How to Distress Painted Furniture for a Nursery

A shabby chic or country style nursery wouldn’t be complete without distressed furniture. Painted wooden nursing chairs, cradles, cots or dressers are all good candidates for distressing and using in a nursery. Because most of the items in a child's area end up being chewed on or sucked at some point as the child grows, it is a good idea to finish distressed furniture in a child safe wood varnish or wax.

Medium-grit sandpaper
Tack cloth
Natural finishing wax or matte varnish

Instructions

- 1
  Examine the furniture you want to distress for the points that would most likely see more use, and thus age faster, then the rest of the furniture. This includes corners, seats on chairs, handles and areas around door knobs.
- 2
  Lightly sand back the paint in those areas you determined would naturally age faster on the particular piece of furniture.
- 3
  Stand back from the furniture piece and examine how it looks with the slightly sanded patches. Some may look fine with a small amount of sanding, but look for patches that can be sanded back to the wood.
- 4
  Sand those places you picked out back until you reach the wood underneath. Stand back again from the furniture and check that the aging looks natural and not forced. Continue until you are satisfied with the look of the furniture piece then wipe off the sanding dust with a tack cloth.
- 5
  Seal the furniture with a natural wax finish, or a natural matte varnish. Avoid using high-sheen products, as this will detract from the aged feel you have created with the distressing.

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