Weathering wood- for the classic Barn wood look

Currently in the process of building a door for lady genevieve's bedroom.  There is a more detailed back story to come in the post describing the step-by-step door building process.  As I searched ideas for our barn door, I came across the process of staining wood with tea, vinegar & steel wool for the weathered barn wood look.  Seriously amazed!  I was so excited by this discovery, I couldn't wait to try it out.  

Stretch out steel wool and place in a 1 quart mason jar.  Then fill with vinegar.  I used a mix of apple cider and white distilled vinegar.  Place lid on jar.  Allow to sit for a minimum of 24 hours.  After 48 hours, I used a paint brush to spread vinegar onto a piece of test wood.  It turned the wood a very light grey color.  I wasn't very impressed.  I had read that using tea prior to the vinegar solution helps to bring out the natural tannins of the wood, since tea also has tannins.  Thus resulting in a darker, richer stain.  I boiled 4 cups of water, poured into a 1 quart mason jar and soaked 4 tea bags for 1 hour.  Then I squeezed liquid from tea bags and discarded bags.  Once cooled I decided to test it out on the door (I assumed that if it didn't turn out quite right, I could always paint or stain the door a darker color).  The tea did not change the wood color at all.  Once dry, I then used a paint brush and generously applied the vinegar solution.  Within a minute, the wood started turning a dark grey shade!  I couldn't paint the vinegar on fast enough before the wood had changed color.

Test wood with vinegar only

So simple.  So natural.  No nasty fumes to deal with.  I am thoroughly impressed with this method of weathering wood.  We've been wanting to find some old barn wood for our open shelves in the kitchen, but have yet to find the right wood.  Look no further, we can make it ourselves.

I used 00 grade steel wool (there are 6-7 different grades).  A mix of apple cider vinegar and white distilled vinegar.  Two 1 quart mason jars.  Two paint brushes.  Pine wood.

*Important to apply tea coat and allow to dry.  Then apply vinegar coat and allow to dry. 

Post about the construction of the barn door to come.  Loving the look of it so much, I hope to make matching doors for the bathroom and master bedroom as well.  The Laird encouraged me to wait to see that this first one turns out, before I start building the other doors.  If we can figure out a door track, this first door is going to be a sliding barn door- which is perfect for maximizing the small size of lady genevieve's bedroom.  The bathroom and master bedroom doors will likely be hinged, which will involve replacing the trim.  Since this will involve a bit more work than simply building the door, I am thinking of build some double dutch barn doors for our laundry closet.  I found a beautiful tutorial (single dutch barn door) on a blog and am ready to go out and buy the materials!  The Laird is skeptical since the door opening is so wide, but I have full confidence that it will work out great;)  We will see.

On another note, I finished up the third and final rush seat this past weekend.  Until we find more rush chairs, I am finished with that project.  It's great to have nice sturdy seats to sit on while we eat our meals together.  Not to mention they look sharp.

Hi ho hi ho it's off to work I go...