Vintage is the new thing now. Sounds ironic, doesn’t it?
But like most things that went out of style, the vintage look has found its resurgence, especially on how people fall madly in love with pleasing aesthetics. There’s nothing more aesthetic than antique.
This is why many people are trying to refurbish or restore old materials.
From clothing to gadgets to furniture – people are trying to give these old, outdated things new life by giving them some TLC.
So, if you find old furniture lying around your garage or attic with little-to-no damage, you can restore them and make them functional again.
Jami Ray restores furniture and gives them a vintage spin.
Yes, the furniture she bought was old and outdated, but she ensured that her restoration wouldn’t cover the fact that it was antique. So, her style relies on giving them an antique look.
One of her videos showed how to create a chippy, two-toned paint on an old, long bench.
Jami shared her process of giving the furniture an old-fashioned look in fewer steps and less effort than most restoration projects.
Here, she sanded the bench a bit to make the paint stick and used black spray paint. She cautioned not to use high-gloss or flat paint because it won’t have the same effect.
Another specific material she used was Sweetie Jane Sweet Pickins Milk Paint.
She mainly used this product because it gives that classic color, and milk paint makes it easier to create a chippy texture on the satin spray paint. The combination of the black first coat and the lighter top color looks fantastic after the entire process.
The result? A bench that looks classic yet elegant.
Here are the materials and steps to create this effect on your furniture:
Materials:
- Black spray paint, preferably satin finish
- Milk paint
- Warm water
- Immersion blender
- Sandpaper (grain 220)
- Lint-free cloth
- Black oil wax
Procedure:
- Spray one coat of black spray paint on the furniture. You can do two on lighter parts, but don’t make the coat too thick. Let it dry overnight.
- Mix one-part warm water and one-part milk paint using an immersion blender.
- Paint one coat on the furniture and let it dry. Again, you can do a second coat on the lighter parts, but it’s not necessary.
- Once the paint is completely dry, gently sand the edges using a grain 220 sandpaper. You can also sand the main surface gently so as not to peel or chip off the paint completely.
- Wet a lint-free cloth and wipe it on the sanded surfaces to soften the distress.
- Get another lint-free cloth and wipe oil wax all over the furniture to gloss and seal your furniture. You can use black to accentuate your base color, then add a second coat after 30 minutes using a clear oil wax. Let it dry.
There you have it! A nice, two-toned vintage furniture that looks rustic yet elegant. If you got a piece of old furniture that needs a little TLC, you might want to apply this technique to give it a fresh yet classic look.
Check out Jami’s full restoration video below and follow her page for more vintage projects!
