Household items to give your garden a vintage look
Share
A £1 carton of yoghurt and a 30p lemon could be the secret ingredients to giving your garden a vintage look. That’s according to the design experts at Pergolux UK who suggest raiding the kitchen fridge and cupboards, as well as the shed, to speed up the aging process for garden furniture and structures.
They suggest using common items found in the kitchen, including lemon juice and yoghurt, to give wooden and concrete items an aged look.
For metal structures, furniture and plant pots the experts recommend a mix of vinegar and salt to speed up rusting.
Raiding the shed for sand paper and wire wool can rough the edges of smooth furniture and structures to give them a more weathered feel.
Garden expert Sam Stevens from Pergolux UK, said: “Aging hard landscaping in the garden will give the space a more established feel – and if that’s the design look you’re going for in 2025, there are easy things you can do to speed up the process.
“Common kitchen ingredients like lemons, yoghurt and vinegar can all play their part without you having to shell out, giving items a weathered, natural look.
“Other options include aging sharp edges with some sandpaper or wire wool and staining structures to give them a weathered look.”
Here are tips from Pergolux UK for aging garden furniture and structures:
Lemon juice
Vinegar, lemon juice or slightly sour milk can all help age a stone patio. Apply with a brush or sponge and over time the acidic solution will create small pits and gaps to copy natural weathering.
Sanding
Sanding corners and edges give an instant worn look to wooden garden furniture. Just remember to be gentle and sand lightly.
Staining
Applying different shades of staining can give wooden garden structures an instantly aged look. Think about areas the sun would hit them to get the colouring as close to natural as possible.
Vinegar and salt
Applying a mixture of vinegar and salt can speed up the rusting process to metals. The two work together makes the materials more receptive to rust.
Yoghurt
An easy way to age stone or concrete is yoghurt. The dairy increases bacterial growth and encourages moss to grow on the surface. Apply with a paintbrush in uneven strokes and layers to make it look natural.
Saltwater
Immersing or spraying metals with a saltwater solution will speed up rusting to give an aged look in the garden. If you’re looking for new metals to look more established and natural, this is an easy way to do it.
Steel wool
For a distressed look, try lightly scrubbing a metal surface with wire wool. Remember not to overdo it, it needs to look natural.
Baking soda
Try mixing baking soda and water to chemically age wooden garden furniture or design features. Simply apply a paste, let it dry and wipe away. It will give the wood a partially bleached, weatherworn look.
