A crackled paint finish can add an antique element to ordinary furniture.
Craquelure is a classic faux finish that gives newly painted surfaces the finely crackled appearance common to many fine antiques. Older furnishings for sale in antique stores often display cracks of varying size in their painted or varnished finish. You can find prepackaged kits at home centers and paint stores that simulate this effect on your own furniture, but the result often looks less authentic than the tools and techniques utilized by professional decorative painters.
Instructions
1. Select two colors of paint for your project -- one color that will appear as your topcoat, and the other which will show through the cracks. If you are looking to create the impression of old wood, for example, you could select a medium to dark brown paint for your topcoat and a black paint as your base coat. For a more dramatic result, you could opt for two contrasting paint colors, such as blue and gold.
2. Apply an even coat of water-based primer to your furniture using a disposable brush. Wash the brush in soap and water while allowing the primer two hours to dry.
3. Brush on your base coat of latex paint. Wash the brush in soap and water while allowing the paint at least two hours to dry -- the paint should feel dry to the touch before applying the next coat.
4. Dilute the white glue at a ten to one ratio -- ten parts glue to one part lukewarm water. Apply a thin coating of the glue over your base coat using the disposable brush. This will ultimately help create a pattern of small cracks throughout your finished project. If you'd like the cracks to be deeper in places, spread a bit more glue on those areas.
5. Allow the glue 60 to 90 minutes to dry. It will be ready for the next step when it feels firmly set in place, but sticky to the touch.
6. Apply your topcoat using a better grade of synthetic-filament brush. Allow the paint to dry overnight. The cracks will begin appearing as the paint dries.
7. Apply a thin layer of clear shellac finish over the paint as a protective sealant, brushing smoothly over the surface and into the cracks. Wait four hours, then apply a second thin finish. The shellac will protect the crackled paint on your furniture without compromising its antique appearance.
8. Allow the shellac to dry for four hours before putting the furniture back into use.
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