How to Create a Bleached and Weathered Wood Finish (Without Bleach!)
Have you ever wondered how to create a bleached and weathered wood finish without bleach? It's so easy and these dollar store plastic chargers were totally transformed by this technique! I'm sharing the video tutorial with you today so you can achieve this easy faux look yourself!
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Raw, natural wood is currently a hot topic in the home decor world! Everyone is
bleaching their furniture and finding ways to make new wood look rustic and
weathered and removing the paint to reveal the natural, raw wood beneath. The technique I'm sharing today is perfect for those who
don't/can't deal with real bleach fumes but want a similar effect.
I was in the market for some wood chargers, but the ones I liked weren't in my
budget. So when I spotted these faux wood plastic chargers at Dollar Tree, I
grabbed them, knowing I could figure out a way to create a bleached and
weathered look.
They were quite a gaudy goldish color, and looked very plastic-y, but what can
you expect for $1? The thing I liked about them was the faux wood grain. I
knew the texture would be great for this technique. Check the supplies list at the end of this post for the products I used.
Here's how the chargers looked before their makeover.
And here is how they looked after I weathered and bleached them with this
super easy technique!
So much better, right? Now, I know I always say that my tutorials are easy,
but this one really is! It took very little time to create a bleached,
weathered look on these plastic chargers and I'm going to show you exactly how
I did it!
How to create a bleached and weathered wood look
You saw the before and after above, and I created a video tutorial to show you
just exactly how to achieve a weathered, bleached look. This is the same
technique that I used on my
weathered dressers in our Master, just with a different color of paint for a lighter, bleached finish.
So I know it will work with furniture too! But as always when you're tackling
a large furniture piece, make sure to do a test area first to be sure you're
happy with the finish (on a dresser, I would test the technique on a drawer).
Click here to see all my furniture transformations.
Watch this short video to see how I achieved this bleached wood look
I've always been amazed at the power of paint to completely change the look
and feel of almost anything, but this tutorial shows how wax is also pretty
powerful too!
By simply rubbing wax into a white painted charger, I can manipulate the
finished look!
I really like how these bleached chargers turned out! Like I mentioned in the
video above, my dark table needs something lighter to provide that contrast
that I love and you can see how the chargers show up so nicely on my table.
Do you constantly change your decor too?
I love how these weathered chargers look with my collected white ironstone,
it's a dreamy combination!
Supplies List:
- plastic chargers from Dollar Tree (bonus if you can find the wood grain)
- white chalk paint (I used Everlasting by DecoArt, but you can use any white chalk paint)
- 2" paint brush ( this paintbrush is my favorite bc it has a short handle)
- foam brushes
- clear furniture wax (I used this exact wax)
- dark furniture wax (I used Annie Sloan)
Go ahead and PIN THIS IMAGE for later
Let me know what you use this bleached and weathered wood finish technique
on!
And have a great week ❤
bringing beauty to the ordinary,
These look great! i'm sure i've walked right by these charger plates at the dollar store many times! thanks for the idea and the method!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gwen, and you're welcome!
DeleteHi Cindy. What a cool project, thanks! I wonder…do you think this could be done on bathroom cabinets? Mine are tired cherry wood (I believe?!) and I’d like to lighten them up and have a more “coastal” look.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think?
Thank you,
Stephanie