Antique wooden walls. Aged furniture - do-it-yourself antique painting. Thermal and chemical wood processing

How to make stylish aged furniture with your own hands from a strong and practical, but hopelessly outdated, out of fashion piece of furniture?

How to make stylish aged furniture with your own hands from a strong and practical, but hopelessly outdated, out of fashion piece of furniture? See photos and read step by step description antique furniture painting technique, which I did for readers

Arina Dubose. Arina found a use for her creativity, creating from scratch an upcycling company - the artistic restoration of old things, including furniture.

When it comes to handmade furniture, I want to emphasize that this is not about some beautiful Victorian oak sideboard or a valuable polished Art Deco side table. If you are lucky enough to own such things, you should not even try to turn this expensive antique furniture in homegrown shabby chic. Their restoration, if necessary, should be entrusted to professionals.

Here we are talking about mass-produced kondo furniture of the 50-80s of the last century, which many people still gather dust in their dachas, attics or garages: terrible, but still quite strong, inherited from parents and grandmothers, it seems to be a pity to throw it away, yes and it contains a lot of stuff...

Simple furniture made from cheap pine or even chipboard and veneer. With such furniture, you can experiment in a creative impulse, it is not a pity to spoil it, and with a certain amount of luck, you can achieve an interesting result.

Step 1. Preparing for furniture aging (antique painting)

Remove handles and other fittings from furniture. If the furniture is polished, remove the polish with a special compound from the hardware store, following all safety rules and instructions on the package.

If the furniture is painted, then the old paint must be processed to smoothness. sandpaper(if it doesn't conflict with your main idea, see antique paint effects below). If the furniture has not been painted, then it is necessary to remove it with fine sandpaper upper layer dirt, grease and anything else that has come into contact with the surface of the furniture over the years of use (use a respirator to protect the respiratory tract from dust and ventilate the room well). All dust should be well cleaned with a vacuum cleaner from the corners, then wipe the furniture with a damp cloth and let it dry. If the surface of the wood is too greasy, wash the furniture with soapy water and let it dry.

We do not need furniture putty. The idea of the project is precisely in the effect of aging, (light) wear and tear of the furniture, so we want to emphasize the defects of the wood surface, and not mask them with putty.

For aging wood and painting antique furniture, Arina recommends using special chalk paints for home creative projects (such are produced under the brands Autentico, Annie Sloan, etc.). Chalk paints for the effect of aged furniture are produced in a wide range of fashionable washed out (as if burnt out by time) shades. Chalk paints can be used on different surfaces(including clay and even plastic!), and no pre-treatment of the surface is required at all.

If you don't have chalk paint, use regular paint. matte paint for walls and ceilings for living spaces on water based(NOT for bathrooms and kitchens!) from any hardware store. When using such paint, it is better to pre-prime the wood surface with a water-soluble primer (primer). Universal (2 in 1) primer prevents natural wood oils from seeping onto the surface of the base paint and promotes better adhesion of the paint to the surface of the furniture. For antique furniture painting, it is better to use a paint roller, not a brush. Protect the environment before starting work plastic film, even better to work outside.

Step 2. Basic painting of antique furniture

Start painting antique furniture from the back (inconspicuous) side. So you can fill your hand, understand how much paint you need to take on a roller, and you may even want to adjust the shade of the paint itself. Next, move to the front of the piece of furniture, applying the paint in broad strokes without leaving smudges.

Before applying a second coat of paint (if necessary, see below), check for smudges (possible smudges should be corrected with sandpaper, and then go over the area with an additional coat of paint). Between coats of paint on furniture, keep the roller in water so it doesn't dry out. Apply the second coat of paint when the first is completely dry (this is important!). The drying time of the paint depends on the conditions environment(humidity and air temperature) and can be from 1 to 5 hours.

Step 3. Antique effects, 'aging furniture'

How many coats of paint you have to apply depends on the style you choose. For a 'simple' look, a rough and weathered effect, or a wood grain showing through the paint, one coat is enough. For a more traditional, smooth look to the furniture, go over the first coat of paint with fine sandpaper, remove dust with a brush, and then apply a second coat of paint.

