Faux Wood Grain Paint Technique

6 Materials

$20

3 Hours

Easy

Ok you guys... if you haven't heard of this wood graining tool yet, prepare for your mind to be blown! Sometimes we paint over wood, but sometimes we want our plastic/laminate furniture to have a wood grain look to it, right? This is the trick to getting it! You can make great looking wood grain and natural looking knots with some paint and a wood graining tool. It is super easy to use and adds a nice

Click on the links to get the materials:

-2" Dry Brush

-1.5" Dry Brush

-Base Coat Color Paint

-Wood Graining tool - this is the trick. It doesn't cost much at all, and it super fun to use.

-Clear Glaze

-Top Coat Color Paint (not pictured above)

-Old Rag

-Sandpaper

STEP 1: Sand down your piece of furniture

Grab whatever piece of furniture you want to paint and start sanding it down. Do this on every piece of furniture you want to paint, even if it's laminate; it preps the surface for painting.

STEP 2: Clean off the area

Wipe down any dust caused by sanding the item.

STEP 3: Paint a base coat (the grain color)

Here is where you can begin customizing your piece. First you will be laying down a base coat in the color of your choice. This will be the underlying color of the grain. You can use any color you want! Be sure to use a paint that has primer in it so that it adheres to the surface well.

STEP 4: Paint the top coat with glaze

Once the base coat has dried it is time to mix the top paint layer. You can also use whatever color you choose for the top coat. I decided to give a slightly white washed feel so I used white paint. First pour a bit of white paint into a cup or bowl.

Then mix in a clear glaze. You need a glaze top for the technique to work. Glaze takes longer to dry and gives you time to create the grain texture. Mix the paint and glaze at a ration of 1:4. (One part paint to 4 parts glaze).

I decided the white was too stark in contrast to the dark gray so I decided to add a bit of the original color to make a lighter gray as the top coat color.

STEP 5: Paint the furniture with the top coat

Brush a layer of your paint and glaze mix on top of the base coat. Do this with a dry bristle brush making sure it isn't super thick or saturated.

STEP 6: Use the wood graining tool

Grab your handy-dandy and awesome wood graining tool (I got mine on Amazon, and it worked perfectly) and drag one side through the glaze/paint mix. This will really just create some lines through the paint.

Now is the fun part! Using your wood grain tool drag the curved edge through the glaze/paint mixture wobbling it back and forth as you go to create the grains. Don't wobble it too much or it will look unnatural. Once your done, and happy with how it looks, let it dry.

This wood graining tool also comes with a small piece that helps get in the smaller nooks and crannies of the drawer.

Here is a before and after of the piece I painted. The drawers on the right were not touched because I'm not going to use them.

Look at all that grain! I think I may have gone a bit overboard, but it is so fun to watch the grain come to life!

The wood graining tool I bought came with a small piece as well that helped to get in the smaller nooks and crannies of the drawer. I would highly suggest getting one that has the same.

This thing really looks like a stained piece of wood. It is actually a laminate covered particle board piece, so it's pretty impressive!

Resources for this project:

Base coat

Clear furniture glaze

Allway GT3 Graining Tool Set 3Pc

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3 of 5 questions

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KD Redlowske
on Sep 3, 2017
I love it! However, I don't see how you did those fancy swirls on the the top?
5
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- Kathi Merkel Fisk
  on Jul 11, 2018
  I didn't get a video.
  1
Swe6182874
on Jul 4, 2018
Can this be done on kitchen cabinets ?
3
Answer this
- Keri P
  on Jul 11, 2018
  That's turned out gorgeous
Patty
on Jul 4, 2018
could this also be done on the lower 1/2 of a wall to look like wains coating?
2
Answer this
- The Snarky Princess
  on Jul 11, 2018
  I would think the most important thing is to make sure you aren't using paint that is too thin it would drip since it is going to be painted while vertical. (Those darn walls not wanting to let you turn them on their side) that would look absolutely beautiful I bet!
  2

2 of 57 comments

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LeTwanea Coleman-Palmer
on Jul 12, 2018
That’s neat. Very nice
Lori Harper Wurtz
on Jul 12, 2018
You can also buy a paint roller with the wood grain imprint. I'm planning to use it on a cement floor. Bet it would work great on your larger wall projects.