Distressing Furniture Furniture expert Bruce Johnson gives tips on distressing new furniture to give it the aged look of true Americana. Smooth the surface of a new piece of unfinished furniture by lightly sanding with fine sandpaper. Use chains, a hammer or a file to distress the surface with nicks, dents and scratches that give a piece the look and feel of a primitive, well-used antique. You might think this would be a good way to take out some aggression, but experts recommend controlled whacking with a length of chain or the side of a hammer. Use a file to round off the sharp edges of a new piece and the side of a hammer to put some dents along the edges (figure A).
When the unfinished piece is thoroughly distressed, it's ready to be stained and sealed. Apply stain with a brush or rag -- golden pecan works well with unfinished pine -- to add color and heighten the effect of the distressing (figure B). Allow the stain to dry overnight before brushing on a finish coat of polyurethane. For the impatient among us, a combination stain and finish is available. Use a brush to apply a combination stain/finish product, such as Minwax polycrylic wood tones in rosewood (figure C), and let dry. Apply a second coat if you want the stain to be darker. Living With Americana The term Americana often brings to mind images of New England, with lighthouses, antique china and the like. Designer Richard Fitzgerald's New England home is filled with 18th-century blue-and-white china, originally used as ballast on ships from China and often thrown overboard upon arrival in America. Pieces that survived were valued only for their use as a kitchen china.
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