Distressed furniture ranges
Distressed furniture is a highly popular style which is available in natural, stained or painted finishes. A piece of distressed furniture is one that has been purposefully aged using a variety of time-honoured methods. It often exudes a humble and understated character, which will complement and enhance the traditional feel of your home.   

Distressed and aged painted furniture is commonly referred to as 'shabby chic', such as our highly sought-after 'Shabby Chic Solid Mango' range. Although the exterior is notably aged, the craftsmanship of each piece is of the same high standard as any other range. We only use the finest hardwood timbers throughout and each drawer is assembled using robust dovetail jointsOne of the most diverse collections of furniture comes from the Jali range. One of its most successful distressed ranges is the Country Oak range.

Although in a different style, the painted Shabby Chic also provides excellent distressed furniture for the living room or kitchen and at prices much lower than would be found in boutique furniture shops.  
Distressed ranges include the Taj Range  and the Regency’s painted equivalent, the Shabby chic range.  A heavy oak collection of distressed furniture called the Country Oak range. This exhibits all the usual quality hallmarks that have become associated with this range and which can be seen.  These include dovetail drawer joints and solid timber cabinet backs and drawer bases.   

Distressed and aged painted furniture is commonly referred to as 'shabby chic', such as our highly sought-after 'Shabby Chic Solid Mango' range. Although the exterior is notably aged, the craftsmanship of each piece is of the same high standard as any other range. We only use the finest hardwood timbers throughout and each drawer is assembled using robust dovetail joints. French style furniture, Indian style furniture and many more...This page also offers a brief guide to the origins of distressed furniture but follow this link if you're looking for distressed painted furniture ranges for sale.

If you're seeking distressed oak furniture - or other distressed wooden ranges - please try our rustic and reclaimed furniture page. Furniture with a distressed finish is any furniture deliberately marked or damaged to suggest it is not brand new. The practice goes back at least to Victorian times when the country’s phenomenal rise in wealth and global dominance spawned a fascination with its past.

Collecting and owning antique furniture became fashionable, so the practice of distressing newly-built furniture arose to meet a demand that could not be satisfied by the genuine article. This largely covert, and not always entirely honest, practice began to lose its stigma in the 1950s and 1960s when the look of furniture became more important than its pedigree.

Several stories appeared in the press and on television about furniture traders who, much to the bemusement of the older generation, were openly ‘distressing’ furniture with the use of chains, darts and various other tools. Nevertheless, alongside the opening of stores like Habitat and, in Sweden, IKEA, demand steadily grew for distressed furniture.

Today distressed furniture is widely accepted and regarded as highly desirable for interiors where a ‘brand new’ piece of furniture would look out of place to contemporary tastes.

Getting the Distressed Look
At Right Price Furniture there are several collections of furniture in our rustic category and elsewhere suitable for achieving the right look. Distressed painted ranges in styles known as Baroque, Rococo or simply French style.

For a traditional English country furniture style, choose from the Rustic Oak collections.

If the late Victorian / early 20th Century period is the aim, then consider the Mahogany ranges as the overall style and finish is very in keeping with the period. Decorative touches include the ornate Victorian-style handles while an unusual feature is the decorative ceramic inlays on some items that are perhaps reminiscent of the famous enamel signs for Pears Soap or Colman’s Mustard Distressed furniture painting techniques -

How to do it
If you have some wooden furniture from a junk shop, charity shop or just what you've been given and you want to turn it into something that has that shabby chic painted look then try the following:
1. Thoroughly Clean all the old dirt, wax and polish from the surfacesPaint won't stick to anything that's dirty or waxy - which we can make use of later - but you do need most of it to stay on when you've painted!  I suggest scrubbing hard with good old-fashioned Flash, Cif or something similar.  You could also invest in some pre-paint wipes from motor stores like Halfords but personally I don't think this is essential.

2. If you want some small patches of bare wood to show through, then sand off any remaining varnish or stain from the chosen spots and sparingly wipe with some good wax polish, buffing off the surplus.  Paint (see below for paint info) the furniture and when it is dry use a non-metallic abrasive cleaning pad (Scotchpad not Brillo pad) to rub off the paint from the edges where the wood is to show through.

3. For different paint colours to show through clean the furniture as in step 1, paint it in the 'under' colour and when it is dry, apply wax polish to the exposure areas as described in step 2 above and paint on the top coat.

4. Experiment on offcuts of wood for the look you want, but rubbing painted surfaces with a Scotchpad to create a 'key' and then buffing with a very small amount of shoe polish on a duster can, for example, create a pleasing effect.  Another interesting effect can be achieved by dipping a finger in graphite (get it by running the lead of a pencil on fine sandpaper) and rubbing it over the furniture edges and corner - though be careful not to overdo it.These effects may need to be fixed by carefully painting over them afterwards with a gloss or matt varnish.  If distressing a lot of furniture, it may be worth buying an electric paint sprayer to avoid varnish 'brush marks' spoiling the effect.

5. Emulsion will not be very durable so is not recommended for distressed painted furniture that is going to be used, although it may be OK on pieces that are just for decoration.  Buy paint for woodwork.  If you do not like the gloss finish and a matt or silk equivalent isn't available, consider using a matt varnish as the top coat.

What is distressing?
Distressing is a refinishing technique although it is the opposite of finishing in a traditional sense. Distressing is the action of making a item of furniture appear older and aged, and there are numerous methods to produce an appearance of age and wear. In distressing, the object's finish is purposely manipulated to appear less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or paint stripper. The craftsman take off some but not all of the paint, leaving evidence of various layers of paint speckled over wood grain underneath. This then becomes the "finished" furniture. Check out Distressed Furniture here.

Why?
Distressed furniture is very fashionable. New furnishings that have been distressed can appear as though they have been passed down from generation to generation, giving your home a sense of history and a warm, welcome feeling. While the look may not appeal to everyone, some people who have new furniture wished it looked old. The principle with distressing a piece of furniture is not to achieve the appearance of something that has been greatly abused but instead accomplishing a realistic-looking effect only seen on furniture hundreds of years old.

Here at Right Price Furniture, we firmly believe that our products are the very best on the market. Take our shabby chic sideboard for example - it is the ideal storage solution for a medium living room - or any room. Or our shabby chic coffee table - not only does it look great, but it also has a shelf on the bottom to store all your magazines and newspapers.