Today I’m sharing how talented artisans are distressing wood doors for a Spanish Colonial home. You’ll see the exact tools and techniques they use, plus some wild creative methods I’ve discovered over the years working on projects here in Santa Barbara. Whether you’re working on doors or furniture, these tips will help you create authentic aged character.
AUDIO PLAYER
Listen as I walk you through the distressing process, or scroll down for photos and key takeaways.
What You’ll Learn in This Audio Post About Distressing Wood Doors
- The best hand-scraping technique these painters were using with yellow-handled paint scrapers (sharp blades on solid alder wood but works on other woods too)
- The wild medieval-looking tools I saw at another distressing shop – including a wooden mallet with gnarled nails poked into it for creating authentic wormhole damage (just tap tap tap tap on the wood surface)
- Other creative distressing methods – bent nails hammered sideways into the wood, little chains you can whip around, handmade tools you’d never think of
- Where to strategically beat up a door – think about the areas that would naturally get damaged over 100 years (around the door hardware where people grab)
- My #1 advice: test your techniques on the backside of a door or scrap wood first, get to know what these tools actually do before you commit
- Real project scale – over 60 doors for one oceanfront home here in Santa Barbara (these guys seemed to be having fun with it
Distressing Wood Doors: A Photo Gallery
Professional painters using sharp-bladed scrapers on solid alder doors
Close-up of the hand-scraping technique
Working the surface with a yellow-handled paint scraper
The natural result of hand-scraping solid wood – even the shavings are beautiful
One of 60+ doors being distressed for this ocean front Spanish home
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Read the Full Jeff Doubét Transcript: Distressing Wood Doors
CLICK HERE to read the Jeff Doubét audio post in your preferred language
“Hey guys today, I’m sharing a collection of images of a couple of talented Artisans distressing wood doors. Happened to be in oceanfront home, here in beautiful Santa Barbara.
Thought I would share some tips and tricks for what they were doing in these photos. And, get you kind of caught up on a couple of the different techniques that I’ve seen working in Spanish home design since 2003.
So, in these images the company that the homeowners and the general contractor had subcontracted, they were actually painters and they were using paint scrapers. So, you see the yellow handled tool that they’re using- they have very sharp blades in them, and you can just… you know- scrape, and literally scrape the surface of the wood.
These are solid alder wood, but the technique would work on different types of wood, as well. And then just a series of sanding and scraping. And I’ve even been on another project- a client wanted a piece of brand-new furniture for her Spanish interior to look like an old antique hutch.
And so, we brought that piece of furniture to another local company that distresses wood, and it was just fascinating. I talked to the owner for quite some time, and he was just showing me all these different tools that he uses. Basically, like a cabinet shop with all these unique and unusual tools, handmade tools that he has made himself.
Some of them actually looked kind of “Medieval”. There was one mallet that I remember that had all these nails that were poked into the end of this wooden hammer, basically. And all the nails were all knarled and shaped, and you know going in any which way direction. I said “what the heck was that for” and he said, “oh wormholes… I just tap tap tap tap tap, you know- the wood in different areas, and it makes the wood look like it has had some worm hole damage”.
And, there were other tools. You can actually put a bent old nail on its side and hammer that into the wood surface. What else did I see? Basically, you know… there’s little chains that you can whip around, you know little tools that you would never think. And basically, you’re just trying to… (depending on your project of course), how crazy (chuckles) are you trying to make the surface.
Some people want it to look like the furniture or the door has been around forever, and so around the handles the door hardware where you grab the door it can have a bunch of chink marks, and goofy messed up parts to the door- just simply because, over the course of 100 years you know, that’s the part of the door that would be beat up the most.
And so, I have been tripping over my words today. I’m basically just trying to teach you to think outside the box, and just have fun with it. (Chuckles) I would advise that you test your theories and these techniques on the backside of a door, or even get a piece of wood and beat up a scrap piece of wood. And get to know what these tools do.
With these guys, I didn’t feel sorry for them because they seemed to be having so much fun. But there was over 60 doors that they did for this beachfront home, here in beautiful Santa Barbara.
So, come on back (as I always say in each of these blog posts), I have no idea what I’m gonna post next. It’s just kinda like whatever I feel like digging out of the treasure trove of photos that I’ve collected over many, many years.
So have fun with your distressing project, and come back and learn some more!”
Jeff Doubét
Date of Recording: October 5, 2025
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Tools & Materials
Basic Tools:
- Paint scrapers with sharp blades (yellow-handled shown in photos)
- Sandpaper (various grits)
- Solid alder wood doors (techniques work on other woods)
Creative Distressing Tools:
- Custom mallets with embedded nails (for wormhole effects)
- Bent old nails (hammered sideways into wood)
- Small chains (for whip marks)
- Various handmade tools
Pro Tip: Test all techniques on scrap wood first!
About These Photos
Photographer: Jeff Doubét
Location: Santa Barbara, California
Date: August 31, 2010
Camera: Canon PowerShot A95
All photos © Jeff Doubet. Feel free to pin to your personal Pinterest boards with attribution and a link back to this post. Thank you!
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