Want to get a look of an ancient piece of furniture or art?

Forget the cost of buying a true antiquity, you can add your own aging to almost any item.

This is another "I can afford it" project.

Get the antique aged look without the antique price!

Here are some examples that may help you get inspired.

You can age items by antiquing the finish - making the finish look old and faded - or by adding a crackle finish - made to look like it has cracked over time.

The lazy susan, completely made and designed by Shelly, was made with MDF and a lazy susan mechanism bought at the local hardware store. The paint finish is an aged finish done not by crackling but, by a rubbed painting off technique.

The table was done with a base paint coat with an aged crackled design in several different shades of red - for a fantastic aged and designer look.

To do the lazy susan aged worn effect, you need to first paint the base coat color. I used a silver gray to imitate a metal look. On top I used a black paint mixed with a bit of paint glaze so that the color would be a bit transparent as opposed to opaque. Once applied and allowed to dry a bit, I rubbed off some of the paint to expose the under paint coat. Et voila, you have an aged worn paint effect.

The stencils and other decorations were added after. I used a silver metallic paint pen to add the edging paint detailing and the dots - which are meant to look almost like metal rivets. The gryphon stencil dimensional effect (not sure it is visible in the photo) was created by applying the first stencil in 1 colour. Once dry, the stencil was moved slightly over about 1/8"-1/4" and the other color was stenciled on top.

The aged crackle painted table shown in full with faux aged painted lazy susan. This complete table - both top and base - was designed and decorated / painted by Shelly.