DIY: How to Create White Distressed Furniture

Before and After

I’m no professional by any means but I do really enjoy redoing furniture! Here’s a quick how-to on achieving this white ~ rustic antique~ look.

Project Cost:

Approximately $65 + cost of furniture piece (keep in mind I had my handyman boyfriend helping and he had the power sander & brushes already — thanks Kyle!)

IMPORTANT NOTE — These pieces of furniture were laminate. The process of painting and distressing was different than if using real wood.

Start to Finish:

~ 2 Days — this was a 3 piece furniture set (side table, smaller dresser, larger dresser)

Tools:

• Power Sander
• Paintbrushes
• Screwdriver
• Foam Brush
• Paint trays
• Sandpaper (80 grit)
• Spare rags

Materials:

• Paint — we used white (52) flat interior paint
• Painters tape
• 1 can of Oil — Rubbed Bronze Spray Paint for finishes
• 3 cans of Satin Espresso spray paint for the base (We had 3 pieces of furniture to do)
• Polyurethane

STEP 1:

Remove all of the finishes (knobs/handles)

You’ll then want to set these out on a sheet of paper/tarp to get ready to spray paint/paint these

**Pro tip: Be sure to make sure that the pieces of paper/tarp are held down by something heavy. We ran into an issue that the paper was being blown onto the wet finishes, and was causing us to have to respray parts of them.

We used a Bronze Rubbed Spray Paint for these.

STEP 2:

Sand, Sand, Sand! We used a circular power sander to sand all of the pieces with an 80 grit sandpaper.

**Pro tip: When using the sander, you don’t have to move it in circular motions. Just add pressure and move it around the surface. If you are working with painted laminate, you don’t have to get all of the existing paint off. You just need a smooth surface to paint on. Also, make sure you do this outside!

Take a damp wet rag (ring it out) when you’re done sanding to make sure you have a nice clean surface to work with.

STEP 3:

It’s time to spray paint! You’ll want to make sure you coat each side evenly. It took 3 cans to do 3 pieces of furniture.

**Pro tip: Hold the spray paint at least 6 inches away from the surface. When you spray, do so in long strokes. It will make the spray paint last longer and give you a more even coat. And don’t be afraid to really layer it on especially on the edges where you will be distressing the most. You don’t want to original laminate to show through.

STEP 4:

Get your paintbrushes ready cause it’s painting time! We used the BEHR Premium Plus — Paint & Primer Interior Flat in the white (52) shade. We did 2 coats of the paint. Feel free to experiment based on what you want it to look like. Use the painters' tape to block off any areas you don’t want to get paint. I have a door on my dresser that I did the wiring a different color than the base so I taped that off.

**Pro tip: Use different sized brushes when painting. I used a 2.5-inch brush on the top and sides, and a 1.25-inch brush on the smaller areas to really cover more of the detail. Also, be sure to use even brush strokes and go in the same direction.

STEP 5:

After the paint has completely dried, it’s time to start distressing! We used an 80 grit sanding block to get the ideal look we wanted. Be careful about the grit on the sandpaper because the higher the number, the more smooth, the lower the number, the rougher.

During this step, you can use your screwdriver to connect your finishes back onto the drawers!

**Pro tip: Be aware of the amount of pressure you are applying when distressing the furniture. You don’t want to strip both the paint and the spray paint. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different techniques depending on the look you want.

STEP 6:

Time to seal it all up & make it look ~shiny~. We used foam brushes with the polyurethane to finish the top. The polyurethane will dry hard, so throw away the foam brushes once you are finished. Use a stirring stick to stir the poly before you dip in to start sealing.

**Pro tip: Do two coats of poly. In between each coat, lightly sand the surface to get any bumps/grooves out that might have showed up. Do LONG strokes of the poly to make it even.

Step 7:

Enjoy your new furniture!

We really enjoyed trying this technique and learning things along the way. Hopefully, it helped you! Stay tuned for more DIY articles.