How to create a vintage white paint effect

Today I finished a little picture which I prepared for my Mr Partner to celebrate our special date - in two days we are getting married. As I was working on the frame I had an idea to write about how to create a vintage white paint effect. You can use this method for painting frames, furniture or anything made of wood, to make it look much older and 'authentic'. Vintage white paint effect goes very well with shabby chic style. I have a feeling I will be writing much more about it in the future.

So here it goes. You will need: an old or new wooden frame, white emulsion paint, sandpaper, bees wax of dark brown color, soft cloth (I used a piece of old shirt) and some white spirit. First I sanded the frame and painted it with two coats of white emulsion paint.

I waited until the white emulsion has properly dried (best to leave it overnight), then I sanded the frame gently with sandpaper. It has to be done gently in order not to disturb the white paint too much.

Then I rubbed the bees wax into the frame using part of the cloth:

After I finished rubbing in the wax, the frame looked like this:

Then I took a clean piece of soft cloth and polished the frame to remove the excess wax and to make the frame slightly shiny. Because the surface of my frame was not very smooth, I added some white spirit to the cloth to remove the wax more easily. When I finished some of the bees wax was still on the frame, this gives it a vintage look:

I painted this little picture to celebrate our special date. This is a closeup of it, when framed:

Happy making :)
Yolanta

How to create a vintage white paint effect