How to Paint a Chair to Make it Look Distressed

Sand the chair thoroughly with 220-grit sandpaper to scuff its surfaces evenly. Wipe the chair with a tack cloth to remove all the dust you created while sanding.

Load a 1-inch foam paintbrush with acrylic primer, and use it to coat the chair evenly with the primer. Keep the primer coat thin, removing excess paint with the foam paintbrush as necessary. Primer seals the wood and provides a base for paint. Allow the primer to dry for the time recommended on the paint label, which is usually about two hours.

Dip a foam paintbrush in the acrylic paint you wish to use for the base-coat color. Paint the chair neatly to cover it with the base coat. Allow the base coat to dry for the time recommended by its manufacturer.

Load a foam paintbrush with the acrylic paint you wish to use for the topcoat color. Paint the chair neatly to cover the base coat. Allow the topcoat to dry for at least eight hours.

Dip an old rag into gel stain that is any wood finish color, and apply the stain to the chair in areas you want to create a worn appearance -- across the seat, on the inside back edges, across the outside back edge and on spindles. Wipe the gel stain into the wood with the rag, and then wipe some of it off until you create a subtle, discolored appearance on the wood that would result from age and chair use. Continue working until you age the wood to your liking. Allow the gel stain to dry for the time recommended on the stain's label.

Sand areas of the chair to create a worn appearance. Working with the wood grain, sand back and forth along edges, on the seat and on the outside surfaces of legs and spindles. Sand just enough to make the base coat visible. Wipe the chair with the tack cloth.

Grasp a heavy chain in one hand and swing it onto the chair to create small gouges in the wood. Make the gouges random, but do not overdo this distressing technique. A few gouges here and there over the chair surface can make it look worn and old.