Candle Method For A White Distressed Table Part One

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I wanted to show you a larger picture of where the swing is hanging from my last post.  Some of you asked for a bigger picture to see the entry into the living room. 

The swing is hung when you first enter into the living room from the entryway.  I am loving it there.  This gives me a little outdoor space on the inside.

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I cannot wait to decorate my sweet swing in different decor for the different holidays.

Ok now onto the dining room table issue:

This is my dining table.  The wood on the top is old barn wood and very rustic.  Terry sanded it down to get it a little lighter in color and  we thought we could get some of the stains and burn marks out of the wood.

As you can see even with sanding it down we could not get the burn marks and oil stains off the wood.  They are saturated throughout the wood.  I am into farmhouse rustic but this is a little too rustic for me!

The question is what to do with this table top.  I love the wood and the history of the wood just not the markings.

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I went on pinterest for some inspiration.  This french farmhouse table
 has a whitewash table top.

I like the wood showing through the white wash.

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Then I found these pics.  I like the white paint with some of the wood coming through.  

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Sorry this one is so grainy but you can see the white paint with the chippy wood showing through.  I think my best option will be to  cover the wood burns and stains with white paint but let some of the character of the wood shine through.

There is a process that you use a candle and white paint to get the white painted look with the natural wood coming through.

Here are the instructions.

Candle Method

This is a distressing method, as well. It creates a chipped, shabby style white-washed wood effect. First of all, clean the wood surface, and that can be old reclaimed wood or new wood.

It’ll work with either. Rub some candle wax at random spots on the surface. Paint it with white paint and let it completely dry. 

Once dried, take a cloth/rag and wipe the surface with some pressure. The paint will come off in places rubbed in with the candle, creating that shabby chic look.

Although it works with new wood, I think it looks better with the aged one. You can always fake the aged look by using stain first or chose any aging methods from my post on how to distress wood and make it look old and weathered. 

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I will be back soon to show you how this process worked on my table.

Stay tuned!

Have a great Friday and weekend.

xoxo

Kris