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Getting an Antique Look on Wood with Paint & Wax

ByDiana Hours Published: Hours Last Updated:
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In early January, as I thrifted my way south of Albany, I made a significant investment in candlesticks, plates, platters, and bowls so I could make some of the lovely pedestal stands that everyone else seemed to be making. I showed off some of the results of this upcycling project, but it’s only recently that I finally got around to doing anything with the wooden candlesticks I had acquired.
 
Getting the Pottery Barn Look with Wooden Candlesticks
Here you can see Pottery Barn affect of brown stain showing through black paint with these candlesticks.
(Sorry about the lint on the stick on the left :/ )
 
Pedestal Stand, cake stand

Here’s one I used for a pedestal stand (for sale in my Etsy store). I decided to use the candlestick as a pedestal base, but it could easily have been used for its original purpose–to hold a candle, of course. For the top I used a flat, stainless steel platter. I really like the contrast of the warm wood with the icy steel.

Here’s what the wooden candlesticks looked like when I wrote about them back in early January–such lovely shades of brown! Okay, let’s get started. Here’s how you can up-cycle them to get the “Pottery Barn” look:

First coat of paint

Step 1.
PAINT: Using black acrylic craft paint (not glossy), paint the candle stick. Allow it to dry and paint it again. Paint two or three times total until you get the coverage you’d like. Most craft store acrylic paint is flat, but it’s not labeled “flat.” If it doesn’t say “gloss,” you should be okay.

Second coat of paint
Right candlestick has been sanded to reveal some dark wood, left side has been sanded and waxed (not buffed yet).

Step 2.
SAND: Using fine grit sandpaper, sand off some of the black paint in a few spots. Hit a couple of high points where the paint might have naturally rubbed off. If you remove more paint than you want, don’t worry! Apply some paint to the over-sanded area, let it dry, sand again.

Step 3.
WAX: Using Howard’s Feed-N-Wax (see link below or on side bar to purchase), rub down the wood surface. Allow wax to sit for 20 minutes, buff with a soft cloth.

NOTE ABOUT STAIN: To get the dark brown showing through the black, which is the PB look, then your candlestick has to be dark brown to begin with. If it isn’t, then you will have to apply some dark stain after you sand, but before you wax. My wood was the right color, so I could skip this step.

Here’s the finished result–a nice, warm finish. All ready to use or add your top to. To learn how to attach your top and bottom, check out my original pedestal post for details.

Getting the Pottery Barn Look
 
Here’s another look at them. Pretty easy project and yet very satisfying!
 
Other posts you may be interested in:
Pottery Barn Antique-Look Update
 
Upcycled Pedestal Stands
 
I am an Amazon affiliate. When my readers make purchases via Amazon, 
I get a small percentage of the sale, which goes towards supporting my blog 🙂 
 
I use Howard’s Feed-N-Wax to get a deep, 
finished look to a lot of my projects.
I’ve been happily using it for 17 years!
 
 
 
 
This post was featured at The Cottage Market.
 

Bye for now,
Diana

 

 

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22 Comments

  1. Wow – this puts a whole new perspective on those old wooden colonial candlesticks at the Goodwill store! I am definitely going to be grabbing a few on my next trip. These turned out amazing. So elegant and you make it sound really easy too. Thank you for sharing your technique.

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  5. I have been collecting old wooden candle sticks for years. I cannot imagine Fall decor without them. I hope to be able to get around to giving them this Pottery Barn look over the Summer.

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  9. Those are really pretty! Pottery Narn look or not I love upcycling to get a look I would prefer. This is a great and easily understandable tutort. Thank you! Great photo's.

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  10. With a little time and sandpaper you can create beautiful candlesticks. This is a great idea, wonderful job and I want to go around the house and antique lots of things, my husband is going to hide the sandpaper on me, thanks

    Reply

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