DIY Distressed Vase

Distressed vases are very popular right now in home decor but can also be expensive if you shop designer’s websites like Studio McGee. They sell for upwards of $200 on some sites. This DIY was done for under $20.

I found a few vases for just a few dollars each at the Salvation Army. Keep reading to see how I transformed them!

Below is a list of items I used to transform the two vases:

• Baking soda
• Acrylic paint in a few different neutral colors (this paint is under $1 at Walmart)
  • Colors: 20558E Territorial Beige, 21489E Lite Mocha, 21392E Granite Gray, 20404E Black (Matte), 20403E White (Matte)
• Foam paint brushes
• Paper Towels
• Water
• Joint compound

How to get the aged look!

Green vase:

First paint the vase a base color. For the green vase I started with a white base, mixing white paint and baking soda.

the baking soda & paint mixture is what creates the texture. There is no science to this, start with adding a little baking soda, mix well then add more if you want the paint thicker / more texture

I used a foam paint brush to mix the paint & baking soda, then painted it right on the vase. You can do basic brush strokes or stipple it on to create a natural stone effect.

the mixture I had was pretty thick. I liked that it was filling in some of the leave pattern.

I went back and forth between filling the grooves and stippling on black paint & water

The leave pattern was still showing through too much so I used joint compound to try and fill some of the grooves.

Note: this step was done the next day

Once that dried I pretty much mixed every color with water and stippled it on with paper towels until I was happy with the color and finish.

Here is the finished result! I styled it on the dining table with faux olive branches from Michaels.

Blue vase:

The base color I used on this one was more of a terracotta color. I mixed the medium tan, white, a small amount of burnt orange with baking soda.

Once it dried, the color was too warm so I went in with a mixture of the light gray and water and started stippling over the base color with a paper towel. I also did the same thing with black paint & water.

After that dried I still wasn’t happy with the color / finish so I did the exact same technique with the beige and mocha paints and water.

Finally this combination gave the look I wanted!

See pics below for the final results!

More Distressed Vases I’m loving:

1. Gray table vase – Wayfair $59
2. Taupe stoneware jar – Wayfair $150
3. Dark gray terracotta table vase – Wayfair $119
4. Vintage aged jar – McGee and Co $248
5. Gray ceramic vase – Michaels $130
6. Stone-like gray vase – Home Depot $78

I’m very happy with the results! Stay tuned to see the same technique done on a thrifted lamp 🙂