Neutralizing harsh colours on game board?

I would prime it with a stain blocking primer, and do the base color of light gray. then get a checkerboard stencil from Amazon, and paint the squares black and white.

Mix white paint with water and do a wash over it. Start with more water than paint and keep adding layers until you like it. :)

I would try applying an antiquing medium or glaze and wipe off as much as you want until you get the look you want.

Hello. Applying a whitewash or antiqing glaze might be an idea to consider. I have used or a brown one (both brown and white came with the crackle mediums) in a crackle paint project a small amount of glaze is applied on and wiped off.

Also you might want to consider taking very high grit sandpaper and distressing the top layer to give it a worn appearance That might take down the bright colors and give it a more used. If that would be something appealing to you.

Here’s examples of three glazes that I’ve used in the past which I used to achieve a nice finish. One is by Anita’s the other two are Folk art. They are several years old but you may be able to find a similar product on the shelves now.

I would not paint at all. A variety of color in any room is good to not make everything match. Plus you take the value of pieces down by painting and not keeping it in original state. If you are set on grey then tape off the colors with painters tape and repaint the red to gray.

Hi April, what a great find! Fusion Mineral paint make a product called antiquing glaze. It has a long open time (dries slowly) so you can apply it and wipe it back to the amount you like. (use a foam brush to apply). It would tone down the colours but allow you to still see them and then tone down the vibrancy.

Something to consider would be to paint the triangular pieces in the area that are red with perhaps a black or a deep gray. If you paint them black then you would not have to worry about recreating the black outlines.

Then for the center, it would be a bit much to try to paint the red squares, a checker pattern overlay in your preferred colors would work. The 4 little red squares in the corner (in front of the cups) would be just enough of a highlight.

modpodge has a transparent paint

My suggestion would be to trace the shapes you want to change to a different color. Cut out as many pieces of the shapes from colored craft paper and glue them to the board to cover the color you don't like using white glue that dries clear. Then either spray on a clear finish or use ModPodge or again white glue to seal the entire board.

You could totally try painting over the red with gray!

Red could be a natural accent color in a gray room.

Hi April, the easiest way would be to whitewash the entire board which would fade all the colors to a lighter hue. Ideally you may want to hand paint the reds to a different color, I think that would look the best

Hi April: What a neat board. It's used for checkers, chess, cards, any game you'd like to play on it. If you have the time and steady hand, you can paint each red bit black or dark gray.

I would rub on a coat of dark wax, it will mute the colors just perfectly! https://amzn.to/3kO0bfo

you can try painting over the red with a gray or white

Hi,

Use an Artist Brushy and Acrylic colours. Good luck!