Thanks for the comments, Bonehead my wife came up with the idea. She too liked the vibrant colors but didn't want something that looked newly painted. She wanted something rustic and aged. After we painted with the bright colors, we applied a dark stain-- I think it was walnut and wiped it off after we got the correct effect. After it dried, we then used a hand sander and "distressed" it. We didn't want a uniform appearance so we sanded heavily in some areas and lightly in others.
John
