You Need To See How To Create This Amazing Reclaimed Boat Wood Finish

Crys'Dawna Cusson
Apr 6, 2020
3 min read

Don’t pay a ton of money for reclaimed boat wood!! Let me SHOW you how to recreate the finish that people are paying tons of money for!!!

You Need To See How To Create This Amazing Reclaimed Boat Wood Finish

This piece is for a very special friend of mine. We met when I was living in Italy, she was my wine girl!! She is who really taught me to appreciate Italian wine. Fast forward almost 5 years later and here we are living in the same area again in Germany!! My friend is special to me and she is leaving again soon, I needed her to have a piece of my art. My friend is Italian born and raised, growing up close to Venice. She has a love for nautical things and the theme for the room this piece would go in is nautical. She sent me this picture 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

Source: My friends living room, artist unknown

As SOON as I saw this I KNEW what I needed to do. I instantly thought about the furniture I have seen made from reclaimed boat wood! Many people take reclaimed boat wood from Indonesian fishing boats and turn it in to furniture. I NEEDED to create that faux finish!! Let’s check it out!!

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Supply List:

Buttercream Chalk Mineral Paint
Stormy Seas Chalk Mineral Paint
Antebellum Blue Chalk Mineral Paint
Rusty Nail Chalk Mineral Paint
Colonel Mustard Chalk Mineral Paint
Dark Best Dang Wax
Easy Peasy Spray Wax
White Lightening Cleaner
Dixie Belle B.O.S.S (White)
Synthetic Brush
Wax Brush
Plastic Spatula
Stiff Paint Scraper

A Sad Little Desk

This desk was clearly pulled from a barn and put out for sale. My friend found this at a huge flohmarket (flea market for you stateside folks) that is located in Tongeren, Belgium. I need to really clean this bad boy up and do some repairs on it. No matter WHAT I was determined to make this piece a work of art!!

The Sad Little Desk

Let’s Clean This Bad Boy Up!!

I am not a squeamish person but I was almost certain I was going to find SOMETHING in the drawers or something. I didn’t….just some rocks and fuzz. Thank god! I cleaned this up with Dixie Belles White Lightening Cleaner 🙂 No creepy creatures found or anything.

Blocking Odor And Stains

This next step is where I used Dixie Belle’s Boss. B.O.S.S this stands for “Block Odors, Stains, Stops Bleed Thru”. Although my base coats for this piece would be a warm white, afterwards I used darker colors. Remember I told you this piece was dirty and probably straight from a barn? Therefore, it needed some odor blocking primer. Preventing the bleed thru was another benefit but mainly it was to block odors this time around.

Laying Down A Base Coat

Many old fishing boats where white or had base coats of white. Once they started to wearing and chip you would see the white showing through as well as chipping colored paint. The first step here was to paint a base coat of Dixie Belles buttercream. This would ensure that I got the most authentic reclaimed boat wood look possible.

Adding Layers

After I painted the base coat, I started adding the colored layers. The first step was to use stormy seas. You will want to dip the plastic scraper into the paint then wipe some off on the lid edge. Afterwards you will take the scraper and almost skim across the surface lightly, almost like you are smoothing cake icing. Once I was happy with the amount of the first color, I layered the antebellum blue.

You will want to allow the bottom two colors to dry slightly. Then repeat the process with the rusty nail and colonel mustard.

Creating A Chippy And Worn Effect

I like to use a stiff paint scraper for this part. I like to wait until the last layer is still slightly damp and then scrape away!! When the scraper is more stiff it really does a better job of getting the paint off for a chippy and worn effect. I like to use the side of the metal scraper to get any non flat surfaces. You can also go at an angle to chip up the paint.

Finalizing The Reclaimed Boat Wood Effect

A worn and tattered fishing boat is NOT going to have bright white paint or even vibrant colors. For this last step I used wax to created an aged look. I sprayed a layer of my easy peasy spray wax first so that wiping back the dark wax would be much more easy. I then added dark wax on the entire piece. Lastly, I wiped back the excess until I got the perfect aged look!

I also put together a video for you!! Check out the video below 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 Please do not forget to subscribe to my You Tube channel as well ❤️

Check out the final product!! What do you think? Let me know in the comments what you think. I LOVE hearing from you!!