Distressing a piece of furniture is when you purposely make it look weathered or worn. The idea is to give a piece of furniture a classic, antique look. Whether you care for it or not, the style has become very popular. Unfortunately, just like the antique furniture it emulates, distressed furniture can get quite expensive.

One mom has taken it upon herself to share an inexpensive way to give your furniture this popular look.

A simple distressing hack

Sara Davis, creator of the DIY Website, “Sincerely, Sara D.,” shared an easy hack for distressing your furniture, and all you need is a paintbrush, a clean rag, some spray paint, and some Vaseline. She teamed up with Unexpected Elegance to bring this simple trick to her followers and the masses online.

Demonstrating her technique

As a way to demonstrate her hack, Sara uses a smaller piece of wood. She starts by applying the Vaseline to the wood using a paintbrush. As she dips the brush into the Vaseline, she gets a thick coat of it on the bristles before spreading it on the wood. The idea is to use the Vaseline to repel the paint, which will be applied later, as she explains in the video:

“Just keep in mind that wherever you put the Vaseline the paint is not going to adhere, so it’s going to look distressed there.”

Applying the Vaseline

Sara paints the edges of the wood and the corners, making sure to reapply the Vaseline to the paintbrush when she feels like she needs more on the brush. She shares her method for painting the wood as she applies the sticky substance:

“For this particular piece, I’m just doing the corners. But you can definitely do the middle section if you want. But the corners are just typically where it gets worn, so it makes sense to have it distressed on the corners.”

Next up, painting the wood

For the next step in the distressing process, Sara explains how the viewers can use any type of paint that they prefer. For her purposes, she has chosen to use spray paint, mainly due to how quickly and easy it is to apply. She sprays the paint on the wood, making sure to cover the entire surface. Then it is just a matter of waiting for it to dry.

Wiping away the Vaseline

After the paint has dried sufficiently, Sara wipes off the Vaseline using a clean rag, making sure to go over the areas where she applied the substance. Like magic, the distressed look becomes evident as Sara wipes the Vaseline away. The small piece of wood now has a chippie, old look to it making it look like something from ages past.

For more of Sara’s DIY hacks, check out her Website or her Instagram page. You can learn more about Sara’s Vaseline distressing trick in the video below.

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Source: Sincerely, Sara D.

H/T: Home Hacks, Sincerely, Sara D.