Since you asked...

{you can see what it looked like before here}

Here's how I did it...

elbow grease.

I also ignored my family for a few hours,
let the kids trash the house, & the
husband had to feed himself--
oh, and I used these things...

All the way from Walmart, Dutch Boy semi-gloss Oriental Red.
I didn't have to sand the piece because there wasn't really much of a finish on it. Maybe a professional would sand it down or put some expensive stuff on it before they painted it, but I'm an impatient non-professional. I did not sand, I just wiped it down with a damp rag and went to town. I let it dry all of about 3 hours before I started giving it the black antique glazed look. You should probably wait longer, but like I said...I'm impatient.

I have a soft spot for these bad boys. I paint everything with a foam brush. I know there will eventually come a day when we must part, but for now I love the little 3 pack for .89 at Walmart.


..for the stained look, I used a little bottle of acrylic paint, you could use non-glossy, but this is what I had--it's black...

Eventually ever rag in the kitchen gets turned into one of these--a painting rag. I wash them all together about once a week. Just don't wash them with a load of clothes...I've only made that mistake once...Anyways, you just wet about 1/2 the rag, leaving a dry spot. The wet will help you blend the paint into the creases, etc.

Dab on a little bit of paint in the wet portion of the rag. When I did the actual amiore I used a larger dab of paint on my rag. I didn't wear gloves, which was stupid because my fingernails were black for a couple of days afterward. So, wear gloves. Oh, and take off your rings.

Then take the part of the rag with your dab of paint on it & work the paint into the creases, holes, etc. You'll just keep adding more paint, & wetting your rag until you get the desired look. It's kind of scary if you've not done this before. Since the rag is wet, you can use that part to soften the look of the dark. Since part of the rag is dry, you can use that part to wipe off excess paint, water, etc. I'm probably not clear on this...it's not an exact science. But, it is kind of scary if you are a virgin at this sort of stuff.

If you look close, I accidentally rubbed a little too hard and the pine shown through. But...I liked it and I left it. I got lucky.