I want to talk with you about a furniture finish that I discovered a few years ago and I have been dying to try it ever since. It’s called Cerusing Finish (or sometimes Limed Finish), and basically it’s a process of rubbing a contrasting color into the pores of wood to highlight the patterns of the wood grain. Although, I often see this type of finish with Oak, it works well with many types of wood including mahogany or cherry.
Cerusing vs Using Liming Wax
There are two techniques that produce similar results. The first, and easiest, is using liming wax. (This is the liming wax brand I most use). There are some great tutorials on how to use liming wax. For a low or medium traffic piece such as a side table or dresser, I prefer liming over cerusing. The process is slightly easier and you have a bit more control with layering the wax. However, for a high traffic piece such as this dining room table, I prefer cerusing. The main reason here is because I feel high traffic furniture needs a durable top coat to fully protect it, and you can’t use wax under a polyurethane coat. Over time with scrubbing and spills, most high traffic pieces will need to be re-waxed and wax can stain. I don’t find that most people like maintenance all that much on their furniture. I wrote an informative post about the best topcoats for furniture here.
As you can see, this was how the table came to me. It has an interesting pattern when the center leaf isn’t incorporated, and I wanted to highlight that pattern even more. So let’s see how it turned out!
How to Ceruse Wood
I have read several tutorials and experimented until this worked for me best. Although oak is usually used with cerusing, I actually much prefer other woods such as cherry or maple. Above is the table we started with. The finish was clearly coming off and scratched all over, although the scratched didn’t extend into the wood itself.
The first step was to strip the old finish. For this I used a regular stripper and then sanded it a bit with a 220 grit sandpaper to buff any scratches out.
Wire Brushing The Wood Grain
The key to a good cerusing technique is in the wire brush. Using a very stiff wire brush like this one and working in long strokes that go with the wood grain, you can see the pores open a tad bit. The real key is brushing in the direction of the wood grain and using good pressure. I did put some power behind it, but I wouldn’t say that I used all of my strength to do it.
Preparing the Table for Liming or Cerusing
Next, I used a very light stain for this. Because I am using a white paint for the cerusing, it will lighten the overall look of the stain a little bit after applied so keep that in mind when choosing the stain and color. I then put a thin layer of polyacylic on it to make it easier to buff the excess paint off. The extra layer of poly was to ensure that the stain did not bleed into the cerusing paint. If you are cerusing a painted piece of furniture, you can skip this step.
Ready to Ceruse the Wood Table Top
For this table, I used Fusion Mineral Champlain as the paint for cerusing (you can buy it here). I thinned it out with water, about 25%. The paint was brushed on quickly over a whole section. To keep it even, you really want to do a whole section at a time or if you don’t have leaves like this one, do the whole top. I waited about 10 minutes to start to take it off. Many tutorials I have found say to use 1000 steel wool or something like that. I don’t know if it was my impatience or that the paint had dried more, but I ended up using 220 grit sand paper and our palm sander and quickly going over the table with no pressure until I got the look I wanted.
I finished it up by spraying my favorite favorite polycrylic coating to make it ultra durable.
Pictures don’t even do this table justice. The cerused wood is gorgeous! This table will actually be finding a new home as I plan to sell it. I haven’t sold a piece before so we shall see how this goes!
So tell me what you think. Is this a technique you would try?
Want to see more furniture transformations? Check these out!
- How to Protect Painted Furniture
- How to Eliminate Brush Marks or Strokes
- How to Paint a Bathroom Vanity
- How to Paint Old Kitchen Cabinets
- How to Paint a Stair Rail that Lasts
- Executive Desk Makeover
- Military Footlocker Trash to Treasure Makeover
 Grab our free series "Weekend Home Projects that will Transform Your Life" Sign up below to receive updates including free printables, organization tips, home improvement projects, recipes and more! |
More Furniture Makeover Projects
Paint without Brush Strokes Footlocker Makeover 
Chalk Paint Desk Makeover
Kristy says
Hi there! Your post was my inspiration for doing a dining table makeover, your table is stunning! Although the process nearly brought me to tears sometimes (this was my first time doing such a large project), it really helped me to read your post! I do have a question tho. I applied a few coats of poly and unfortunately I do have brush strokes. I’ve sanded down to try and get rid of them and they’re almost gone, but now I’m worried it’s not fully protected? I don’t want to have a shiny surface, but I do want it protected. What do you think is the best way to protect the top but also not have the shiny look? Would you recommend I buy a sprayer? Or can I do this with wax? Any help is appreciated. Thank you!
Rachel says
Normally, I do a few coats of poly either sprayed or brushed. If you are using a very fine grit like 220 or higher, it’s unlikely to go through all the coats if you just want to smooth out the top and take off the sheen. I might use a 320 as a last buff. Interestingly, those who want a high gloss finish actually use 1000 grit or higher sandpaper to get that slick ultra gloss look, and it still protects. Poly is waterproof, and thus a good way to know if your table is well protected is if you put a damp cloth on it, the wood will change color if it is not protected. If it doesn’t change color, then you can put more water on top just to be sure. If the wood is stained, it may change less. Hope that is helpful!
Bernadette says
Beautiful technique and finished product. Question: what is the color paint for the base of the table, and did you put a topcoat on this?
Rachel says
The table base is Fusion Mineral Champlain. Because it is a table, and a high traffic piece, I did use Benjamin Moore Stays Clear as a top coat on it.
Leigh says
Hi! Did you remove the stain and sand before painting the base?
Rachel says
I did a light sanding, but did not remove the stain. I used a stainblocking primer underneath the paint for the base.
Angie says
Hi! Am I crazy for wanting to try this technique on my kitchen cabinets? I’m not sure what type of wood they are but they are beautiful high-quality wood cabinets with a dark stain.
Rachel says
This would be absolutely stunning on kitchen cabinets I think. The main issue would be stripping off the dark stain. That’s the messiest and stinkiest step imhho. But wow, that would be beautiful! I am totally with you on that.
Natalie says
Also If I like the color of the wood after I sanded it. Do I need to put a wood stain on it before the polyurothane? ALso your link on the polyacrclic and the last step of the polyurethane are the same product. Is it supposed to be the same product?
Rachel says
Nope, you don’t need to actually stain it at all before the poly. The polycrylic will darken the table a bit overall, but then the white wash lightens it again. Also, good eye as there was a mistype and both steps are water-based polyurethane, sometimes called polycrylic too. I used the same product for both steps.
Kristk says
So if I got it right-
Strip, scratch the table, add white paint, poly, then add ceruse top coat and the poly?
Do you sand off the white paint besides the white that got in the cracks? That’s where I’m confused
Natalie says
What color stain did you use for the wood before you put the mineral paint on?
Rachel says
I believe I used a natural stain from minwax. It is very light and sort of like natural wood. When you put poly on, it generally darkens up a bit.