How to distress furniture...the easy way!

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If you have been following my Pinterest boards recently, you may have noticed all the pins relating to photography. I'm sorry to flood your feed with them :) I'm sort of dabbling in the idea of starting a newborn/baby photography business. I've always been interested in photography and have taken classes in the past and have thought many times of starting up a business, but never have. I think I am finally on the cusp of actually doing it :) Before I do this though, I know how much knowledge and learning needs to play a part. I'm taking more classes and trying to get myself more prepared. We'll see where it goes or if it scares me off! :)

Luckily, I have a ton of props already and my new planked wall in my front room works lovely as a backdrop...and the one in the dining room is wonderful too :) I also have plenty of chairs and fabric to use.  I have this old black chair that I spray painted years ago, and really wanted to change the color.  Once I started taking photos with it though, I realized how much I loved the black. But my style is really soft colors, and black is sadly not one of these. I really wanted it to be a beautiful mint or calming green. My mom gave me that previous chair, so I asked her if she by chance had another one she might be willing to part with and she did! It has been used for painting, had been outside for years, and was most recently used as part of a jungle gym she built for her cat. Since she had another chair to replace that one, she let me have it :) Score!
Distressing furniture



So, this chair was not pretty. But I didn't need it to be :) I was going to mess it up anyway. First was to take off all the paint drips. The best way I found to do this was with a butter knife.

I left the rest of the white paint on it because I knew it would look perfect with the way I was going to distress it.

Next I primed it and then started spray painting it a beautiful Celery from Krylon. Well...I had about 1/3 of a can...and sadly that wasn't enough :( ....and I couldn't find that color anywhere...anywhere! I found it online finally and I was really close to buying it...really close. It's still sitting in my Amazon shopping cart as we speak :) But I found a close second. Pistachio by Krylon.

I wasn't sure about it at first. It really reminded me of the color of a hospital gown. But I figured I had two options. Try to make this work....or wait a week until I got the shipment from Amazon.

So, if I was going to have to wait anyway, I might as well try making it look not so hospital gowny, right?

The first step was to distress it. I just got some sandpaper and went to town on the edges.
Distressing furniture

Next was to calm down the hospital green. I did this by white washing it with some chalk paint from UrbanOasisDecor. I got a paper towel damp, dipped the edge in some paint and then started painting the chair with it, making it a little white in some areas but not all.
how to distress furniture

I was going to use some stain to bring out the wood where I sandpapered, but I really don't like how it spills over onto the paint sometimes and won't come off...or, comes off but not all the way. So, to keep it on the wood and off the paint, I decided to use a furniture pen. I love these things. If I want a quick go to way to distress furniture, this is the method. I just marked the wood and smeared it with my finger a little bit to get rid of the 'marker' looking lines. It brought out the wood perfectly :)
how to distress furniture

And now it's done! And ready for a sweet little babe :)
how to distress furniture

The color actually turns out beautiful looking in pictures. Even without all the whitewashing and distressing. But it pops! now that it's refinished :) I think that I'm going to move the Celery color into the 'save for later' part of my Amazon cart because this is totally working for me.

The color of the chair is just what I had envisioned for my photos, I'm glad this hospital gown color worked out lol.

Any photographers out there that have some tips on starting up your own photography business or even just running one? I'd be happy to hear them :)

how to distress furniture easily and with no mess

19 comments

  1. Great idea! It’s very useful. Thanks!

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  2. Thanks for the great idea! I have several chairs I need to do that too. May try the "hospital green". LOL!

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  3. This is beautiful! The green color is gorgeous and the distressing is perfect! Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof

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  4. Awww, I love your chair, but the cute little angel is the show-stopper!

    xo, Tanya
    twelveOeight

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  5. Chair looks nice! In my own personal opinion I think Newborn Photography is not the wisest decision since there are SOOO many people doing it now for extra income. Also you really need to be trained on how to safely pose newborns. I read an article recently about the dangers of letting amateur photographers pose and mold your newborn into cute positions. It can be extremely dangerous if the person doesnt know exactly what they are doing. If you do decide to do it, please be careful and do your research.

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    1. Hi Sarah :) Thank you for you advice! I have been doing plenty and plenty of research regarding this. I know how dangerous it can be! I'm also tagging along with some other photographers for some guidance and help :) I will only start once I am fully comfortable :)

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  6. Love it! Thanks for sharing this technique- I would never have thought of this:)

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  7. That chair is beautiful (and the baby) Thanks for the tips. If you get a chance, please link up to my Linky Party: http://suburbsmama.blogspot.com/2013/07/sunday-linky-17.html

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  8. The baby and chair are beautiful! Never thought to use the furniture stain pens! Thanks for the tip! Go for your dreams - you have nothing to lose!

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  9. That's awesome! I've never even thought of using a furniture marker to distress! Great Idea!

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  10. Where do you buy the furniture pens?

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  11. Love the chair. I have one I want to redo as well. What did you prime the chair with before spray painting?

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  12. To be a good photographer, a person should go to school and get an understanding of photography and light. There are so many people that just decide to be a photographer without a true education. If you went to a photography convention and listened to the experienced photographers you would soon get an idea of how much you don't know. It takes more than cute props. I speak from experience I love cute props and love finding them. I earned my degree in photography back in the film and dark room days and I'm so glad I did. I now shoot digital and admit there are not as many hoops to jump through now like there was with film. But understanding how to control depth of field, aspect ratios, dpi, Kelvin temperatures of light, professional versions of Photoshop, and understanding how to shoot with the camera set on manual and in RAW are just a hand full of things to know. You might be able to earn some extra money as long as your customers are not able to distinguish between quality photography and amateur photography. But soon enough you'll meet a problem you won't know how to fix. I think everyone will think I'm being harsh. But there are some really bad photographers out there ripping people off because the average person doesn't know the difference in an educated photographer and someone that has just decided to be one. You most likely have an eye for photography so please back it up with knowledge if you decide to go for it. Also you might want to start with high school seniors before babies while learning and building up on equipment. I hope I've helped and not hurt, hurting is not my intention.

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    1. Thank you! And I total agree with what you are talking about. I would never get into photography without the knowledge to back it up. I too have seen many 'professional' photographers that I can tell don't understand lighting and all the other aspects of photography. I would never want someone to think the same of me. If I do make this decision, it will be based on the fact that I know what I'm doing...in fact, I have already taken some classes to learn more to make sure it's the field I want to explore...and have learned a lot. And a so much that a little does scare me a bit. Although these few classes don't account for a degree in photography, it at least gives me a better idea of what decision to make when it comes down to it. And it really shows me how much more there is to learn and to understand.

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  13. What did you "prime" the chair with before you spray-painted it? It turned out gorgeous!!!!!! I'm expecting a little girl in December and I've got a few pieces of furniture I'm wanting to re-finish somehow.

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  14. What did you "prime" the chair

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  15. Thank you perfect. I have a blonde entertainment center that I want to distress without to much work. I have two little ones and not too much time.😊

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  16. how many cans of spray paint does it take for one chair? Curious bc I have 6 lol :)

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  17. Great tips! It looks incredible!

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happy DIYing! Alicia