I love the look of weathered wood. There’s history and richness to it. I know I am not the only one because a quick search on Pinterest yields How-to’s, natural distressing solutions, etc (Side note: don’t you wish people felt the same about weathered faces?).

There are many tutorials out there that use steel wool, vinegar, sandpaper, etc. All of the tutorials look great. But… I am a mom of two boys and time is of the essence. So, I came up with a two step process  that’s relatively easy, error proof, and quick. 

What You’ll Need to Weather Your Wood

- Wood (I used wood crates from JoAnn’s)

- Stain  (Minwax Dark Walnut)

- Latex Paint (Sample Valspar pot in London Coach) 

- Paint Brush (I used a beat up one that I had on hand). 

Here’s what you’ll do to weather your wood:

1. Take your project outside.Seriously. Stain is strong. I needed to weather 6 crates for a project. For the first two I weathered, I decided to weather the crates at 9pm on a Friday. Outside wasn’t an option. I opened all the windows (it was also in January), and I was still huffing fumes. Long story short, get your weathering wood on in a well ventilated space. 

2. Start with the stain, and lighting dip your brush in the stain. And just slap on the stain lightly. You do not need to worry about applying it perfectly or evenly because the randomness makes it look more organic.

Step 1: Stain. Just slap it on lightly.

3. Follow up with paint. Again, lightly dip your brush in the paint — I used the same brush as I used to stain. You want to dry brush this. 

See how little paint is on my brush?

4. Take a look at your wood. Do you want more stain? Or more paint? Dry brush some more on

5. You’re done! 

Stay tuned to find out what I did with those weathered crates.