Rustic Furniture Technique

Posted by Mary Welling-Bonney Jul 8, 2008

You can view today's article by going to the home page or simply clicking here. I thought for today's blog I would give you a third method of creating that rustic, aged look to choose from.

For this technique we will be burning the surface of the wood. Make sure once again that the piece is wood and not a laminate. It is very important to remove any varnish that might be on the surface. If you burn the piece with varnish on it you will be burning varnish and not get the look we are after.

You will need a small hand held torch. You get these at your local hardware store. They come as about a 12" tank with a nozzle at the top. When you turn the nozzle it releases gas. You light the gas to create your flame. Read all safety labels before beginning this project.

Once the piece is sanded you will actually be running a flame over the wood. Move the flame around the wood slowly. You will see the grain of the wood darken while the rest of the wood appears to recede. It will almost look like the grain raises up. It is important to keep the torch moving. You want to create an even design in the wood.

Have fun with all of the distressing ideas this week. Feel free to write me with your own ideas and results.