking, formulations are produced, packaged in small glass cylinders.

2. For two-step cracking, use 2-bottle packs. First, one composition is applied to the painted layer, then another. When the top layer is covered with cracks, they are visually accentuated by rubbing pastels, oil paints and pigments to match the tone. The final phase is the application of a non-aqueous colorless varnish to preserve the texture.
3. Use of faceted varnishes. Faceted varnish is a water-based coloring composition, when it dries, cracks occur with the formation of cracks. It can be colorless and tinted. The more layers the facet varnish is applied, the more cracks will form. Decorator is used for untreated and painted wood.

To practice the chosen decorating technique, an unpainted board is used.

Cover the wood with a patina

Typically, the term "patina" is used in connection with copper products. It means the appearance of a green oxide film on the surface of the metal due to prolonged exposure to humidity. In connection with the growing popularity of antiques, a method of accelerated artificial aging of furniture elements was invented. Weathered not only the facades of kitchens, bedrooms, but also door leaves, window frames and frames.

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The most original and beautiful options are obtained by applying a patina to white furniture, which allows you to create a decor in a classic Mediterranean style. The patina of the wood is different from the color of the metal. With its help, they imitate the surfaces of gilding, silver, copper, bronze.

At the initial stage of decoration, a base coat is applied, for which you can use 4 products of different chemical composition and consistency:

1. Pasta. Contains natural wax and metallic pigments. Suitable for natural wood and MDF. It is used to achieve the effect of gilding and light rust.
2. Finishing varnish. Gives the white color a yellowish tint.
3. Acrylic paint for carved and embossed furniture and facades in MDF and chipboard.
4. Stain for natural wooden boards. Simulates gray and greenish tones. Does not go well with gilding, silvering, crackling.

When waxing, the prepared surface is painted twice with water-based paint (in one layer) with an interval of 24 hours. Gold or silver paint is applied to the dried wood with a brush.

After 10-15 minutes, wax mixed with a pigment (for example, gold) is rubbed with a finger on a small area and treated with fine-grained sandpaper. Excess wax is removed. The composition is poured onto the felt and the entire surface is polished. Skinning. Purify. They are painted with gold paint and on top with acrylic paint and, without letting it dry, they are washed with a flannel cloth. In conclusion, the entire product is varnished.

In the second method, varnish is applied over the entire surface. After drying, it is covered with a metallic paint.After 30 minutes, the product is treated with a metallic sponge or sandpaper. Cleaned from dust and coated with matt varnish.

Acrylic is used to weather individual areas or the entire surface. For decoration, the most suitable paint is white, black, blue, golden and silver shades. The product is painted with a thin, even coat of acrylic paint. After complete drying, the surface is sanded, dusted and varnished.

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Staining is the easiest way to artificially age wood.Before applying the impregnating agent, the surface is treated with a wire brush. Apply water-based, alcohol-based and oil-based stains. The process consists of 2 stages with an interval of 24 hours. The result is smeared with wax or shellac varnish.

Products covered with patina have increased wear resistance. Contamination is less noticeable on them. They are easier to clean. Wooden products look more elegant and more expensive.

Multi-layer coloring

For staining, acrylic paint is used in two shades: lighter for the base coat and saturated for the finish. The base coat is applied over a thin layer of primer. After a day, using a dry brush, the surface is painted with a second shade. The not completely dried layer of paint is removed with a strong natural cloth. Corners and threads will have a darker color, which will emphasize the "age" of the product. The final stage of the patina is varnishing with matte varnish.

How to age your paint on the metal with your own hands?

The metal surface is aged in two ways: multi-coat painting and the use of crackle varnish.First, the product is cleaned of old layers of paint, degreased, primed, which will ensure good adhesion of tinting compounds.

In the first method, the main coloring layer is applied to the surface. Existing grooves are repainted with paint 1-2 shades darker. After drying, the corners and protrusions with a dry brush are painted with paint 1-2 shades lighter. Finally, the product is covered with a transparent varnish.

If the second method is used, the surface is covered with metallic paint. The brushstrokes should be slightly sloppy. After drying, a crackle primer is applied, forming a dense and transparent film, then a crackle varnish. The cracks formed during drying are “covered” with a transparent varnish.

Features of aftercare

Aged products are well protected from external influences:

• Temperature;
• humidity;
• chemically active detergents.

To maintain its appearance, it is necessary to wipe it with a damp, lint-free cloth. Polishes intended for these purposes are used to induce a shine on the surfaces.