Give Your Rustic kitchen an Great Antique Look

 

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Antiqued cabinets will give your kitchen a warm lived in look as well as make the room feel more relaxed and comfortable. There are 2 basic methods you can use to antique your kitchen cabinets – staining and distressing. You can use them alone, or combine them for some old world charm in your kitchen.

This is a 16 x 14-foot kitchen, which turns out to be at Maus Park, a stately historic home near Toronto, built from local Canadian stone in the 1850s and now owned by Canadian antique dealer Douglas Stocks. The tin kitchenceiling is original to the house although the island was remade to echo the original wainscoting. A Pottery Barn pot rack hangs over the island which also has a stainless steel farm sink. Installing a plate rack (between the doors) while preserving the natural stone wall in back is a perfect touch here.

In the pantry, a butler’s tray holds a coffee pot, cups and other table accessories. (via: Country Living, atticmag.com)
Ideas for antique kitchen cabinets:
Give Your Cabinets Antique Look
Staining
One of the most popular methods of imparting an antique look to kitchen cabinets comprises of staining. For the purpose, you will need a dark stain, a brush or sponge and lots of paper towels. First of all, you will have to clean your cabinet thoroughly, making sure that there is no dust clinging on to it. Now, with the help of the brush/sponge, apply a light layer of the stain on one section of the cabinet. Before the stain gets dry, start wiping it off with the paper towel, till you achieve the desired level of ‘antiqueness’. Repeat the process on the other areas of the cabinet as well, especially around the edges and handles.
Distressing
Another popular method of antiquing cabinets is known as distressing. This method works only on painted cabinets. In distressing, a cabinet is made to look as worn down as it would a hundred years thence. You will need a little bit of sandpaper for the purpose. Start sanding off the finish in those areas of the cabinet that are likely to get worn down with use, say the edges and handles, till the time you get to see just a thin layer of the wood underneath. For an overall worn down look, you can sand the middle of the cabinets as well.
Other Methods
There are two more methods that you can use to give an antique look to your kitchen cabinets, namely crackle painting and faux painting. The first one involves two types of paint, while the second one involves just one. However, both these methods are better left to a professional.   http://www.kitchenbuilding.com/tag/old-world-kitchen/