Aging a new door. Under the Tuscan Sun Inspired.

Excuse the mess at my front door. We consider ourselves under construction since we moved into our new home. We are constantly moving something, painting something, that's mostly me, and of course as an upcycler, I'm finding things to recreate. Hopefully that explains the two trunks next to my front door. 

However, that was not going to stop me from painting my door to look  weathered and worn and beachy. 

I was inspired by the door in Under the Tuscan Sun. It's entirely sun bleached, with underlayers of paint worn through and showing through from below. The key to taking this piece to the finish line was white wax. It added that kiss of age that really took the paint colors down, perfectly.

What you are seeing here is a base coat of brown applied to areas that traditionally receive the most wear and tear. This will be where I plan to sand and wet distress after the entire piece is painted. This will be where the brown peeks through to give the look of old wood beneath.

On top of the brown, I added a coat of Elmer's Glue mixed with water. I'd say the mix was 2/3 Elmer's 1/3 water.  This mix will give a crackled effect to the door once it is coated with paint. So , know that when you paint these areas with paint you need to work quickly so you don't pull the paint back off when you sweep your brush around. The paint and the glue react with one another. The glue becomes activated and wet and the paint separates. Caution here, gravity will try and reek havoc with you. You see that wet paint and glue want to slide down the door which is not a look we want. keep a heat gun or blow dryer around for when you paint the next coat. 

The next coat, was a Jade Green. This is mostly the coat that will get that glue mix activated.

After everyone was nice and dry I added my top coat. This was a mix I create from several shades of blues and teals. Now, it's easy enough to age with a wet cloth . Just run it back and forth until you see the layers below reveal themselves. This is the big reveal . 

Reminder, I  used Chalk Paint for painting the door. It has all the properties that will allow the wet distressing and crackling .Latex paint won't work well here.

Next for a white wax coat. It gets brushed on and wiped down and buffed. You can make white wax by adding a teaspoon of white chalk paint or even white craft paint to 1/4 cup of clear Fiddes and son wax. This is my favorite brand . It goes on like butter. 

Ok, I do see a spot that shows a white wax brush stroke that needs to be redone. The day I did this the weather started to get cold and chill my normally, buttery wax. 

Thanks for reading along and hopefully you'll let me know if it looks a bit like the one in Under the Tuscan Sun.

With love and gratitude,

Michele

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