WHAT? Did you read that title correctly? How to age and distress wood without painting or staining? How could that be possible? I am here to tell you how that is possible, and you will be just as shocked and pleasantly surprised as we were. I say we, because of course on my husbands day off, I put the guy to work. I swear, I think he would much rather be doing his real job:)
I am celebrating National Craft month with BernzOmatic.
You may remember my old red pantry door?
I’m sure many of you have seen a BernzOmatic. BernzOmatic is an American manufacturing company that was founded by Otto Bernz in 1876. The company manufactures handheld torches and accessories.
I know many welders use the BernzOmatic. Truth be told, I never used one and was a little nervous and apprehensive to try it out. Perhaps, even skeptical. But when BernzOmatic contacted me, we just so happen to have a project coming up that I thought would be perfect for it. Not to mention, Mike was nervous for me. I said no worries, “This girl is on Fire”, I got this!
Now that was scary in itself.
You see the project we had coming up was a pantry door that I had made from Tobacco barnwood. Remember I shared the shutters we had made for our family room around the fireplace? and the burned kitchen clock score we found? This door was the finishing touch that tied it all together. Mike knew he would have to improvise. The door itself was not heavy nor deep enough for the pantry. Mike reached out to his Father who is very good with woodworking and he told Mike exactly what to do to build up the door to be a bit more heavy considering it gets a lot of usage around here.
However, the inner portion of the door (the part that needed the building up) was all natural wood (pine) to be exact. I would have to either paint it, or stain it. It would have looked terrible otherwise and very unfinished. We can’t have that!
So out came the BernzOmatic and I got to work. You can find BernzOmatic at Home depot, Lowes, Walmart and a few other retailers you can find on their website.
Can you see the natural beauty of the wood?
For Distressing wood: A blowtorch can be used to give wood an old and weathered look, adding antique charm and character to woodworking projects. The flame of the torch burns the wood, and brings out the grain in a dramatic way. The BernzOmatic ST500 micro-torch can be used to distress smaller objects such as a wooden crate, while the TS8000 self-igniting torch works well for distressing large-scale pieces like a dining room table.
Several adjustments had to be made before I got the hang of it. I kept the torch on medium/high, about two inches away from my project. I also made sure I went in the direction of the wood grain.
When I tell you this was so much easier than painting or staining would have been, I really can’t even stress that enough. Plus, we would have had to wait for it to dry before we could hang our door. You know I am NOT a patient person. This was immediate gratification. And so easy!! A blowtorch can be used for so much more than sweating pipes and can create some awesome at-home crafts.
Now of course, if you were doing a kitchen table, you would want to use a polyurethane considering it’s a table that is used and would get wiped up often and such. Speaking of tables, how cool would this look on an outdoor picnic table!? Very cool…my wheels are turning again. Most picnic tables come unfinished and you have to paint or stain them. Phooey on that. Not to mention you have to keep up with that every year to maintain the look.
This is the new pantry door. Yahoo, it’s pretty neat , we think. As we speak, the hubster just came home from a mission of finding new hardware. It’s not new though, it’s very old.
And here is the interior! You have this cool aged, weathered look. And yes, I do need to clean out my pantry, thanks for the reminder!
Even my husband who is not always a fan of projects around here, absolutely LOVED the way this turned out.
Mike was a bit of a skeptic, but skeptic no more.
Check out BernzOmatic for yourself. I hope this post encouraged you to try a project, both big, or small. I know you can do it!
If you are not a regular here, I sure would love to see you back again.
Read and follow important safety warnings included with BernzOmatic fuel cylinders and hand torches.
XO
If you are new here, welcome! I hope to see you back again.
Plenty more galleries to see.
Shannon Fox says
April 8 at 8:11 pmWell, I clearly need to get cuter DIY gear. (hehehe)
Love the new door. It looks A-stinking-mazing.
That is one cool tool!!!!!!
Go Mike and Debbie 🙂
debbiedoo's says
April 8 at 8:18 pmYes those clothes were strictly for photo ops LOL!
