When Getting Older Is the Best Thing That Will Ever Happen To You

It may only be matter of time until wall-to-wall Tuscan faux plaster makes a comeback (Olive Gardens everywhere rejoice). Until then, we prefer these easy, natural-looking antiquing methods to give new furniture an aged look that doesn’t feel dated.

Speed up the “Aging” Process: Sturdy materials like wood and brass look great with age (we think humans do too). Get creative by envisioning your furniture’s past lives and layering a variety of finishing techniques. Whether you’re looking to weather some new wood, or get a crackle finish (lead image above), a little elbow grease can get you there.

Fake an Old Finish: You can also create the appearance of a completely new surface, like this galvanized “steel” table from Finding Silver Pennies. She used Fusion Mineral Paint to create the look of weathered metal on a brand new DIY table she constructed.

Change the Hardware: The possibilities are endless here. In our first example from Live Love DIY, an IKEA RAST cabinet was transformed into a older piece with the simple addition of ornate brass hardware. If you’re stumped, try brass cup pulls or mercury knobs for a truly antique look.

You don’t have to go for the full-on antique look — some simple embellishments can make a newer piece look vintage. The Centsational Girl used Overlays on this small bedside dresser.

Reupholster Your Furniture with Vintage Fabric: Put those flea market blankets and tapestries to good use. Recovering a newer piece in high-quality vintage fabric is sure to give your modern furniture some old charm. Dallas designer Lauren Logan mixes and matches a bunch of hoarded textiles to get the layered look on her sofa. If you want a full tutorial, head over to The Design Itch for the play-by-play on a retro reupholstered office chair.

Paint it Gold (Warning: this one is dangerously addicting): When in doubt, paint it gold. Here, gold leafing is applied to the brown steel frame of an IKEA VITTSJO shelving unit for a healthy dose of old Hollywood glam. If applying delicate gold leafing isn’t your thing, a couple layers of gold spray paint works wonders.

Wallpaper or Image Transfer: Above, Megan Pflug transformed this entryway credenza using a custom image printed large-scale that she then adhered onto the front. The landscape image gives a basic modern piece of sense of age and history.

Dress it Down: Invest in some “furniture frocks”, if you will. In this Classic Bohemian Meets ’70s Minimalist home, old, worn vintage textiles are draped over surfaces throughout the house and topped with antique treasures.