Glazing. I couldn't figure out why reading about glazing furniture made my mouth water. Then I remembered; glazed donuts. Something that tastes so yummy MUST do wonders for furniture, right?! So, today I mixed up a delicious glaze for a lovely little bookcase.

Here it is in a few coats of Country Grey by ASCP. I wanted really even coverage so I did 2 coats plus touch ups.

Next I went crazy with my glaze. Like, buck wild kind of crazy. I slopped it on like one of my 3yr olds would. I made sure that all corners, edges and crevices were nicely covered, letting it literally puddle in those areas. I covered the entire piece, waited about 2 minutes, then took clean rag after rag, (I use ripped up t-shirts), and began wiping it off. That's what I love about glazing; it allows you more time to get the look you want since it doesn't dry as fast. Just know that it will change the color of the paint!

After much wiping...voila! Our pretty little bookcase isn't so quiet after all!

Love how the glaze builds up in the back corners of the shelves

There are no rules when distressing. Just start on the edges and corners of a piece and go from there. Sometimes that's just enough to pop out the lines and shape of a piece. Other times it's fun to really take a piece quite a few years back and shake things up with some 'unexpected' worn areas.

"What is glaze and how can I obtain this most awesome concoction" you ask?

As long as you have Valspar Clear Mixing Glaze, (found at Lowes), the sky is the limit. Mix the glaze with wood stain or paint, (about a 2/3 part glaze to 1/3 part stain or paint ratio). Mix well until completely blended, then slop away on your piece, (I like using a brush)! You can even mix white paint with glaze for a beautiful whitewashed look. This is one of those things that is just super fun to try. I love the rich finish it gives to a piece, like it's a legitimate antique.

So there ya have it. Glazing is a fantastic technique to finish off a piece of furniture. Now....donuts anyone?

~Chelsea

This post was originally featured on Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt!