How to create a weathered farmhouse look with Dixie Belle Paint

If you like a textured, layered, farmhouse style then Dixie Belle Paint have some amazing products to help you achieve this look - and its easier than you may think!

 

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I purchased this console table locally from someone changing the decor and no longer wanted pine. I love this style of furniture and snapped it up as I could see its potential. Here is the 'before' shot.

I used White Lightening to give this a really good clean. Its surprising how dirty used furniture gets! I then gave it a light sand with 80 grit sandpaper. This helps to get break through the existing finish (in this case varnish) of the piece and gives the paint something to grip to. There were some dings and marks from previous use which is consistent with pre-loved furniture. In this case I didn't fill them or cover them up because I wanted a worn feel to the final finish. I removed the existing handles and filled the holes as I planned on using other handles.

Now for the best part...paint! I started out by mixing the colour Holy Guacamole with Sea Spray until I had a thick paste. This is the bit that creates the texture.I used a chip brush  to stipple the mixture on, concentrating on the areas where i knew I would want texture. 

This looks pretty horrendous at this stage but stick with it! Once this was completely dry I painted over the top with one coat of Antebellum Blue.

This is one of my favourite blues in the Dixie Belle range! Again, left this to dry completely and then grabbed my Barn Red and went straight over the Antebellum Blue with two coats for full coverage.

The next stage is to reveal those layers of colours underneath the red paint. Dixie Belle, like most water based paints takes around 30 days to fully cure. With this in mind, the longer you wait to distress a piece, the tougher it is to do so. I waited 24 hours for the paint to thoroughly dry before I started to distress. I used a combination of my random orbital sander and hand sanding using 120 grit sandpaper. I finished with a 220 grit once I'd achieved the desired effect to make the finish super smooth to touch. Next I grabbed my Dixie Belle Best Dang Wax in Black. These waxes are available in a range of colours, are water based, eco friendly and highly pigmented. This means no nasty smells, no clean up with white spirits and a little goes a long way! I love using coloured waxes on my pieces as I think it adds another level of dimension and depth to the finish. Below is a close up of the layers of colours with some black wax applied.

Once I was satisfied with the black wax, I used Dixie Belle Best Dang Wax in Clear to give a sheen. This also can be used as an eraser if you've gone a bit heavy with the black wax! The final step is to fit new handles - I say new, they are actually reclaimed and have loads of natural patina which suits this particular piece perfectly! Viola!