How I Created a Bohemian Weathered Finish…by accident!

It wasn’t planned, but now I love it!  How I created a bohemian weathered finish…by accident!

Let me start by saying that this post was never going to be published.  However, I received a strong positive response from the result of my disastrous table makeover that I thought I should share how it came to be.  My entryway table has undergone two makeovers now and it would have been taken to the basement to await another makeover if it wasn’t for you all.  So, thank you very much!!  Here is how the bohemian weathered finish on my table came to be.

As a reminder, below is a picture of how the table looked like before any work.  I covered it with two coats of white chalk paint a few years ago and it has remained white up to this year.  There is a long standing joke with me and the hubs, that if I don’t know what color to paint something I just go with white until I decide on a new color.  This table was always going to be repainted and in January I had every intention of repainting it.  I even had the paint to do it!

Prior to painting it, I decided that I should strip the paint off and start afresh.  So, I gathered all my supplies and set aside a weekend to complete this project.  It was all part of my New Year New Room makeover of the living room and entryway.  You can see how the living room turned out here.

Lo and behold, what I thought was real wood was actually MDF!  Note to self, be sure to check all furniture from now on.  I assumed it was wood since every other piece of furniture in our home is wood.  I didn’t purchase this table, but my husband is not a fan of MDF so I figured he wouldn’t have purchased any furniture that was fake wood.  As I scraped off the citristrip, I noticed that this brown color “paint” was coming off revealing a grayish surface underneath.

I thought perhaps it was the white paint still and I applied another layer of the citristrip and covered the table with plastic wrap.  I had waited 8 hours to remove the first layer, so I thought waiting until the next day would be sure to remove all this “paint.”  The next day I scraped some more and that’s when I realized that the grayish layer was the compressed wood surface.  I had scraped off the entire veneer top and was left with a gray surface with spots of white paint.  I felt defeated!  I stopped scrapping and left several areas with the paint.  I used mineral spirits to remove any residual citristrip and walked away from the table.

After discussing the turnout with my husband (who thought I had done this entire thing on purpose!), I decided to just leave it be until I felt the energy to finish the piece.  The alternative was to donate it or place it in the basement.  Several months passed and I started loving the effect more and more.  Months after my makeover accident, I had shared my entryway from my fall room tour on Instagram and there was a beautiful turnout of positivity.  I have a wonderful weathered effect on the table that looks naturally distressed.  This bohemian finish is wonderful against the popping blue entryway wall and vintage mirror.

So, if you also attempt to paint a piece of furniture and your paint stripping efforts don’t go as planned, just tell yourself you did it on purpose and enjoy the bohemian weathered finish you have created.

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