The effect of wear, shabby. After applying the paint, take a fine sandpaper and start scrubbing the paint in those places where it naturally wears out (at the corners and ribbed surfaces, near the handles). Do this until you reach the desired degree of aging: to primer, to ‘bare’ wood, etc. Now you can easily go sandpaper over the entire surface of the furniture.

bleed-through effect old paint. After applying two coats of base paint, lightly apply a dry brush in the right places with a paint of a different color (it is good to use contrasting colors, see photo of blue chairs where cream-colored paint 'peeps through'). This technique is called ‘dry-brushing’: a dry brush is used to pick up some paint, wipe the brush with a dry rag, and apply a very thin layer of paint to the pre-painted surface. This technique also works well for the effect of old paint etched into the texture of the wood.

The effect of a surface polluted from time (see the photo of the project by Arina Cafe Dubose with the old window frame). This effect is achieved by uneven application of dark wax in those places where the furniture is touched by hands. Read more about applying wax (mastic) below.

The effect of many layers of paint roughly applied one on top of the other. The paint is applied in several layers with careless strokes in different directions, sandpaper is not used between the layers. The final coat of paint is topped with a clear wax for protection and then a dark wax for an aged effect.

All of these effects, as well as many others not covered in this article, can be used together or separately. Experiment and be creative! However, I do not advise you to get carried away with effects, because what is done deliberately and 'too' quickly turns into trash.

Step 4 Protect Antique Painted Furniture

Wax (wax-based wood mastic) perfectly protects water-based paint from damage and extends its life. Wax for wood is sold in two versions: transparent and dark.

Wax is applied to the furniture with a lint-free cloth or a regular foam sponge. Wax evenly (or as required for desired effect) is applied to the surface of a piece of furniture, rubbed if necessary. It takes about 15 minutes for the wax to fully absorb and dry.

If you are satisfied with the paint color of the resulting product, apply clear wax over the entire wood surface, as described above.

Now, with the help of dark wax, you can give furniture the desired aging effect by applying the product only in the right places.

Dark wax, getting into the recesses of the carving on furniture or into defects and damage on the surface, enhances the effect of antiquity. If you apply dark wax over the entire surface of a piece of furniture instead of transparent, you can give the paint a darker shade. Start applying the dark wax on the back of the furniture to see if the effect works for you.

Step 5. Protecting heavily used 'antique' painted surfaces

Intensively used surfaces ( coffee table, dinner table etc.) after mastic (wax), you will need to additionally cover with matte acrylic varnish for wood. Apply varnish according to package instructions. You will have to update the varnish coating about once every six months (depending on the intensity of use of the furniture). To clean the wooden surface and care for aged furniture in the future, use a damp cloth and special means household chemicals for tree care.

Step 6: Aged Furniture: The Finishing Touch

Screw real vintage handles to your aged piece of furniture (you can buy these inexpensively on E-bay and similar online auctions, as well as at flea markets). Such a small addition will adequately complete your creative project. And now it remains to arrange an aged piece of furniture with interesting accessories.

Interior design is not quite becoming a fashionable technique traditional materials, which are very numerous today. Increasingly, homeowners are turning to traditional, environmentally friendly wood.

An aged dining table will give the room sophistication and a noble look.

They make furniture, floors, ceilings from it. Often, craftsmen use this method of using wood as antique finishes. This gives the furniture and the entire home a noble and sophisticated look.

How to age wood

Wood brushing tools: protective mask for the face, grinder, sandpaper, iron brush.

You can artificially age wood different ways. The brushing method is very common. Brushed wood is used as ceiling beams, as flooring, for the manufacture and decoration of furniture. Imitation of semi-antique wood can be done with your own hands right at home. You just need to remember that not all breeds lend themselves to such processing. Brushing technology is not applicable to maple and beech, cherry and teak, pear and some other species. Larch, pine, walnut, oak and ash are excellently processed.

Brushing is done as follows:

The surface of the wood is treated with a stiff brush with metal bristles.
The softer layers in the composition are deformed and removed.
The brushed wood is varnished.

Using a thin drill, you can create the effect of defeat by worms.

The processed material can be used to make furniture parts, entrance and interior doors, for wall cladding in a sauna or bath. You can continue processing by creating a patina effect. During the patination process, part of the wood pores is covered with stains of various colors. A layer of dye is applied to the surface of the wood and immediately wiped off with a cloth. As a result, the tree acquires a light background, against which dark pores stand out. Patina needs to be protected with a layer of varnish.

