What order do I do this? Looking to distress some wood

[Troy Turner]

My son wants a bed made from barn wood. Been searching like crazy, but can't find any. I'm going to experiment with the steel wool and vinegar method to see what I can come up with, but I want to give him options.

My other option is to distress some wood some (screws, nails, chain, etc.) and stain it. I want the distressed parts to show darker than the rest so what order should I do it?

Something that looks like this:

249226

I'm thinking:
- Apply medium stain, finish, distress, apply darker (maybe gel) stain and wipe off quickly
Thought process is, once it's finished, the darker stain would be less apt to "stick" to the parts that aren't distressed?

What are your thoughts though before I start all this trial and error?

[Harold Burrell]

My wife is into this look too. Here's how we do it...

You can either stain it or distress it first. Doesn't really matter. After you apply the stain, let it dry at least 48 hrs and then cover it with a coat of dewaxed shellac. Next wipe on a much darker oil-based stain (I like Minwax Jacobean). Wipe it off. The stain will stay in the "divots". Let that dry, then topcoat.

A couple of things to note here...(1) You absolutely HAVE to put a barrier between the 2 stains. Dewaxed Shellac is best. If you don't, all you will do is darken everything you've stain previously. And (2) Look for a stain color (for your base stain) that is quite a bit lighter than what you want it to look like in the end. Everything that you do in this process will darken it overall.

You might want to play around with some scrap of the same type of wood.

I hope this helps...

['Jacques Malan']

I once saw people hitting wood with a chain on a stick for a distressed look.

[Troy Turner]

My wife is into this look too. Here's how we do it...

You can either stain it or distress it first. Doesn't really matter. After you apply the stain, let it dry at least 48 hrs and then cover it with a coat of dewaxed shellac. Next wipe on a much darker oil-based stain (I like Minwax Jacobean). Wipe it off. The stain will stay in the "divots". Let that dry, then topcoat.

A couple of things to note here...(1) You absolutely HAVE to put a barrier between the 2 stains. Dewaxed Shellac is best. If you don't, all you will do is darken everything you've stain previously. And (2) Look for a stain color (for your base stain) that is quite a bit lighter than what you want it to look like in the end. Everything that you do in this process will darken it overall.

You might want to play around with some scrap of the same type of wood.

I hope this helps...

Sounds like a plan to me. Been looking for an excuse to use some shellac... ;)


I once saw people hitting wood with a chain on a stick for a distressed look.

I use chains, screwdrivers, scratch awls...you name it and I throw it at it :)