How to Achieve an Old World Look With Paint & Stain

A client came to me with her dining table and six chairs. We love the shape, but not the orange tones. She chose Dixie Belle Chalk Mineral Paint in Gravel Road, a brown-based gray, for the legs. I gave it two coats, and distressed around the edges. That was the easy part! The top was the real challenge. I began by stripping it, using Citristrip and my favorite method of covering with plastic wrap overnight, so it’s easier to scrape off the old stain. It was a little extra work to get in all the little curves and crevices around the edge, but at this point I was still feeling pretty good. I started the process of staining the top with Dixie Belle’s Voodoo Gel Stain in a color called Tobacco Road. This stain is water-based, and it was my first time using it. I loved the color and the application. The plan was to use a whitewash over that. But that step turned out to be the trickiest. The two sides of the table absorbed the white stain completely differently. It was patchy and blotchy and sort of a nightmare compared to the result I had been shooting for. I opted to layer in some brown and gray, with watered down light gray paint and watered down the tobacco road stain. I brushed them on with a chip brush, randomly in areas that had gotten too white. Then I blended and blurred them with a rag. Still blotchy. I added some Cotton White. And then I needed to seal it. For that, I tinted the sealer with brown. I used Dixie Belle Gator Hide and mixed in the Tobacco Road stain. Using their blue sponge to achieve an even smooth surface, I added three coats. Ahhh, finally the blending and tinting paid off. I love the final old world French country look.