Pamela-FromMyFrontPorchToYours says
April 8 at 8:14 pmLooks fab Debbie! I am too afraid to play with fire so I always use my heat gun. Take a lot longer though.
debbiedoo's says
April 8 at 8:19 pmI have to tell you, I felt completely comfortable handling this torch. I am usually the fearful one. Loved it!
becca says
April 8 at 8:25 pmHow cool is that?! I love it, Debbie! It adds such character (and looks like fun, too)! LOL
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 7:44 amIt was fun! Character indeed..I doubt anyone I know will have a pantry door like this one.
Angie says
April 8 at 8:31 pmShut up, that is SO cool! Good work!
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 7:44 amThanks Angie:)
kristin says
April 8 at 8:37 pmOh wow, this is so cool Debbie, who knew. Love it!!!
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 7:43 amI never knew this could be done. You can bet I will be doing it again.
jessie says
April 9 at 6:59 amPerfect!!I love it.
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 7:43 amThanks Jessie! we do love it.
Kim says
April 9 at 7:27 amThe first thing I thought when I saw the picture was “Oh, Oh, She’s got a blowtorch now”! LOL It turned out awesome! Love the effect!
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 7:43 amThanks Kim! I am of course looking around for more projects now to burn:)
Christy m says
April 9 at 8:45 amThis is so cool. I’m going to have to show this to my Sister. She and her hubby just bought a farm house and this may be an idea for them.
Penny @ The Comfors of Home says
April 9 at 9:11 amDebbie! That turned out wonderful! Great job!
Denise says
April 9 at 9:42 amThat door turned out amazing Debbie. And what a cute Vanna White you make. (smile) can you imagine that picnic table, or even large wooden picture frames, coffee table toppers…. Nice spice rack btw.
Claire @ A Little Claireification says
April 9 at 11:48 amStep away from the blow torch!! haha This turned out great Debbie!! Pinned!
Cindy says
April 9 at 12:09 pmDebbie this is very cool. My hubby would do this. I’m terrified of fire plus I have a smooth motion anymore. Thanks for the info
Cindy
Karen says
April 9 at 1:47 pmDebbie, did you do any burning to the outside part of the door that shows when the door is closed or just the inside part? I couldn’t tell for sure.
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 3:07 pmJust inside..and the side when you open it.
nancy says
April 9 at 2:00 pmWow, this is so beautiful Debbie, I love how u have used it as your pantry door!
Ur home is so warm, inviting and cozy!! Keep posting awesome ideas for us all here!! 🙂
Bliss says
April 9 at 2:32 pmTrue confession – I’ve been torching wood since I was a teenager. I used to make plaques for friends. When I was first married, we torched our whole homemade waterbed frame. Does that date me?
debbiedoo's says
April 9 at 6:07 pmNo Bliss, just makes you extra extra cooler! Even cooler than I thought:) xo
Kelly says
April 10 at 11:28 amSo cool! The door looks awesome! I have to get me one of those spice organizers too! LOL
debbiedoo's says
April 10 at 1:48 pmBest thing I ever did was invest in one. Ahhh, it’s so nice to open the door and be able to see them all.
debra says
April 10 at 9:58 pmLove your pantry door and look forward to reading your blog each day. Please tell me where I can purchase that spice rack. I so need one for my many spices.
debbiedoo's says
April 11 at 8:12 amI am pretty certain my husband found that at Lowes or Home depot. Thank you!
Julie says
April 21 at 5:35 pmThis is amaze balls. I love i, Debbiet. You did a great job!!! I see that little rooster peaking out of your pantry too. 🙂 Hope you are feeling better today!!! I’m sharing this on FB right now XO
Julie says
April 6 at 3:33 pmSo happy you joined us, Debbie! Thank for your help and you now I love this idea. Your jeans are cute, too! XO
Nicole says
October 13 at 1:08 pmI’m having such a difficult time finding a yellow I love for my dining room. Would you mind sharing the color name and paint brand of your yellow walls?
Thank you!
debbiedoo's says
October 13 at 4:15 pmNicole that color was called Butter by Restoration hardware. We loved the color for 10 years but just last year I changed it to a lighter shade. Butter is an awesome color though.