How do you paint to look like old barn wood?

Question

We live in a double-wide mobile home. I want to paint our bathroom and kitchen cabinets to have the look of old barn wood. They are some sort of laminate, so I know I will need to prime them first, but where do I go from there?

3po3 · Answer

Painting to look like barn wood sounds like quite a challenge. But you might consider refacing. Our Hometalk friend @KMS wrote this really informative article about refacing: http://www.networx.com/article/about-cabinet-facing

KMS Woodworks · Answer

Part of the beauty of old barn wood is the grain and variations in weathering color etc. A simple paint job will not reproduce this with much similarity. A skilled faux artist however can get much closer to the real thing.

@WallsTreat Studio/ Kass Wilson is the Hometalk guru of faux painting here.

As Steve mentioned above using real wood and doing a refacing job is another option. The doors could be built from scratch using weathered barn wood, as alos for the drawer fronts. Where there would be some challenges is in the face frames, as I have not seen 'refacing' thin stock available in 'barn wood' because this is a relatively small part of the overall area you may get by with painting those.

Miriam Illions · Answer

You might find this post on whitewashing by @Storywood Designs helpful: http://www.hometalk.com/diy/decorate/walls/using-liming-wax-to-whitewash-710602

Sherrie · Answer

it sounds like you want to do this yourself? There are many tutorials on painting. If I was covering up the old cabinets I would clean them, lightly sand them, then lightly prime them. If there were any streaks or bumps from paint I would sand those down. Then depending on what you want. White washing sounds nice I love light reflections colors. Or pickling.

Ann · Answer

It depends on the result you want. My old kitchen cabinets were a mix of wood, plywood and particle board. I painted all of them bright red then antiqued with a black glaze. I loved the look! Now we're in our newer home and I miss my red kitchen.

Anne D · Answer

I was just at Home Depot today and picked up some Zinsser 1 2 3 Primer.for my ugly old laminate cabinet.They told me to make sure I wash(not with tps) the cabinet...then lightly sand with a 80 grit sandpaper to take the shine off.then wash the cabinet again and let dry.Apply 1 coat of the primer ( or 2 if you think you may need it) let dry for 4 hours..then Paint.Let the first coat dry for 24 hrs..then another coat.wait 24 hrs. If you want to distress the cabinets..lightly sand again using the paper and your hand ..not a sanding block...after wipe down with a tack cloth..and apply a min wax and rub and rub off..Sure hope that helps..Tomorrow I start my china cabinet... GOOD LUCK to Both of us..:)

How do you paint to look like old barn wood?

Using Liming Wax to Whitewash

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How do you paint to look like old barn wood?

Using Liming Wax to Whitewash

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