If you are looking for something that has a little more character than a standard painted or stained piece then we have a few finishing techniques you can use to freshen up any piece.
Distressing:
This technique makes the piece look like it has more of a rustic or old world feel. Distressing a piece can be done whether a piece has already been finished or not. If the piece already had a good top coat on it; the piece may need to be sanded in order to remove as much of it as possible without removing the stain. To distress a piece just hit it with a variety of rocks, nails, meat cleaver, or whatever you can find around your house! You want to make sure that you are creating dents and scratches in the wood and not hitting it so hard that you are taking chunks of wood out. You can hit it as much or as little as you want to create the look you are going for.
Once the piece has been distressed make sure that all surfaces are cleaned before any stain or top coat is applied. When staining make sure that it isn’t applied too thick as it will tend to pool in the areas where there are dents and scratches. These areas will potentially stain darker than the rest of the piece, but that will only highlight the beauty of the technique. Once the stain is dry then you can apply the top coat, which will help smooth out the surface.
Rub Through:
The rub through technique makes the piece appear that it has been around a long time and has been through the refinishing process numerous times. There are 2 common ways you can do a rub through:
Single Step: this is the case when you stain or paint the particular piece and then sand edges, corners of tops, drawers, doors and legs in random places to make it look like those areas have been rubbed so much the bare wood is showing through.
2 Step: this is the case when your piece is already stained and paint is applied over it; then edges, corners of tops, drawers, doors and legs are sanded in places to the point where the stain shows through. Be careful not to sand too much or you might sand right down to the bare wood. If you are using a piece that has already been stained then it is suggested that you lightly stand the top to rough it up a bit so the paint will adhere better.
Once you have finished the technique then we suggest applying a top coat, polyurethane, to ensure your piece is protected.
Two Tone:
With this technique two different colors are used to create a dramatic look with your piece.

The most common combination that we have seen is painting the base of an item black or white and then staining the top with an accenting color. You can use any color combination with this finishing technique and it is a good way to bring different colors together in a room. You can even incorporate a fun look by painting the base of a table black then accenting it with a bright color on the top.
All these finishing techniques can be done on pieces you already own. Or if you are interested in a new piece, all these are available on any of the furniture we offer.