How I Distress

I always get excited when I find a piece of furniture with straight lines, they are my favorite to distress!!  I thought I would share some of my secrets with you!!

These chairs are pine, when I got them they were stained.
First I sanded them down until the clear top coat is off.  I then sprayed them with a latex paint (I have a professional paint sprayer I use, but if you don't painting with a brush works too).  I did NOT prime, I wanted the paint to be loose in some spots for distressing. 

After they were all painted I got out my sander.  This is a great project if you ever need to get some anger out!  

On my sander I have 60 grit sand paper, mainly because it was already on.  You can use whatever you want.  Remember the lower the grit the rougher the sand paper.  I sand as if I am sanding it to prep it for paint, so EVERYWHERE.  

Areas where the paint is loose will just come right off, like the back of this chair. 

With latex paint I have found if you FORCE an area to distress a lot of times the paint will ball and become sticky.

When distressing I also consider where the most NATURAL damage would occur and sand there more, like the edges, or the seat of the chair etc.

Paint colors: Yellow: Saffron by Clark and Kensington
                     Blue: Moderne Blue by Pratt and Lambert

I hope this helps!

Happy Distressing

Brooke