Distress Furniture Like a Pro

When giving an old piece of furniture a fresh coat of paint, it's fitting to distress it a bit, so the new paint feels natural on the vintage or antique piece. The look can be subtle or dramatic, depending on the techniques and paints used. Flat, matte and chalky paints tend to distress better and look more authentic than gloss or semi-gloss finishes.

A big bonus to distressing is that it's very forgiving.  It smooths out brush strokes and hides painting that might be less than perfect or even sloppy! It's also a livable finish. Any wear and tear that happens will just blend in with the distressed finish.

The end result depends a lot on the grit of sand paper used for distressing. For a scratchy, high-contrast look, use a coarse paper, like 60-80 grit. For a subtle look, use a fine sanding sponge. While electric sanders can be used for distressing, this timeworn technique looks most authentic when achieved by hand.

Furniture gets the most wear where it's touched and bumped the most. In order to simulate authentic wear, knock the paint off the edges of the piece and each of the drawers or cabinet doors. Use a medium- to coarse-grit sandpaper and brush along the edges with a flicking motion.