It all began when I found an old piece of walnut up in the attic of my father in laws shop! When I asked him about it he told me that it was probably 40 years old...(of course, my next question was...Can I have it?) Ha...I am so thankful for such a great father-in-law!
One of the perks of having a family that owns a lumber business are projects like this. I send the piece down to the mill to have put through the wood planer and have it cut to size. When we got it back it looked great (but) it was just a little too "perfect" for my liking!
Nice straight edges...which (of course) is what I asked for after all! (But then I decided that I wanted it slightly more rustic!)
I gathered my tools of choice (Hammer, and couple of awls in various sizes, a utility knife, a couple of large wide threaded screws, and a paint scraper!) Nothing too facny!
I know that a lot of people really like to beat up the wood with chains and such when they distress it, but for this look I didn't want to to look beat up as much as I wanted it to look old/worn)
Below are a couple of close up photos of my finished distruction!
Using a utility knife I carefully "carved" out the faux cracks in the wood. And with a combination of the awl and the nails a made the "worm holes"
The crack in this photo and the one below as the only real one in the piece.
Using the paint scraper like a chisel I gently took off the hard edges of the whole piece.
Then a quick coat of clear sealer and it's all done! Got to love the beauty of Walnut...nice rich color without the hastle of having to stain it!
And now for the finished product!
(Here is a "before" picture)
and the "after"...what do you think?
We just love the added warmth that the dark wood gives to the room!
Winter is such a great time to get some of your inside projects accomplished! What are you planning to tackle this winter?
The dark wood looks gorgeous against the light mantel and wall, love it!!
ReplyDeletexoxo, Tanya
girl, i am LOVING that!!! yes!
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