"I made it myself!"

Doing it yourself - making your own rustic country furniture on the cheap is something to be proud of - not everyone will take to or be inspired enough to accomplish this task.

Creating country primitive furniture in any room is a fast and easy project for any creative home decorating buff. All supplies can be purchased at the local hardware store or online, reasonably cheap.

Your investment of time will be inconsequential and the finished product is stunning. The secret to finishing primitive country furniture is in performing the antiquing process of wooden furniture.

The 'create your own primitive country furniture' suggestions and method below offers ways to redecorate and transform existing furniture in your home to early American styled furniture.

Some of your success has to do with the colors you choose, but the secret sauce is really all about the method of transformation.

Turning existing pieces or second hand furniture you've purchased into primitive country furniture is easiler than you think, doesn't cost much in labor or supplies, and sets the tone of the room as Americana and charming.

Transformation can happen overnight! Any raw wood or painted surface currently in your house can have a primitive paint finish applied to give it a country rustic feel. Dining room chairs, kitchen cabinets, dining or occasional tables, and even your paneled walls.

These techniques work on real wood just as easily as on the inexpensive, fake wood furniture. If you're creating prim country furniture with chairs, leave dark areas at seat bases, wear down bottoms of the legs or tops of armrests. If you're after a country look in the kitchen, wear away the area with sandpaper around the knobs of your kitchen cabinets.

Speaking of kitchen hardware, consider shopping for new knobs and pulls with a more rustic styled set of hardware to match your new look after the process is complete.

Step 1. Choose your piece to work on, preferably a small article to start. The first thing you'll do is begin with a light surface sanding to remove any surface wax, gloss or treatment presently on the furniture. You're working to remove the 'shine' that might have been factory imposed.

Step 2. Once you're done, wipe it with a slightly damp cloth and set aside to thoroughly dry.

Step 3. If the surface you are working with is not real wood you'll want to prime the surface with paint primer. If the furniture is real wood you won't have to worry about priming the surface.

Step 4. To achieve the look of reproduction primitive furniture, dry brush the first coat with a thick paint brush - allowing streaks and adding a natural ridged texture to your wooden piece - don't try to be perfect or precise here.

Step 5. Allow that first coat or primer to completely dry.

Step 6. For the next stage in the process you might want to test a few different paint samples and treatments on a piece of wood or other surface before you settle on the top coat color.

My personal favorite is to take a dark, complimentary color of your existing room colors as the base coat. You will then add a top coat of paint or stain and rub it into the surface. Achieving the look of and owning this type of primitive country furniture is, after all, a process that is personal.

Start your first tests with a rich brown color as the base. This is the easiest and truest way to achieve the primitive country furniture faux finish. You can also experiment with crackle paints as the base or the top (seldom done but very cool). This base coat is not the actual color you will have your furniture to be finished as, but the tone you will see 'peeking' through the top layer.

The finish color, which is the next step, will be closer to the tone and hue of the piece when you're done. Any early American color (dark or muted, reds, greens or mustard) works well for creating primitive country furniture. If you're uncertain the color palettes, ask at the paint store. You might also try a lighter shade for a bolder more European look seen on this French Country page.

Step 7. There is one more step in the process - the antiquing - which will also change the color and hue of the top coat of paint. With both the base coat and the top coat dry brushed on the surface of your soon-to-be prmitive furniture, allow the piece to fully dry.

Finishing Touches (or not, it is up to you). With a fine piece of sandpaper take a look at the piece you are working on (whether it be a chair, a photo frame or kitchen cabinets) and ascertain where normal wear would have occured over the years. Lightly sand these areas - faking a time worn patina.

To take that aged patina, (antiquing), process one step further, rub in a mixture of dark pine wood stain and painter's glaze (used in faux painting effects). You can layer this stain on, leaving it darker in the nooks and corners of your cabin furniture, repeatedly until you achieve the look you're after.

How Did It Go? Do you love your new piece? Be sure to leave a comment and let me know how your new primitive (on-the-cheap) country furniture turned out!

Once you have had success creating smaller pieces, move onto larger pieces and by all means enjoy with your new skill and talent at re-purposing home decor.