Artificially aged wood pairs perfectly with cold and hot forging, looks solid, emphasizes the sophistication of the aesthetic tastes of the owners. The facades of the houses, finished in antique style, are immediately evident by the fact that the estate resembles the structure of the last and the century before last.

Stain is needed to give the base dark color of the tree.

To create a retro-style house, you must follow the following rules:

Use Decoration Materials past years or their modern counterparts.
All decor details must be made in the same style.
Windows, roofing, fences and courtyard buildings should be subordinated to this style.
It is desirable to make a roof of copper or very reminiscent of copper. This is a very expensive, but durable material, acquiring a greenish tint over time.
You can use a modern metal tile, coated with a layer of polymer that imitates copper.
The imitation of the load-bearing ceiling beams made of brushed wood will perfectly complement the interior decor.
Doors can be decorated with antique natural veneer.

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Aging wood with paint

Artificially aged furniture is ideal for a country-style kitchen.

You can age a tree by applying paint to its surface. For this:

Apply the paint to the surface in a circular motion with a long-haired brush.
In some places, you need to press the brush harder to achieve a worn effect.
Scrub the surface with a sponge, cloth, dry brush for more pronounced scuff marks.
After the paint has dried, the surface must be waxed and rubbed to a shine.

The necessary paint for semi-antique woodworking is sold in containers of 4-5 liters. It is often used to process wooden facades and for interior decoration. The paint does not contain harmful substances, does not burn.

The need for an effect old wood may be due to several reasons. For example, the desire to arrange (furnish, finish) a room in original style, personal preferences of the owners, lack of funds for the purchase of antiques, or some other considerations. It is quite possible to age a tree with your own hands, if you understand existing technologies. This article will reveal several secrets on how to give it the look that is necessary for a particular interior with the appropriate processing of wood.

Technique artificial aging there are several lumber, so the author will not separately specify which of the tools and preparations may be needed when implementing one or the other. After reviewing each of them, the reader himself will understand, in accordance with his capabilities, what will need to be prepared before starting work.

The main ways of do-it-yourself wood aging

Mechanical

This technique is called texturing, although it is better known as brushing (from the English brush - brush). It is she who is the tool with which the tree is successfully stylized antique. The essence of this method is that the "pulp" is extracted. As a result - the relief surface of the sample. Almost the same thing happens to wood over time - in the process of its shrinkage, under the influence of temperature, ultraviolet radiation, humidity and a number of other factors.

For do-it-yourself woodworking, brushing is one of the most simple options. But not every breed is suitable for this method of imitation of old wood. The method is called texturing because the main task is to achieve a pronounced relief of the material.

What is brushed:

larch, pine (and almost all other conifers);
nut;
ash.

Breeds that are not amenable to mechanical aging:

maple;
fruit trees (for example, cherry) and a number of others (expensive, exotic), less used in the decoration of apartments and houses.

Technology

For a mechanical method of aging a tree, you will need. The job is easy, all you need to do is free time and patience. But this technique suitable in cases where we are talking about a small amount of lumber.

If you want to age a tree over a large area, then it is more advisable to use an electric / drill or angle grinder ("grinder") with. Since speed already plays a role here, you should work in protective equipment and be extremely careful. The slightest awkward movement - and the tree can be hopelessly damaged. It is especially important if the finished product is processed - a table, a stool, a wardrobe, and so on.

Chemical aging of wood

Preliminary processing is carried out with sandpaper with abrasive of large fractions.

Option 1

Application over the entire area of the ammonia solution. Ready-made ammonia, which is inexpensive, is also quite suitable. It causes darkening of lumber, giving it nobility and originality. As a result, the wood takes on an antique look.

Peculiarity - this technology aging is only suitable for hardwoods. Their structure contains substances called tannins. It is they who cause the darkening of the wood.

Option 2

With the help of a polymer brush, a “light” cleaning of the surface is performed. The task is to achieve a clearer manifestation of annual rings. After finishing, the wood is stained and varnished in the appropriate shade.

Option 3

The tree is treated with stain. But not any, but necessarily based on water. After the desired color of the wood has been achieved, the composition is partially washed off (preferably with a damp soft sponge). This is done not over the entire surface, but in its middle part. As a result, the edges remain darker, which is typical for older wood.

Option 4

Patching. A more difficult type of chemical aging to implement, but the wood looks much more luxurious, imitating antiques as much as possible. The essence of the technique is to shade the pores that have opened during machining against the background of the rest of the surface.

