Linen and Twigs

Okay, that title is a little misleading…I’m not talking potato chips…unless you have some and then pass them this way please.

I’m talking about all the chippiness that comes with old painted furniture. Way back before farmhouse style was “a thing,” I loved old chippy furniture and fixtures. There was something about that time-worn look that tugged at my heartstrings but if I’m being completely honest, I also thought it was an easy look. You see, I had three boys all under the age of four at one time. They are all grown now but throughout their years, could you imagine all of the playing and rough housing in a prim and proper home. Yeah, me neither. Therefore, I loved the feel of a relaxed home. Keep in mind that I’m not talking about a home that’s all torn up but if something got a little scratch or nick on it, I wouldn’t completely lose my mind like I would about the “precious lamp” in our home. If you haven’t read about the lamp, you can catch up on that here.

I had been on the hunt for a pair of chunky corbels for quite some time and finally found a pair that I completely fell in love with.

They were solid wood and so heavy. After bringing them home however, I didn’t care for the wood look. I’m not a fan of painting wood if the wood looks good or goes with the look you’re going for but if something keeps bugging you, then I say paint it…and paint it I did. I have to admit, it took me a while to talk myself into painting them because the wood was quite beautiful. Rather than having that old farmhouse look that I like, it looked like something from a fancy piece of furniture.

I wanted that old chippy look that I had talked about so I applied a crackle medium to random places on the corbels. You can purchase the crackle medium at your local craft stores and Walmart.

Once it had dried, I painted over the whole thing with some paint that I had in a satin finish. (If you don’t shop discount paint samples from your local hardware store, you should. A container of paint like this from Home Depot was only 50 cents and is great for small projects). I used more of a dry brush technique (using a brush that is not saturated with paint)  as not to cover the entire wood but rather let some of the natural wood show through.

As the paint starts to dry, the finish starts to crackle where the crackle finish was applied. I love watching that process.

Once the paint was dry to the touch but not hardened, I used a plastic putty knife to scratch off some of the paint.

This gave it more of a chippy look. Don’t be afraid to really scratch it up. You have to get ugly with it in order to get that pretty chippy look.

I love the look of the crackle and the chippy. I think it looks more authentic.

Finally I used some fine sand paper to rub off some of the paint on the edges to give it a worn look and called it done. It’s not perfect nor is it supposed to look that way. After all, I’m going for the worn over time look.

I like that when I look at them across the room, they don’t look like dark blobs anymore. I think the white paint also helps to bring out the detail in the wood.

One more little farmhouse touch to our home. What do you think? I’m pretty happy with them so far. If I change my mind, I’ll strip them down and start again.

Thanks for stopping by friends! It means a lot!