How To Distress Furniture Using Stain And Paint

So times I’ve come across a piece of furniture or an accent piece that is structurally in great shape, but it’s new.

I don’t like new pieces, I prefer older pieces, because of the patina.

Several months ago, while thrift shopping I found this tote, and I knew I could transform it easily.

Let me show you how to distress furniture using stain and paint.

This piece isn’t furniture, but a cool garden or tool tote.

I actually love using these totes as a centerpiece for my table.

I will change it out by adding a few ball jars, and some flowers, or adding pretty napkins and plates, and well you get the idea.

These totes are great pieces to have, they are multi-purpose.

If I want this piece to really look old, I need to add a base to it.

The base cannot be paint.

Why?

Because if I painted it, then distressed it, the new wood, would show through and that wouldn’t look very old.

So the first thing I needed to do is add a coat of stain this tote.

In the past I have used this stain.

This works great, and I have always had great results.

What I don’t like about this product is that it is very messy to use, and the odor is horrible!

When I use this stain, the odor will linger on for days and days and days.

So, instead of using this smelly messy stuff, I pulled out my Heirloom Traditions Aurora stain gels.

I LOVE using these gels, they are so easy to work with and there is absolutely no odor at all!

They also have a great color selection, and yes you can mix the colors.

Before I started, I needed to decide what colors to use to achieve the color I wanted.

Remember, this was only going to be the base color.

I decided to use concrete jungle, and black magic.

These bottles also have an application cap which makes it super easy to use too!

I applied a little of each color onto my piece, just squirting it out onto my tote.

Then using my brush, you can just use a paint brush, I spread the stain onto my piece.

You can already see the details pop on this tote.

After you have your piece covered, take an old t-shirt rag, and wipe off the excess.

After you wipe the excess off, let this completely dry overnight.

I’ve added a nice patina to this piece just by using stain.

Isn’t it amazing how it already looks like and older piece!

You could leave it just like that if you wanted too, but I want to paint and distress my piece.

Here is my piece, completely dry.

Now, we’re ready to paint.

I decided to use Vintage Green on my tote, and I am only painting the outside of my tote.

I like the contrast of the paint and the stain.

I only applied one coat of paint, because I want to distress this piece.

The more coats of paint you add, the harder it is to distress, keep that in mind.

If you feel your coat of paint looks streaked, then add another thin coat of paint.

To distress this paint, I used my vinegar and water technique, you can read about that HERE.

And you can watch the short tutorial below.

Once I was completely finished distressing my tote, I decided to add another dimension.

So, I pulled out my white lime wax, also from Heirloom Traditions paint.

Using a white cotton t-shirt I applied a coat of the wax on the outside of my tote.

And that’s it!

Here’s a comparison of the before and after.

This is super easy to do!

It’s so important to use the best tools for your projects, and that includes using the best products!

Here’s a list of products I used for this project.

To purchase, just click on the links I posted below.

*This post contains affiliate links, please see disclosure*

Heirloom Traditions Paint- Aurora Gel Stain Concrete Jungle

                                          Aurora Gel Stain Black Magic

               Vintage Green

                     White Lime Wax