How to make lightly varnished board look weathered?

Question

William · Answer

Weathered wood ideas from other Hometalkers.

https://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=weathered%20wood

Pamela · Answer

Hi ! if your varnish is shiny you might have to sand it . By picking out a gray colored stain , or a gray gel stain...I think you can buy it in a matte finish...It would look weathered . If you want it distressed looking bang it up a little , with some heavy chain , a hammer, I saw a great weathering tip on YouTube , where a woman hammered about 7-10 nails through a small board( not in a pattern , just random ), then used it to hit the the board you want to distress . But the board with the nails

In it, here and there on the board , it looks like the tiny worm holes , that old wood has ! Can also put scrapes through the wood with a big nail...

Liz at Simple Decorating Tips · Answer

In THIS POST you can see one of the ceiling treatments I did... it was varnished boards, sounds like yours. I thinned out interior primer and brushed it on in even strokes.