The post that sooo many have been waiting for!!!!

No - not the contest, but how I paint furniture!!! I've had sooo many emails of late wanting to know how to do it!!! Ya' know, do it - how I paint my furniture!!! Well, after the post I did forever ago about secrets - I thought I would let one out of the bag. So, get ready here we go!!!

First off, I have a few pictures {only a couple actually!} By the time I decided to do this post the lighting was some what crappy and I as we all know, I can't take a flippin' picture to save my life - so I really need as much natural light as I can get!!! But I really think you will know what the heck I'm talking about!!

Okay, I rarely use the crackle stuff - rarely I say!! An "authentic" piece of vintage furniture rarely is completely covered in a crackle finish - so to me ------ it looks totally FAKE!! I mean think about it!! The main secret to all of this is to make it look "real old" not "I-bought-it-new-but-I-want-it-to-look-old"!!! You need to think of the look you want to go with. Do you know how many distressed looks there are?! To many to name. Think back on a piece you saw {whether it was truly old or made to look that way.} Got it pictured - okay so let's replicate it!

There are so many ways to get the "rubbed" look. You must know what I'm talking about - the worn places. Oh Lord . . . . here goes one of my biggest secrets of all time . . . . I can't believe I'm about to tell everybody {all 6 people who read my blog} . . . . But folks - the best thing to use is freakin' VASELINE!!!! You read right - vaseline!!!! Here's how it works:

Let's pretend it's this bookshelf - {I would show the whole thing, but it was covered up in sooo much stuff that you wouldn't be able to see the paint job!! At some point I will let you see its entirety, but not in this post!}

This was a newly constructed piece - it had no stain, poly, paint - nothing - just raw wood. We made this piece originally to go in Hudson's room before he was born, so I new that I wanted something "really beat up". I used a heavy hand and smeared vaseline in so many places - literally where you see "no" red paint! After I was through, I painted it with just regular latex paint - 1 coat - that's it. I started at the top and worked my way down. As soon as I was finished, I took a rag with paint thinner and wiped it down!! Obviously the more you rub, the more the paint is going to come off. I knew that I wanted alot of paint "off" so I kept rubbing till I was happy with the effect I was getting! That simple . . .

Now, after that step was complete, I let the piece dry for a full 48 hours. To my husband's dismay - I then beat the crap out of it!! I nicked it, beat it, whipped it - you know just trashed the thing out with all kinds of dents and holes {my husband worked for hours filling the nail holes - I don't know why, they look better unfilled, but he just can't stand it! And here I am beating this thing up!! ha!!} Once that is complete, I take my fav-O-rite stain color {I do believe it is called dark walnut} and wipe down the piece. I think I did 2 coats of stain on this one. And I just used a cut up t-shirt and "wiped" it down. That simple . . .

After it dries, you can apply some polyurethane - that is completely your choice. The red shelf doesn't have it - but only because most truly old pieces do not!

Now, on this next piece {my bed} I did pretty much the same thing but instead of using vaseline - I used a candle!! Now, as you can see, I didn't really want as much wear as the above look, but since it was down at the "feet area" I needed "some" wear!!

Again, this was also a new piece that Lonnie built - but I wanted it to look like old shutters. I rubbed a candle where I thought would get the most wear - especially the corners. This time he didn't take the time to fill the holes!! haha

I also put a couple of coats of satin polyurethane on the bed. That was because I knew it was going to get kicked and beat a little more than the average piece of furniture. This bed looked awesome at my old house {in our original master bedroom.} We had hardwood floors and I like all my furniture to go low to the floor - to prevent massive dust-bunnies!!

If you have a piece that is already painted or stained or whatever - just sand it a little. FYI - a palm sander is not expensive and a lot easier to use than a piece of sand paper!! I still rub stain after the piece is painted just to give it that "dingy" look. Even if it has stain under the paint and it comes through during the "rubbed" process. I have several pieces that I will post soon that I've completed and some I am currently working on. All of them have been done differently. With each post, I will break it down and tell you how it's done.

Just in case you missed this post, check out this table that I did over the summer. It will give you a good visual with before and afters. I used vaseline on this one!!

If you have any questions, please post a comment or email me - I will answer the best that I can!!