I’ve been working on my teenage sons bedroom which has been pretty challenging. Girl bedrooms are easy-boys are SUPER hard. You can find 8000 inspiration pictures for girl rooms and like 10 for boys rooms. Why is that? We are going for an outdoor/antique look.
I found a super cool old trunk at Goodwill for $20 and used that for the jumping off point. If you have super old trunk you can’t have a super new desk. I’ve seen tons of cool pallet furniture but I didn’t really want to pick apart a bunch of pallets and we already had a pile of pine scraps in the garage from other projects.
The desk is an Ana-White farmhouse table plan modified to make it smaller. Love the desk. Don’t love how shiny and new that wood looks.
I searched around the internet and found these directions for aging/oxidizing wood.
This is what you need:
Tea ( I used English breakfast tea)
Steel wool pads (not SOS pads, actual steel wool-I bought mine in the paint aisle)
Vinegar
Mason jar
Start by putting the steel wool into your mason jars. I was aging a headboard and a desk so I used a big jar and like 4 steel wool pads.
Pour the vinegar over the steel wool until the pads are submerged. Then put the cover on and stick it in your garage for a few days and let science do it’s magic. Do this project totally at your own risk, wear gloves and keep the mixture away from your kids/pets. I’m no scientist so if the jar explodes in your garage don’t blame me.
Now brew some tea. Tea has tannic acid in it and will help aid in the aging process. I boiled about 4 cups of water and stuck in 10 tea bags then just took it off the burner and let it sit until completely cooled. Pull the tea bags out and put them in the trash. In retrospect I had a totally excessive amount of tea/water but I didn’t want to run out. After it was totally cooled off I brushed the tea onto the wood and covered the entire desk with tea. You don’t see a change in the wood with tea. It just looks wet. Then I let it dry overnight.
Now you are going to put the vinegar mixture on the wood. I did this on my grass because this stuff seems like it will stain whatever it comes in contact with. I just brushed it on with an old paintbrush. It is so cool and the wood changes right before your eyes. Or not. The top didn’t seem to change much at first. I let the mixture dry and then did another coat of it and left it overnight. By the morning it had darkened up nicely too. Then I got a bucket of clear water and a rag and wiped the whole desk down just in case there was any residue.
Love how it turned out. I waxed the entire desk with Annie Sloan clear wax that I already had on hand then put a little dark wax on the top because the lighter pine wasn’t quite as dark as I wanted.
Some more pictures for fun!
I would love to see if you decide to do this! I think it’s such a cool look and did the same thing to some pallet bookshelves and a headboard! I’ll post about those next week.
I LOVE how the table turned out! It’s a very interesting technique to age wood. Seems pretty easy though.
This is really beautiful – I love the aging of the wood! One question – did staining the top cover up any of the aging? What color stain did you use? The darker plank on the top – was that a natural show through of the aging? That’s the look I’m going for and would love for some variation to show through in each plank – thanks! (Ok maybe that was more than one question!)
That desk looks awesome! I can totally sympathize with you on the boy thing…I have three boys and no girls:) Stopping by from TT&J.
Kelli recently posted..Friday Flashback: Candy Corn Edition
I love it! This is a technique I have wanted to try…someday I will!
That looks fantastic! I’ve definitely got to try that treatment now
Great desk – I love the final look – aged to perfection.
June @ I will craft….. recently posted..Vintage feel holiday cards
What a fab desk! I just love the construction of it. And the finish is most awesome… time to go pick up some clear wax!
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Donna
Great job! I used this same technique on cedar shims for a sunburst mirror this summer. Looks nice and rustic!
Dana @ CraftedNiche recently posted..A Finishing Touch for Roxy’s Bed
Fantastic!!! Love the simplicity of the desk
Thanks for sharing this! It looks great!
The desk looks wonderful! Are these the dropcloth drapes you mentioned on facebook? They look great.
Oh My – I love it!
Melanie recently posted..Clock redo! Before and After
Wow! This came out so beautiful! I may have to post a link to it on my blog! Absolutely gorgeous. I followed the link to the Ana White farmhouse table and I think that may have to be a spring project for me. I have always loved the farmhouse tables but they’ve just been so out of my price range that I didn’t even consider realistically having one. I especially like the way you used the tea on the wood. It came out PERFECT!
Kyra recently posted..Thankful: Day 2
Thanks for sharing this with us!! I have just started with refurbishing old furniture, and also want to start making my own, so am so happy for any hints and tips! Smiles from South Africa!
This is fantastic! I can’t get over that warm, aged finish. It’s beautiful! I’ve included this project on this week’s link party features.
Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating recently posted..Addicts (not so) Anonymous Link Party No. 30
This is one of the neatest tips I have read for using wood. I am so inspired to try this with a project I have coming up. I would have never in a million years thought of this! Visiting from AD2D.
ps I host a linky party every Friday, I would love it if you could stop by and link up. Thanks!
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This project is FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for sharing that aging process! I am about to build a computer desk and I want to use old wood, but my husband wants me to use new wood, and now I can! (Hate the look of new wood, ugh) The desk looks great!
Rachel recently posted..Welcome to Wood Island Wonders!
What a great colour the desk turned with your treatment. I didn’t see it in the first picture of it, but when you showed the top of the desk it looked perfect – nice and rich and brown.
Grace recently posted..The 12 Invitations of Christmas
What a cool technique. I had not heard of it before but I love the results. Aged it quite nicely and it’s a wonderful warm brown.
Anita @ GoingalittleCoastal recently posted..Commenting Problems
WOW, awesome job…. I love the patina of the pine top especially. Thank you for sharing your recipe!!
TracyMB recently posted..First Snowfall Decor
That is awesome, Brooke! Wow! Must give it a try! Thanks so much for sharing your technique! Love the finish!
Roeshel recently posted..Sunburst Mirror Tutorial ~ Catie’s Corner
Love this little desk! I drool over Ana’s site and plan on making something…someday from her site. Can’t wait to see the rest of your creations!
Jill @ Junky Vagabond recently posted..Spice it Up
I have been wanting a little desk like that! You did an amazing job, looks great in your space!
Latoya @The Scotts Crib recently posted..You Wanna See More of Me??
Hmm, I tried this with Grade #1 Steel Wool and 5% acidity household vinegar. After 4 days, the mixture has only changed a few shades darker — to a very light golden rust colour — but not a dark grey/black as you have pictured. Any ideas?