Love the look of antique wood but don’t have time to wait on that old patina to show its face? We’ve got you covered! Scroll on to learn how to get the look of antique wood without smelly stain and gritty sandpaper—we managed to get it done with just a bit of brown acrylic paint, water, and a foam paint brush. DIY details below!
Squeeze roughly 2 tablespoons of Brown Acrylic Paint onto a Long White Platter. Slowly pour 1/4 cup of water over the paint in the platter.
Use a Foam Brush to gently stir to incorporate the water into the paint pigment. Note that you’re trying to achieve a runny consistency that’s slightly translucent.
Place the Unfinished Wood Slat Crate on a flat work surface over a stack of scrap newspaper.
Use the foam paintbrush to coat the crate with the watery paint mixture. You should see the wood grain clearly beneath the mixed paint. Allow it to dry for 15 minutes before moving on to Step 5.
Squeeze an additional rough 1 teaspoon of brown acrylic paint to the mixture from Step 2. Re-stir to incorporate the pigment into the mixture, and then add a second coat to the wood crate. Allow to dry for another 15 minutes before moving on to Step 6.
Clean and dry the platter, and squeeze about 1/4 teaspoon of brown acrylic paint onto the platter, this time no water added. Use a dry foam paint brush to add a few streaks of the thick brown paint to the crate to mimic the look of wear and age. A little goes a long way in this step. You’ll want to make the motion of slashes across the wood to get the effect pictured here, and resist the urge to blend the paint too much. Built-up peaks of dark color are desired.
Allow the crate to dry for 24 hours before handling. If you plan to use the finished crate as a breakfast in bed tray as pictured in this tutorial, don’t forget to flip the crate upside down when dry and repeat the steps to give the underside of the box patina, too. Allow to dry for an additional 24 hours, and then you’re done and ready to put the hand-antiqued crate to use!
Be sure to check out the other Supply of the Month projects using a DIY Unfinished Wood Slat Crate.
Modern DIY Wood Crate Plant Holder; by Haeley Giambalvo
DIY Whitewashed Storage Crates; by Sara Albers
DIY Kids’ Storage Art Crate; by Amy Weir
(Project and photos by Carrie Waller)