Technology

After stripping the workpiece (a specific segment of the base), selected under general interior formulations. The simplest of them is, although there are also special preparations used to patch a tree. As a result, they fill the pores, which differ from the rest of the structure in a darker shade and contrast. Such work is carried out in several stages and requires a lot of time, since each layer is applied after the final drying of the previous one.

When aging a tree with your own hands, the technology can be simplified. To do this, the material is covered with a color-matched paint. Without waiting for it to "grab", you need to remove its top layer. The brush is useless here - it is enough to surface the wood with a “doll” made of soft cloth or a sponge.

Option 5

Coloring. The purpose of this technique is to create “bald spots” on the surface of the wood, imitating abrasions, which is one of the evidence of the solid age of the lumber.

Technology

It is necessary to choose two enamels that differ in color and consistency. After the initial staining of the tree, it is dried. Next, a second layer is applied, but for this a more liquid paint is taken. When this layer also gets stronger, the lumber in some areas is processed with fine-grained sandpaper. As a result, a shabby surface due to the fact that darker paint begins to show through in these places.

You can achieve a better effect with this method of artificial aging. For example, to designate "false cracks" that will further emphasize the age of the tree. Here you will already need the so-called craquelure varnish. It should be applied to the base before the primary painting of the surface.

Any work with your own hands implies the presence of at least minimal experience. Therefore, it is often impossible to achieve the desired result. How to be?

Sand the aged wood.
If its surface has bends, depressions, then these places can additionally be covered with stain. And in 2 layers. For the first - a "water" composition, for the second - on any other basis (gasoline, naphtha, alcohol). After drying, the wood is treated with a wax-containing preparation and polished.

Thermal aging

In fact, this is a complex processing of wood.

Stages of work

The first- firing over the entire surface or on separate area. This is necessary to remove all the "pulp" and a clearer manifestation of the structure, growth rings, knots, cracks.

Second- mechanical restoration. With the help of a metal brush, carbon deposits are removed. In addition, it allows you to achieve the most pronounced relief of the tree.

Third(optional) - wood stain impregnation. Depending on the breed, this often results in a greater texturing effect. A single coat is sufficient.

Fourth- applying varnish. If the aged wood looks great, then it is better to use a colorless varnish. Its task is to protect the material from negative impacts atmosphere. In some cases, additional tinting of wood is made with varnish, but already in color.

The author used various sources in practice open fire and in the process of training came to the conclusion that the best option – gas-burner. If you work with a blowtorch, it is difficult to achieve a uniform flame. As a result, during aging, tan marks appear on the tree, which are quite difficult to level, and sometimes impossible.
Before proceeding with surface treatment, it is necessary to “fill your hand”. Therefore, at first it is desirable to gain at least a minimum of experience by practicing on junk lumber. There will always be some kind of wood waste on the farm.

Restoration of the appearance of wood

This need is encountered everywhere. If the piece of furniture has served for some time, and defects have appeared in a separate area or over the entire area, the original decor has been lost, then this is relatively easy to fix with your own hands. In principle, this technology is one of the varieties of wood aging.

Operating procedure:

Removal of applied layers (cleaning wood to the base). The skin is used. The grain size is selected based on the complexity of processing.
Bare wood is covered (in 2 layers) acrylic paint(black).
Any furniture has a peculiar configuration. Consequently, all protruding places (corners, bevels, segments around the handles, and so on) wear out over time. After determining these areas, they are rubbed with paraffin. It is easy to find a candle in the house.
Staining wood in the desired color.
After the composition dries, the paraffin is washed off (peeled off), and dark paint will appear on the areas treated with it.
Finishing.

The author recalls that the article indicates only the most easy-to-implement methods of artificial aging of a tree with your own hands. There are quite a lot of them, as well as the tools used, preparations. But if the meaning of all is clear technological operations, then it is easy to develop your own methodology. The specifics of the work and local conditions themselves will prompt what and how it is more expedient to do.

Using wood in interior design is always a win-win option. This is the most beautiful natural, aesthetically perfect, breathable material. In addition, it has a beneficial effect on human energy, has bactericidal properties. Look great in any room furniture, floor, doors, ceiling beams, various elements decor, made of natural wood, which is better than other materials can be processed.

