Turn Drab Into Fab With This Amazing Wood Effect!

Ash | Dash Lifestyles
by Ash | Dash Lifestyles
4 Materials
$80
10 Hours
Medium

You know that old orange furniture that seemed to be everyone and once a trend?

Well if you’ve been thinking of getting rid of it, don’t!


I came across the coolest trick on Instagram and I’m so excited to share it with you.


Go from old orange wood to a driftwood with this fun technique.


I had a local girl reach out wanting a refurbishment job done on some orange furniture she had. I jumped at the opportunity to try this technique and couldn’t have been happier with the result.

First step is to sand off the varnish. It doesn’t have to be totally clean of the orange stain, but no shiny varnish.


This is the tedious part, depending on your furniture piece.

Once you’re happy with the sanding, no more shiny varnish, you begin priming.


For this project, you’ll need a primer, a beige chalk paint, Behr antique wax, chalk paint and wax brush, and a sealant.

The primer doesn’t need to be put on thick. Once it dries, you can apply a layer of beige or off white chalk paint.

I only did one layer of primer and one layer of chalk paint.


Next is the fun part!!! The wax.

I found dabbing the wax off onto some cardboard before applying helped it not go on to thick.

Apply the wax in a way you want the finished product to look. Add some dark and light in to the mix. I also found it worked well to work with a dry brush once the wax was on.

Allow the wax to dry overnight before applying a finishing varnish.



Give new life to furniture 💕

Suggested materials:
  • Primer   (Lowes)
  • Chalk paint   (Lowes)
  • Behr Antique Wax   (Home Depot)
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  • William William on Jun 15, 2020

    Looks amazing. I remember antiquing kits from the 70's. They took quite a bit of work. Your finished product looks very similar and a lot less work

  • KJ KJ on Feb 06, 2022

    couldn’t you just have clear coated it after sanding? i thought it looked very similar to the final effect without all the work.

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