Distressing (or weathered look) in the

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose object is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. It includes most of the arts making objects for the interiors of buildings, and interior design, but not usual ...

is the activity of making a piece of furniture or object appear aged and older, giving it a "weathered look". There are many methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. Distressing is viewed as a

refinishing In woodworking and the decorative arts, refinishing refers to the act of repairing or reapplying the wood finishing on an object. In practice, this may apply to the paint or wood finish top coat, lacquer or varnish. The artisan or restorer is ...

technique although it is the opposite of finishing in a traditional sense. In distressing, the object's finish is intentionally destroyed or manipulated to look less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or

paint stripper Paint stripper, or paint remover, is a chemical product designed to remove paint, wood finishing, finishes, and coatings, while also cleaning the underlying surface. The product's material safety data sheet provides more safety information than ...

. For example, the artisan often removes some but not all of the paint, leaving proof of several layers of paint speckled over wood grain underneath. This becomes the "finished" piece. Distressing has become a popular design style and decorative art form. The artisan attempts a rustic, attractive, one-of-a-kind appearance or

vintage Vintage, in winemaking, is the process of picking grapes and creating the finished product—wine (see Harvest (wine)). A vintage wine is one made from grapes that were all, or primarily, grown and harvested in a single specified year. In certa ...

look. The final appearance is often called the patina. Distressing can be applied to a variety of surfaces and materials such as

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin ...

glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wid ...

plaster Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "re ...

, and paint. Solid pine furniture in particular is one of the most ideal furniture types to apply distressing to.Distressed Furniture
The

Shabby chic Shabby chic is a style of interior design where furniture and furnishings are either chosen for their appearance of age and signs of wear and tear or where new items are distressing, distressed to achieve the appearance of an antique. At the sa ...

style has made both distressing and antiquing popular. The technique is sometimes applied to electric guitars, where it is referred to as relicing.

Antiquing

Antiquing is a more involved form of distressing where the artisan intends to not only age a piece, but also create an antique appearance. In addition to distressing the finish, the artisan may reapply historical paint colors, antique-like

faux finish Faux painting or faux finishing are terms used to describe decorative paint finishes that replicate the appearance of materials such as marble, wood or stone. The term comes from the French word ''wikt:faux, faux'', meaning false, as these techn ...

and crackle varnishes. They might also apply period accent details, such as antique knobs on dresser drawers. Several methods involve glazes in which colors blend into crevices to give an antique appearance. The antiquing process is time-consuming and normally requires many steps to obtain the appearance of an aged and worn finish. In the mass-produced furniture market, it is common for 'distressing' to include faux woodworm holes. These can easily be distinguished from real woodworm holes (as might be present on a genuine antique) as faux woodworm holes will usually be all of identical diameter and vertical into the wood. Genuine woodworm holes, on the other hand, would be of varying diameter and usually not perfectly vertical.

Techniques

The artisan may deliberately sand, dent, and scrape the finish off of furniture or object. Wood can be hammered softer, or dimpled, bleached, pickled, stained or repainted with crackling paints and varnishes. Antiquing paints and varnishes are available at craft stores or can be mixed at home. New layers of paint can be watered down before they are applied to allow the wood and other layers to show through or to look more like '' white washing''. Layers of paint of varnishes can be sponged on to create an uneven pattern. After any new paint or layers are applied, the corners and features can be painted slightly lighter or sanded down as desired to appear worn. Steel wool can be treated with vinegar to create an acid oxide, then brushed across a stripped and sanded surface of the piece to create a vintage stain effect. In addition, the following antiquing techniques can be used: *

Decoupage ''Decoupage'' or ''découpage'' (; ) is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an it ...

* Gold leaf and Gilding * Graining and combing *

Texturizing Texturising or texturizing is the process by which synthetic fibres are modified to change their texture - the physical appearance of the fibre. Texturising techniques can include bulking (where thermoplastic fibres are twisted, heat set and untw ...

*''

Trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' *

Liver of sulfur Liver of sulfur is a loosely defined mixture of potassium sulfide, potassium polysulfide, potassium thiosulfate, and likely potassium bisulfide. Synonyms include hepar sulfuris, sulfur, sulfurated potash and sulfurated potassa. There are two ...

Verdigris Verdigris is the common name for blue-green, copper-based pigments that form a patina on copper, bronze, and brass. The technical literature is ambiguous as to its chemical composition. Some sources refer to "neutral verdigris" as copper(II) ...

Wood stain Wood stain is a type of paint used to colour wood and consists of colourants dissolved and/or suspended in a 'vehicle' or solvent. Vehicle is the preferred term, as the contents of a stain may not be truly dissolved in the vehicle, but rather ...

Chalk distressing Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

References

External links

{{Wiktionary
Home and Garden Television (HGTV) - Antiquing/Distressing Article Collection

Macworld.com Carpentry Decorative arts Surface decorative techniques in woodworking Artistic techniques

Antiquing

Techniques

See also

References

External links