Why artificially age a tree

It is difficult to get a definite answer to this question, but there are three main answers:

Personal preferences.
The processed material allows you to create one of fashion styles: vintage, shabby chic, retro, provence, country style.
If there is not enough money for antique furniture, then you can age the tree yourself. Subsequently, nothing will prevent you from passing off a table or chair made of such material as a product with a history.

How to age a tree. Master Class. brushing

There are several ways to achieve the desired result. The most interesting and most used of these is the method of texturing, or brushing. Its name came from English word brush, which means "brush" in translation. The essence of this method is that soft fibers are removed from the top layer of solid wood. As a result of processing, the surface becomes embossed. In the process of natural aging of a tree, the same changes occur with it, but this takes a very long time. Brushing is considered the closest to reality method of imitation of antiquity. It is used to give the wood a pronounced textured texture.

What types of wood are suitable for brushing

Converting an antique wooden surface using the brushing method is not difficult at all at home. But not all wood lends itself to such processing. In order to age a tree, you need to use rocks with a distinct texture: pine, oak, larch, ash, walnut. And maple, beech, cherry, pear, teak and some exotic trees categorically not amenable to mechanical aging. It is useless to apply such mechanical way and for products from MDF. But how to make an aged tree from these materials if others are not available? For this case, there is chemical method. If you need to age the wood conifers, it would be more rational to use the mechanical method.

Mechanical restoration

Brushing is a rather laborious process. The main tool in this case is a hard metal brush. Since it will not work quickly to age a tree in this way, the process can be accelerated. To do this, you need a drill or a grinder equipped with a special wire brush.

Processing wood with power tools is a rather unsafe process, associated with characteristic vibration and the risk of breaking off wood chips and metal rods. Therefore, it is necessary to know how to artificially age a tree and not suffer. Work is recommended to be carried out in a protective suit. To prevent small debris and dust from entering the eyes, it is necessary to wear special camouflage goggles or cover the face with a shield, and use a respirator to protect the respiratory tract.

Chemical processing

How to age wood with your own hands without using special tools? To do this, you need hard sandpaper. She needs to clean the surface, and then apply a solution of ammonia (ammonia), which causes a noticeable darkening of the wood. As a result, the structure of the tree will be able to appear especially brightly, and the noble darkening will give the finished product an antique look.

Depending on the degree of aging desired, this treatment can be light, superficial, using a non-rough polymer brush, or deep, when growth rings become visible. At the same time, it is very important not to overdo it, since you can get not the desired textured noble product, but spoiled loose wood.

After the initial rough cleaning, regardless of the processing method, the workpiece must be brought to the desired aesthetic appearance. To do this, burrs are removed from the surface, then the product is polished with a polymer abrasive brush. After that, the wood must be additionally carefully lightened with sandpaper and give it a final gloss.

Patination

To obtain the desired effect of antiquity, mechanical processing alone is not enough. Then you can simply varnish the product. But it is recommended to perform the so-called patination. This will further emphasize the relief surface of the product. Patina is a characteristic luxurious gloss that a tree acquires over the years. Its reconstruction at home is carried out in several stages and requires a lot of effort.

Patination is the process of applying special compounds and stains to the treated surface. They are selected depending on the desired color and shade. finished product. The compositions are applied in such a way that they get into the pores of the tree, which open during mechanical processing. It is important to achieve a patina effect, in which woody deep pores look a little darker and more contrast than lighter surfaces. At self-fulfillment such processing, it is recommended to use the paint of the desired color. To do this, the surface is first completely painted over, and then the top layer is removed with a sponge or cloth, without waiting for drying. As a result, the tree looks more ancient and noble.

But patination is not necessary at all. Antique enameled items also look great. These materials can be used to create real masterpiece, which will distinguish from real antiques only a true connoisseur of antiquities. One layer of enamel should be applied to the surface. Then the tree needs to be dried and another layer applied. At re-painting enamel must be chosen more liquid and a different color. When the wood is completely dry, it is necessary to wipe the surface with sandpaper so that the bottom layer shows through and scuffs are obtained.

Toning. Varnishing

After patination, further toning should be performed. For this process, compositions based on natural oils and resins are used. On the last step wood processing is covered with 2-3 layers of varnish. Then it should be rubbed with a soft cloth to give extra shine. Varnishing fixes all previous stages and gives the product a finished look. Despite the fact that the process is laborious, anyone can master it. The main thing is to follow the technology. Then it will be clear how to age a tree with your own hands.

