When Life Hands You Ugly Furniture, Make Your Own Faux Wood Stain.

by Shabby Paints

We have a few options when it comes to staining furniture using Shabby Paints. You can sand wood down and stain with Hazelnut or Black reVAX, which is great because it is a top coat stain all in one. Or, you can create the same look with our paint. So when life hands you ugly wood or fake wood don’t worry we’ve got this! This is my new favorite look (: this week :)

painting furniture staining antique wood side table makeover, painted furniture, painting

I made a big boo boo and left these little side tables on my porch for a few months and the veneer was lifting and getting moldy. Luckily it was easily removed with a putty knife and some under the breath cursing. Sadly the moisture stained the wood under the veneer and I didn't want to drag it outside in the heat to sand down past the ugly. So instead of staining with Hazelnut or Black reVAX I decided to camouflage the ugly watermarks without sanding:)

After cleaning and RINSING these stinky tables with Water and Vinegar, I used a damp applicator sponge to apply the first thinned coat of Buffalo Brown like a stain following the wood grain.

After that dried I did the same using Licorice.

You can already see it is 100 times better and the water stain is just a bad memory. I wanted the black to be more prominent so I added another coat of the Licorice, but if you used Buffalo Brown here it would still look great, just more dark brown than black.

This is where a normal person would add a top coat and call it done….not me I had another hairbrained idea and wanted to have a little gold show through.

I mixed Vibrant Gold Glaze with Hazelnut reVAX 50/50 and sponged it on the same way you would any of our VAX products, making sure my applicator sponge was damp, keeping each stroke straight and making sure it didn’t dry out before getting to the end…looks better if you don’t have to lift mid way across a piece. I repeated this all the way across, misting my sponge each time I started a new row. When it dries in the middle of a stroke you can get streaks, and these can show on darker pieces.

The final step will be to add a coat or two of your choice of Top Coat. VAX or reVAX for a matte finish and Varnish for more shine. I went with a coat of Black reVAX for my topcoat.

The gold is really subtle and you can see it more in the sun. I personally think it looks classy :)

Don’t think you have to do your piece just like this, experiment and make it suit your style! Work in layers and if you are unsure practice on a piece of scrap wood.

The base of these tables were done with Worn White, Drawers are So Serene, distressed, Hazelnut reVAX, and then black reVAX.

What did I find in these? Glad you asked, One Black widow, two love letters about an affair, and a slide of a woman. I feel so dirty lol. Moral of this story, Vacuum all furniture before you bring it in, and before you get rid of furniture check behind the drawers.

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2 of 4 comments

Barbara P on Sep 08, 2014
I do like these, very pretty!

1 Reply
Mothersyoungest on Nov 15, 2014
Wow, I really like those. I don't like to see GOOD wood painted when restoring it does an amazing job. But in this case of damaged wood you improved these pieces 100%. Wonderfully done. I'll keep this in my before and after as an inspiration for the future.

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