Expert: Greg Scholl - 5/6/2010

Question
Hi I wanted to try to get some help with my project.

We have an old over 20 year old hard side water bed frame that I have sanded most of the finish off of , we have primed with a primer thats suppose to stick even with out sanding and have put two coats of black paint on . I thought I wanted a black bedroom set but have since changed my mind due to see all the dustiness it shows.
So now before we put it all back together I'd like to try to do a look of old chippy peeling paint.
I know I need to get some rubber cement for this look and I know I need to use it around the corners and things but I am not sure how much to use around on the flat surfaces to get a good look.
And I want to add more colors to it but I am not sure how to pick out good colors to go over black.
I'd also like to know can I put rubber cement on the black and then paint over it with another color and then put some rubber cement on this second color and then maybe use a color or two more? Is this do-able???
It would be in differnt areas of course to expose the different colors but I didn't know if this is okay to do or not.
Also If I can actually do all this can we poly over it in the end to protect it from out cats claws???
I really need help figuring out colors to use too.
I am wishing now that I hadn't painted it black but since I have I have to work from this .
It also has a white primer under the black.
Anyway I would really appreciate any and all the help and advice you can give me.
Also IF there are any good books or websites etc on this I'd LOVE to have those also.
Thanks so very much.
Hope to hear back from you soon.
mel

Answer
Hi Mel, don't use rubber cement ...I think what you're referring to is Hide glue which is used to cause paint to "crackle"...yielding an Antique looking finish.There are also commercially available "crackle mediums" that will do the same thing, but some experimentation is needed to arrive at a suitable technique and result....rubber cement will just make a mess, and nothing will stick to it...there are many online sources of information, and most Libraries will have an assortment of books on furniture finishing and decorative finishes.....I would do some more research and practice on some scrap panels..(you can paint them with the primer and black), so you know where you're going and how you will get there without committing to the frame....here's one I found on a quick search:

http://www.diynetwork.com/how-to/how-to-apply-a-crackle-finish/index.html

Feel free to post back, black can be a good color for underneath so it might work for you.....regards- Greg