How to Paint Kitchen Cabinets to Look Old & Distressed

String several nuts and washers on a 12-inch piece of twine. Tie the ends of the twine together.

Hold the twine loop from one side and allow the hardware to dangle. Gently swing the loop and strike cabinet faces to create chips and dings. Be as random as possible.

Use the blade of a screwdriver to create scratches of various lengths and depths on the cabinets.

Paint the cabinets with one color, using normal painting technique. Allow this coat to dry.

Smear a thin layer of petroleum jelly on areas prone to wear, such as around handles, near hinges and near inlays or moulding. The jelly will prevent the subsequent paint coats from sticking to the surface.

Paint the cabinet with the second paint color. Attention to detail is not as necessary as with the first coat. Allow the second coat to dry.

Paint the cabinets with the third paint color. While the paint is wet, drag a dry paintbrush through random areas of the cabinet face to partially expose the second layer of paint underneath. Follow the direction of the wood grain when dragging. Allow the third coat to dry completely.

Lightly sand away paint from the areas you applied petroleum jelly. This will expose the colors of the second and third coats. Gently sand over areas where you dragged the dry brush to blend the second and third colors.