Transforming a Church Pew with Paint

This aged, painted, and distressed wooden church pew became a hands-on lesson in trial and error for Bildirimlerim.

I wrestled with whether to share all the blunders from painting my church pew, considering just a "before" and "after" to seem "simple"...

A. Gaining wisdom from errors
B. Finding humor in my own minor slip-ups, and
C. Offering assistance to someone avoiding the same pitfalls…

I chose to record the genuine, though imperfect, journey; honestly, I was hesitant to begin because I cherished my old church pew and feared I would damage it…

Guide to Painting a Church Pew

{The Pew: prior to renovation}

I began by thoroughly sanding the piece using my random orbital sander.

This felt quite therapeutic and consumed…well, hours!

{The Pew: after sanding}

Second Stage: Experimenting with "whitewashing"

After extensive research, I felt this appearance might be appealing. To achieve the whitewash, I thinned latex paint to a watery consistency and applied it, allowing the wood grain to remain visible as the paint soaked in.

I anticipated it would be breathtakingly lovely.

{The Pew: after whitewashing}

My husband, Myrtle, found it striking, albeit in an unfavorable manner.

“In my view, the sanded condition was superior,” he remarked thoughtfully.

That was a massive understatement!

We moved forward with Plan B.

I turned the pew in various directions until I applied three (thin) coats of my semi-gloss Benjamin Moore mistint paint.

Eventually, it began to look much improved…

After every coat is completely dry, age the finish using sandpaper.

Subsequently, I used a hand-sander for some "distressing" work {I neglected to photograph this step; it's my favorite part!}.

Finally, I intended to use some popular furniture wax, but I do not have any “Annie Sloan chalk paint” or its highly praised accompanying waxes nearby.

Instead, I utilized a small container of Minwax dark furniture paste wax sourced from my nearby island hardware store.

My method involved a simple 'wipe on and wipe off' technique.

It did not work. In fact, nothing happened!

I was quite surprised by this outcome.

Consequently, I turned to my computer to investigate further.

I learned that a 10-minute waiting period before wiping off was necessary. After applying it to the areas meant to look 'distressed'—like the edges and sides—it softened the white and gave a slightly 'aged look,' yet it appeared somewhat 'streaky'! My goal was subtle 'distressing'...

I felt uncertain about whether the result was correct.

At that moment, I was quite frustrated, compounded by the fumes!

Therefore, I took a trip to the beach.

***

Further research, which took a long time, revealed that applying clear wax beneath the dark wax was the proper procedure.

How disappointing.

***

Feeling completely lost, I stepped away from the project for several days, occasionally glancing at it.

Last night, I discussed the situation with my sister.

She asked me if it would continue to cause me stress until it was fixed.

Her question led to a significant realization for me.

I realized I actually enjoyed it; I was overthinking whether it met some standard!