There’s no time like the present to get involved in some DIY decorating projects. This is a great way to personalise your home and your style. While there are countless options for doing-it-yourself, today we are going to focus on making a patina on a piece of wooden furniture.
Patina furnishing will add an authentically antique look to any space by bringing in a touch of faded, rustic charm. If you are new to DIY deco, patinas are a good place to start, particularly if you purchase a specific vintage or flea market piece for the job. Doing a patina is quite simple, and with a piece of furniture that doesn’t hold a lot of sentimental value, you have nothing to lose by experimenting. Just follow these easy steps and see what wonders follow!
To begin, you must first decide which piece of wooden furniture you’d like to use. The most common option includes new, fully painted or stained furniture that looks out of place in an existing interior. Alternatively, you could purchase a piece of furniture that already has a bit of wear, but whose colour and fading you’d like to customise.
We don’t recommend adding a patina to a favourite, expensive piece of furniture, however. If you feel very attached to a piece of furniture in your home such as this, you might not like to see it become weathered with a patina. A patina is ideal for a piece of furniture whose structure already has a vintage look, like these cupboards converted into a washstand in this bathroom.
To prep the furniture the most obvious first step is to remove any items inside or on top of it. Next, you must remove doors from their hinges and drawers from their sockets. After this step, it’s time to thoroughly clean the surfaces of each part of the furniture to remove surface oils or other kinds of grime. Make sure that the furniture is in good shape structurally before proceeding.
You’ll want to fix table legs or other faulty aspects of the piece of furniture before beginning the patina process. Now it’s time to apply at least one coat of primer to the furniture in preparation for painting. Pieces of furniture that are on the weathered side will likely take at least two coats.
Once these baseline preparations are made, we can begin the patina making! Once the primer has dried, you’ll want to apply a base coat. Typically the base coat will be white like the one seen in this table by DiseñadoraLucia Casanova. This paint will help the new paint colour to remain untainted by the original paint below. We suggest going with a satin sheen oil based paint or a water based one. Either is acceptable for this project.
In addition to adding a simple white base coat, if you’d like to get a bit fancy with your patina, you can always add multiple coats of different coloured paint. This way, the sanding will expose various layers of colour in the final product.
Now it’s time to apply the coloured layers. As mentioned above, you can always add more than one coloured layer, but typically a single layer will create a sufficient effect. Simply choose the predominate colour you’d like the furniture to be, and paint over the base coat using a brush, roller, or spray can.
Keep in mind that it’s best to use an appropriately vintage colour rather than a neon, bright colour that was uncommon in decades past. This will help to preserve the authenticity of your patina work. Typically, earth tones, neutral colours, and sober hues work best for this kind of project. Of course, you’ll also want to ensure that the colour you go with matches the existing scheme in the room where you intend to place it.
After you’ve let the colour coats dry, it’s time for the real fun to begin! With the help of some sand paper or sanding machinery, you can begin to sand off some of the topcoat to create that weathered look. You may also want to consider employing a chain, hammer, or scraper to give the furniture a bit of extra wear and tear. Be creative but also ease into the process slowly, applying different ageing techniques a little at a time so as not to overdo it.
Also, remember to protect upholstery. The person who added a patina on this chair was sure to keep the lovely blue embroidery safe during the process. A bit of blue tape and a tarp or towel should do the trick here.
Once you’ve created your desired look, it’s best to preserve it. Doing so is as simple as adding a coat of wax to the furniture to seal in the specific amount of ageing and to prevent it from inadvertently getting more distressed. Be warned, however, that it can sometimes require multiple layers of wax to be fully protected.
If you’d like the piece to have a bit of a glossy sheen, sealing it with glaze instead of wax will help. Just remember to pair a water-based paint with a water-based glaze and oil-based paint with an oil-based glaze, etc. The dark colour of the glaze will also add to the weathered look, but rest assured that it won’t affect the colouring of the paint once dry.
Oftentimes, the wax or glaze you use won’t be clear. In fact, it might even be pretty dark. While the colouring of your glaze or wax can add to the overall tarnished look of the patina, it won’t ruin that perfect shade of paint you chose at the start of this project. Just be sure to wipe away any excess by using a rag as you go if necessary. Finally, it’s time to add a coat of clear paint to seal in the wax or glaze. The same rule goes as above, use a clear coat with the same base as the wax and paint. Generally, you’ll want to opt for a clear coat that isn’t excessively glossy to maintain the aged look.
If you're inspired to keep the personal creations coming, check out these DIY interior decorating tips. Happy decorating!