Brushing Secrets

How to age a tree to get the best effect? To do this, you need to know some subtleties.

The main surface is painted over with the following colors: white, red, black, blue, yellow, purple, brown, orange. For pores take blue, red, yellow and white colors.
If you look at a board tinted with paint at an angle, you can notice the heterogeneity of the application.
Manual brushing allows you to do the work more artistically, although the process will be very long, unlike the automatic method.
The more defects (knots, curls, eyes) wood has, the better the product made from it will look.

Where can treated wood be used?

Far from every dwelling you can find processed material, since it is not enough just to age a tree. It is very important to use it correctly in the interior. Thanks to the use of the brushing method, you can create exclusive, almost antique products. For example, furniture items: exquisite book shelves, chests of drawers, cabinets, kitchen sets, country furniture, picture frames or mirrors, candlesticks and other decor.

This method is perfect for processing parquet and floor boards, as well as for the manufacture of doors, partitions, various wooden elements. Antique-treated wood is often used in the decoration of the walls of a home bath or sauna, non-standard rooms or a whole house, retro cafes, bars, billiard rooms.

Today, it is no secret to anyone how to age a tree. In addition to brushing, there are many more ways. They differ in the complexity of the technology and the amount of time spent. But regardless of the choice, aged wood helps to create a unique spiritual atmosphere in any room, to connect eternal values and the spirit of modern times, to fill the house with an atmosphere of noble antiquity.

Antique furniture causes involuntary admiration - exquisite forms and fine work on wood bear the noble imprint of time, giving the interior a subtle spirit of prosperity and security. However, genuine antiques are an expensive thing, and even in the first approximation, most people cannot afford it, but this fact does not prevent anyone from dreaming about a respectable setting, imagining themselves sitting at a carved table in an imposing chair with silk upholstery, sipping tea measuredly. Why even dream? The idea of creating products that replicate unique pieces of furniture was born a long time ago: as early as the beginning of the 17th century, the resourceful Venetians began to forge inlaid works of Chinese masters, gluing painted pictures to wood and opening them with numerous layers of varnish for greater identity. With the current abundance building materials yes, with skillful hands, making semi-antique furniture with your own hands is quite possible: it is enough to assemble wooden structure characteristic configuration, maintain the style, perform the processing inherent in a particular era, and in the end, imitate the "touch" of time.

Do-it-yourself antique furniture: style, shape, decor

Having decided to ennoble your interior with antique furniture, and having made it with your own hands, you need to take into account that such an environment is not in harmony with every direction. In what interior styles will artificially aged products look organic? Here is some of them:

Do-it-yourself antique furniture: tinting, whitening, staining

One of the most simple methods giving interior items an aged look - two-layer painting with contrasting shades, followed by rubbing of protruding parts. To create a similar dilapidated effect, before applying paint, all planes of the structure must be sanded and primed in order to improve the adhesion of wood to paintwork materials. The first tinting layer is applied with a dark-colored paint, and the second with a light one, after which the fine-dispersed sandpaper is passed along the corners, ends, bevels and volumetric elements of the product. Fragments furniture design, which are most exposed to natural wear during operation, are processed with emery until the base appears under the top decorative layer. paintwork. In this process, you can go further - remove the color up to the wood - but it will look natural only at the corners of the product. It is desirable to fix all the delights of tinting with a transparent matte or semi-matte varnish, and to emphasize dilapidation, you can use craquelure varnish, which, after drying, will create a thin web of small cracks.

Antique whitewashed furniture looks beautiful - it’s not difficult to create an imitation of light wear on the surface of a once-white piece of furniture with your own hands (in ancient times, the tree was limed to prevent its damage). To stylize an old setting with a touch of lime, you need to take water-based white and paint over the surfaces with a brush, slightly dipping it into the paint and removing excess paintwork with a cloth. As a decorative material for whitening wood, you can also use special pastes that are applied diluted and rubbed soft cloth. After coating with a paste not diluted with water, the surfaces of the product must be dried and selectively cleaned sandpaper. The technique benefits most when bleaching compositions are applied to textured wood with pronounced growth rings. The convenience of this method of aging is the absence of numerous stages, including the obligatory finish in the form of a varnish layer.

