I wouldn’t use soapy water to clean dry wood, unfinished wood, or wood with exposed wood under the finish. Warm water with Dawn dish soap can work well on mildly dirty furniture that still has a good finish on it. This homemade wood cleaner moisturizes the wood while it cleans too. This cleaner worked amazingly well on the super dirty office chair I rescued from the trash. I like to use this easy homemade wood cleaner on dirty furniture.

Check out this post for my picks for the best area rugs on a budget. They have great deals on rugs there, if you know where to look. I bought this huge beautiful rug on Amazon for less than $130. Watch this video to see a quick look at the steps for this DIY White and Blue Distressed Chalk Paint Makeover. There are so many ways to give painted furniture a distressed look.Ĭheck out my list of 20+ beginner furniture painting tutorials for more ideas about how you want your painted furniture to look. Then follows that up with a glaze or wax over the paint that makes it look old. That paint look usually starts with sanding chalk paint. When some people say they want to do a distressed paint look, they’re actually picturing an aged, distressed paint look. It makes it easier to sand that paint off those spots. Vaseline lets you mark exactly where you want to distress. You might also use Vaseline to distress furniture paint. Generally though, to distress furniture you’ll need to do some paint sanding to expose the wood in spots. Distressed furniture paint describes so many different paint styles. Well, that depends on what you mean when you say distressed. How do you Paint Furniture to Look Distressed I used homemade white and store-bought blue chalk paint for this DIY White and Blue Distressed Chalk Paint Furniture Look. But, it’s cheaper and you can make it from any color at the paint store. Homemade chalk paint works just like the store bought stuff. Or, you can make your own chalk paint from latex interior paint using this chalk paint recipe. You can find lots of great chalk paint colors on Amazon or at stores like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby. So, when you try to sand it, it can peel off in strips or even separate from the furniture under it.Ī closer look at that distressed white and blue chalk paint. To make it chip resistant the paint companies design it to form a plastic-y layer over walls. Latex wall paint is designed to work best on walls.

Latex or spray paints can sort of peel off or resist sanding. That’ll give the new chalk paint a firm hold onto the old finish. And, if the old finish is glossy, I’d give it a light overall sanding just in case. Just be sure to clean off old finishes with a mild dish soap or degreaser like TSP before painting. Chalk paint is great at being able to grab on to most surfaces. Because these paints dry so hard, instead of plastic-y like Latex Paints, you can sand them without worrying about the paint peeling, separating from the furniture, or pilling up.Ĭhalk paint is known for being able to stick to most old finishes, without stripping or sanding it off. That means you can add a second coat sooner than you can with most other paints.Ĭhalk and acrylic paints also sand nicely. They dry and cure harder and faster than latex paint. What is the Best Paint for Distressing FurnitureĬhalk Paint or acrylic paints are absolutely the best paints I’ve used for distressing furniture. Let’s get to what you need to know to do this beautiful DIY White and Blue Distressed Chalk Paint look at home.

You can see all of the Before and After Family Room Makeover pictures from this room now too. But, you can absolutely have more blue chalk paint showing when you want more color in a room. Just a bit of blue and wood was enough distressing against this colorful area rug.

Chalk paint 2 color distressing