This is the look I always wanted to reproduce for the bed wood. No matter what I tried, I just ended up with tans and browns instead grays. So, I needed to come up with something totally different.
The technique I decided to use is a newer finish that people are doing on furniture and cabinets called
cerusing. This
video was my inspiration.
To achieve this finish, I used a product called Rub N Buff. It comes in a variety of metallic finishes, but I chose silver. Using rubber gloves, I placed three dabs at a time onto the wood surface and spread it with my fingers along the grain. I smashed it downward as much as I could to insure it was getting in the grain. Once the entire surface was covered, I used a bondo spreader to removed the excess. In total, I used 25 tubes of this stuff. I could only find a few tubes locally, so I had to order more from Michael's and have it shipped. I initially underestimated how many I needed, so I had to place two separate online orders. Due to the incredibly awful smell of this stuff and shipping delays, this process took over a week. Once all of the boards were finished, I decided I would need to let everything sit a few more days to insure the paste was totally dry..