A great many people dream of living in a luxurious house or apartment filled with antiques, hand-made carpets, forged items and original works of art. However, recreating similar interior design styles is quite expensive, so such desires of people remain just dreams, sometimes they are not even voiced out loud.
In fact, to get the desired environment, you do not need to have a lot of money, you can simply wisely use the furniture you already have at home, simply giving it a touch of “antique”.
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Secrets of creating "rare" furniture with your own hands
There are three main ways to turn ordinary furniture items you bought just yesterday into real masterpieces. Each option has its pros and cons, and each produces a slightly different end result.
Important: Before starting work, be sure to prepare the surface for decoration by cleaning it from dirt, old coating (paint, varnish) and removing fittings.
Mechanical
This option is rightfully considered the safest and simplest. Aged furniture obtained with the help of such actions is distinguished by restraint and is more suitable for creating "simple" styles, such as country or Provence.
So, you can give “antique” to sideboards, cabinets and armchairs mechanically using sandpaper, a metal brush and white azure, which is a type of decorative coating.
Advice: If you are aging furniture for the first time, choose a small piece and practice on it first.
Step by step instructions:
- choose an object that will “age” before your eyes;
- go over its entire surface with sandpaper;
- follow up with a wire brush;
- clear the area to be treated from sawdust;
- cover the object with white glaze;
- repeat the last step if after the first layer has dried the desired effect is not observed (no relief);
- cover the product with varnish.
Thermal
This option helps to add “age” to wooden objects using fire, a brush (metal), stain and varnish.
After the aging process is completed, the resulting furniture has dark, noble shades, which are ideal for creating a restrained, stylish and timeless classic interior.
How to do it:
- take all the furniture that needs to be given an "antique" look outside;
- burn the entire area with a blowtorch or kerosene burner;
- remove carbon deposits;
- Brush over the entire area to be burned to achieve a clear relief;
This step can be done before using the lamp or burner.
- Cover the treated area with stain and, after it dries, with varnish.
Advice: When firing, do not stay too long in just one area, so as not to simply burn the item
Chemical
Ammonia and sandpaper are used (the method is only suitable for hardwoods)
The secret to adding “age” to furniture in this case is simple: first, the surface is carefully treated with sandpaper, and then all the resulting roughness is gone over with a brush dipped in ammonia.
This type of aged furniture is suitable for creating light, luxurious interiors.
Using craquelure and paint
How do you get aged furniture and an interesting interior in this case? Paint of the desired shade is applied to the piece of furniture being processed. After it dries, it is necessarily sanded with sandpaper, and then craquelure varnish is applied.
The craquelure is covered with another layer of paint on top, which should be 1-2 tones lighter than the bottom one. After the varnish dries, small cracks appear on the entire surface.
If paint and gold patina are used
This method is rightfully considered one of the fastest options for transforming a new piece of furniture into an “antique” one.
So, after the owner has sanded the entire area, the piece of furniture should be covered with paint. After it dries, golden acrylic paint is applied to individual areas using a sponge. The obligatory finishing touch is varnish, which allows you to fix the result.
How to determine when brushing is needed?
Brushing is a process of selecting soft wood fibers to give it a pronounced structure. To create this effect in production conditions, brushing or sandblasting machines are used. At home, brushing is done with a metal brush and a chisel.
The advantage of brushing is that it can be combined with any of the furniture aging methods. The disadvantages are the following facts: only hardwoods (oak, larch) can be subjected to such treatment, and the first time a beginner may not achieve the desired effect on the product.
So, “forced” aged furniture is no different in appearance from vintage furniture, which makes it easy to create royally luxurious, beautiful and stylish apartments even on a modest budget.