Distressing....

In the comments on my last post Donna from Never Enough Time, asked me to share how I distress my furniture.
So here's some pictures of how I do it.
First off, I water down some Acrylic paint, the colours I've used are Burnt Umber and Tree Bark Brown.
I mix quite a lot of water in with the paint, so that its nearly transparent. You can see it on the tile next to the counter. This is then painted all over the piece and left to dry.
I then mix up some more paint and water a little thicker this time and go over the top of the first coat. Then leave to dry.
Remember I want these pieces to look old and worn for Diagon Alley. In the bottom picture you can see what the counter looks like after two coats. You are still able to see the grain of the wood through the paint. Once this is fully dried, I'll see whether it needs another coat. If not that's the time to distress. I use a very fine sandpaper and sand, where the unit would be worn through year of use... I share the finished results with you once its finished.