Distressing

In distressing, the object's finish is intentionally destroyed or manipulated to look less than perfect, such as with sandpaper or paint stripper.

[citation needed] Distressing can be applied to a variety of surfaces and materials such as wood, glass, metal, plastic, stone, concrete, plaster, and paint.

Several methods involve glazes in which colors blend into crevices to give an antique appearance.

The antiquing process is time-consuming and normally requires many steps to obtain the appearance of an aged and worn finish.

Wood can be hammered softer, or dimpled, bleached, pickled, stained or repainted with crackling paints and varnishes.

A table given a distressed finish, with a historical paint colour, edges that have been sanded down to expose the wood, and vintage hardware attached to the drawers.
A table given an antiqued appearance resembling Florentine-style woodwork, with gold paint applied to carved details to resemble gilding .