Stained wood, which has lain in water for several centuries, is highly valued: its strength, like metal, combined with a dark, almost black, color make it an ideal material for the manufacture of exclusive furniture. To create antique interior items that imitate stained wood products, it is not necessary to purchase expensive lumber, which is very difficult to handle with your own hands due to its hardness. You can completely get by with the purchase of a special composition - solvent-based stains - and abundantly soak the surface of the furniture with it, then dry it a little and wash off with acetone the excess paintwork materials that have not penetrated into the thickness of the wood. Required preparatory stage when staining - sanding the wood with a “zero” sandpaper, and the final one - opening with varnish. When processing a product with water-based stains, the sanded wood is pre-moistened with water and the tinting liquid is applied with a soft brush along the fibers, and then coated with oil, wax or varnish. Due to the fact that the stain better colors the soft, initially light areas of the array and almost does not change the color of the hard, darker veins, the wood texture acquires an original “negative” pattern.

Do-it-yourself antique furniture: patination, gilding (silvering)

The interior situation, which has survived several centuries, naturally bears traces of ingrained pollution on its facades, and in order to simulate this effect with your own hands when making antique furniture, patination is used. Pastes or mastics intended for patination are applied to the base wooden plane and rubbed with a rag into the joints of parts, carved elements and other recessed parts of the structure. Often, gold, silver or bronze dust is added to patinated mixtures, which gives an artificially aged setting a touch of chic and glamour.

In addition to the use of metal powder as part of paintwork materials when patinating furniture sets, to create the illusion of antiquity, gilding (silvering) of products is often used using potal - the thinnest metal foil that is glued small areas flat, lubricated special glue. The “fringe” formed in the process of gilding (silvering) - the non-adhered edges of the sheet - is carefully cleaned with a hard brush, and the finishing layer is smoothed with cotton swabs. After drying, the coating can be additionally polished with a cotton cloth, and then with a thick woolen cloth, carefully remove the gilding or silvering on the folds of the furniture structure, imitating natural wear. Upon completion of all processes, the decorative layer should be fixed with shellac varnish.

Do-it-yourself antique furniture: oil, wax treatment

To style antique wood, oils with pigments are often used, which quickly penetrate into the structure of the rock and “draw” it perfectly, creating the illusion of an antique product. As with other methods of processing an array in order to age it, oiling wood requires preliminary grinding, during which the pores of the material open and subsequently absorb paintwork materials better. Usually the oil is applied with a brush in two layers with intermediate drying for 24 hours and re-sanding, and in order for the viscous liquid to best penetrate deep into the wood, it is rubbed with a soft cotton cloth. As a result of wood aging with tinting oils, a surface with a “velvet” sheen and an expressive structure is formed.

Unusual by color palette aged furniture is obtained as a result of wood waxing, which must be done within a half-hour period from the moment the surface is cleaned with sandpaper, while the pores and vessels of the wood are open. Colored wax is recommended to be distributed with a brush, and rubbed in a circular motion with a tissue swab, periodically adding decorative material. After drying the first color layer throughout the day, apply top coat in the form of transparent wax, the excess of which is removed with a piece of soft textile. To create semi-antique furniture with your own hands, the method is good because it is easy to perform, and the tree acquires an unusual color with pronounced veins, while maintaining the natural texture of the surface.

Do-it-yourself antique furniture: brushing

Quite often in rustic style, and sometimes even in such more elaborate interiors as art deco and ethno, antique furniture sets are made of brushed wood. Name this method aging of wood was formed from the word "brash", which means "brush" in translation: appearance wood is modified with brushes, but not ordinary ones, but with metal bristles. Thin rods of steel "pile" clean out the soft areas of the surface of the tree, while the hard annual rings remain almost intact. Despite the apparent simplicity, brushing is a delicate process, since it is necessary to follow the pattern of wood clearly so as not to get chaotic notches.

To complete the image of deliberately rough antique furniture, hand-crafted using the brushing technique, the corners of the product can be cut off and polished a little with nails different diameter make shallow holes to create the appearance of woodworm moves, and use a blowtorch to walk along some front planes, forming scorched places.

Decorating semi-antique furniture with your own hands is not so difficult: there are a lot of options for finishing, and paintwork materials- and even more. If you do not know the coating technology, you can always study the instructions that the manufacturer usually attaches to the factory packaging. The main difficulty is the creation of semi-antique furniture design, often including carved and curvilinear details, which are “too tough” only for professionals. Having entrusted the manufacture of furniture to specialists, you can later style it semi-antique with your own hands, with a little patience and imagination.