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
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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.
Maddi says
Hi! I love the color of the apron and base of the table. I’m cerusing my table as well and just wanted to know the paint color of the base/apron! TIA!
Rachel says
It’s Champlain from Fusion Mineral Paint.
Maddi says
Hi! Curious what paint color you used in the apron and base? I love that it’s jot a pure white!
Rachel says
Thank you Maddi! It’s from Fusion Mineral Paint (one of my favorites). It’s called Champlain.
Maddie says
Hi Rachel,
Love what you’ve done with the table. I’d like to do something similar with my dining room table, which is almost identical to yours with the leaf in. It’s cherry wood and a beautiful table, but it’s a very bright orangy (Golden Maple?) stain. If I lime/ceruse the table, and I end up not liking it, can you ever go back?
Rachel says
Yes, you can always change it, depends on how much time and effort. I wouldn’t go too deep with the wire brush if at first you don’t like it. If possible, I would sand off or strip the orange-wood stain before I even started the process. Ours was a maple and the stain didn’t penetrate the wood. You could also stain it slightly darker or mix in a muted wood stain over top. Ours wasn’t a laminate or thin veneer, which is why I could do what I did without worrying about going through the veneer. Good luck with your project!
Kelly says
Hi! I have a very similar table as this. Do you think using the poly before hand would make the paint harder to stick to if you are rubbing it off instead of sanding it off?
Rachel says
Poly is mostly meant as a top coat, so I wouldn’t think that it would make any difference really.
Jordan says
Hi Rachel,
This is exactly the look i want, but I have a huge area to do and maybe its me, or I’m letting it dry too much but I find using 400 grit sandpaper OR 0000 steel wool I am having to work REALLY hard to get the paint off and can’t imagine doing it for the big area I have… I tried your palm sander idea too and some of the under-stain stripped off (yes applied poly layer). Then even after that I would say I’m getting WAY more lines of grain then your pictures and I really like how you really accent the waves of grain but not so much all the grain. Any more tips to share?
Also I was using a brass wire brush instead of a steel brush like you linked. I was worried the steel would be too harsh on the surface that I have (plywood veneer layer).
Thanks!
Jordan
Jordan says
I’ll add, I’m using a chalk paint over top… is that maybe a bad type to be using? Thanks! Jordan
Rachel says
Chalk paint should be fine.
Rachel says
Hi Jordan! Sorry that you are having trouble. First, what kind of look you get may depend on what type of wood the table is. I have seen this technique often done with oak, which has more natural grain, although I prefer it on maple or cherry, which have tight grain lines. What grit for the random orbital sander were you using? I suggest something very fine like 220 or 320 so that it doesn’t eat through too many layers. If none of that works, adding liming wax would be a bit easier to control and you can always add it with the paint layer or instead of.
Rachel says
Love the table!! I’m going to try this technique on a tv stand given to me by my parents. What do you use to get such great lighting and pictures?
Rachel says
I have a Nikon D5600 camera and I hope I can upgrade to a full frame this year. I only use prime lenses like my favorite macro lens. I didn’t use any special lighting in these photos, just window light. I buy all my equipment used to save some $$. Hope that helps!
Nicole says
The table looks stunning!! I am currently trying the same technique on a yard sale find. After you poly’d, did you lightly sand or just put the paint down?
Thanks!
Nicole
Rachel says
Great question! I just put the paint down. I figured the sanding afterward would take care of that and I didn’t want to go through the stain underneath.
Janet says
Hi Rachael, I love what yo did! I’m going to try the cerusing on a table that has a leaf. Did you do it all at once or the leaf separate.
Thank you so much,
Janet
Rachel says
When it came to putting the white cerusing part on, I did it all at once. Since I was gently sanding the white paint off, it didn’t matter if it dried. However, if you try wiping it off with a rag, then I would do one section at a time. Good luck on your project! I know it will be stunning.
JP Zielke says
Hello, I’m wondering if the poly topcoat you used had any difficulty sticking to the liming wax. Do you think I could paint the topcoat instead of spray?
Rachel says
You can’t put a top coat over a wax. It won’t stick well, however, the liming wax can be put over a poly without a problem. Wax hardens but doesn’t bond the way that paint or polyacrylic does. Cerusing wax is a little different because some brands have paint-based liming wax, which isn’t really a wax at all. Depending on what brand you use, they will probably have excellent tutorials on how best to use it.
Renee says
I noticed both times you linked the same polyacrylic ( after the stain, and at the end of the project) is that the correct? And you say to spray it on at the end. Does that product come in a spray? Or can it just be brushed on? Thank you
Rachel says
Yes, I linked the same just for clarity. I used the poly to make sure the stain wouldn’t bleed into the white paint, and then to protect the table as a whole. That is my most used poly, but I have a list of the best polycrylics here also if that one doesn’t work for you. It does work with a brush and a microfiber roller, although I have a paint sprayer since for ease, speed, and a brush stroke free appearance.
Leanne says
Your “Regular Stripper” link is dead and i’m curious and ignorant to the entire process. Would you be able to share what type of stripper you used? Liquid? Sponge?
Thanks!
Rachel says
Thank you for letting me know that the link wasn’t working. I used Citristrip. However, you don’t necessarily need a stripper. This particular table had a rather thick coat of varnish so I thought it easier than just sanding everything down. I still had a fair amount of sanding because of all of the scratches. Stripper is also good if you are concerned about sanding through a thin layer of veneer. Hope that helps and good luck with your project!
Aarsun Woods says
Thanku for a great explanation !!!! this is great idea !!! Thanks….
Chrystie says
We are looking for this exact color on our table top, what color stain did you use? Love how it came out!!!
Rachel says
Hi Chrystie! Thank you so much. For the stain, I honestly mixed up some that I had on hand already. It was pretty close the the lightest brown I had but I thinned it out maybe 30% with mineral spirits. The directions on the stain can should tell you how you can thin it, if necessary. I find that a lot of stains are much too dark for my liking. I also recommend using an old t-shirt rather than a brush as it puts thinner, more even coats.
Aimee Aimee says
Embroidery
Thank you for a great explanation. I was looking online for a similar idea and really appreciate it
Mary says
Gorgeous… Did you also use Champlain for the base of the table. I have this table without the center section…this is great idea. I couldn’t decide how to finish it…so its sat for several years in the sad state of neglect.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Mary
Mary says
PS> I love your rug also…would you share your source? Mary
Rachel says
Oh, of course. Here it is. It comes in several sizes and I will mention that it has a tendency to look darker in one direction than when you look at it standing from the opposite side of the rug. Not a huge difference but I do notice it. Reminds me of vacuum marks that older carpets had sometimes, but it is just how you look at it. I have two 8×10 rugs and I oriented them so that the lighter side shows towards the room entrance (how you see it in the pictures).
Rachel says
Hi Mary! Yes, I used Champlain for the base as well. I have those projects too, just waiting for the right strike of inspiration. Actually, I have a whole bedroom suite my husband has had since college. Maybe one day I will get around to it, haha.
Roxanne says
This is gorgeous! How have I never tried this technique?
Rachel says
I thought the same thing! I have wanted to do it for awhile, but didn’t have just the right piece until now. Now I want to do more!