How To Age An Urn Using Paint As An Antiquing Glaze

This urn is all whomper-jawed and had a small whole in the side but was definitely worth saving. All it needed was a fresh coat of paint and then a dark antique finish using paint. I have all the details for you plus a video of the antiquing or aging process. And....today is Thrift Store Decor Day so you know what that means!

Urn from the thrift store ready for a makeover.

I bought the vase at the thrift store for $1. Doesn't look like much now but trust me.....it will.

I first painted the urn with FolkArt Home Decor Chalk, color Linen (here on Amazon).

I applied two coats of paint not worrying if I covered every nook and cranny. The photo above shows how the urn looked after drying for an hour.

Now to make the urn look old in a good way. I mixed dark brownish black paint with water about 50/50. Using paint as an antiquing glaze is a budget saver. The dark paint is Miss Lillian's No-Wax Chock Paint. The paint is leftover from a furniture project. After adding water to the paint I brushed it on the painted urn using a small inexpensive chip brush. I worked with small areas not the whole urn at once.

As soon as I covered the urn with the dark wash/glaze I began wiping it off with a damp rag. I removed or wiped back the dark paint until I had the antiqued finish I was looking for.

As you can see it didn't take a lot of time or energy to give the urn a cool new look. The original dark finish was soooo flat. The new finish has depth to it. Perfect. Take a look at the short 30 second video tutorial of me brushing on the dark paint and wiping it off with a damp rag.....

Paint As An Antiquing Glaze

I like how the urn looks with the faux flower bush but it also makes a great display all by it's lonesome.

See how the dark paint sits in the hollows and dips of the urn or vase? That's how you want it to look. The raised areas are lighter and stand out against the dark areas giving the urn an aged or old world look.

Now it's time to take a look at the always great makeovers from our Thrift Store Decor Team. Just click the text links below the "before" makeovers photo collage.......