A Dramatic Door Makeover With Fake Wood Grain Stencil
Pro faux finish artists know how to turn a plain surface in to "wood grain" with just their hands and a paint brush. But the rest of us don't have a clue! So I created faux wood grain stencils that give you that wonderful look of real wood grain in an easy to use stencil design. These stencils were created using REAL wood grain as the pattern to the result is very realistic.
Double doors before
Lynn Beacham loved the double door entry to her master bedroom, but she hated that the door had no detail. So she created a "Grand" entrance with the use of this easy to use stencil line.
Double Doors After
She used a straight grain design on the main portion of the door and then used a "burl" look stencil for the panel insets. Using light and dark wood stains gave it drama and interest, but then she decided to leave the recessed panel border in pure white which really made the sections pop!
Metal Door After
Another customer used our faux wood grain stencils to make her white metal exterior door match the interior wood walls.
Creating this look is easy! Each type of wood has a background color behind the real wood grain. On oak, this color can range from yellow to gold to brown. Maple is more pale yellow and light beige where mahogany would be reddish brown. So simply look at samples of the wood you are trying to replicate to find the background color. The internet is a great place to find photo samples of different types of wood.
Using a gel stain color that is darker than the back ground color, apply the stain over the top of the wood grain stencil openings. Gel stain is wonderful and because it dries slowly (and stays where you paint it), it allow you time to work with the stencil without worrying that the grain lines will dry prematurely.
Remove the stencil from the surface to reveal the grain lines.
Use a clean paint brush to lightly brush over the grain lines to "blur" them slightly.
Comments
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3 of 4 comments
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Can you stencil laminate cabinets?
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@Laurie Ruff Yes Laurie. You can use standard acrylic paints right over the top if you're looking for a painted design. Do seal them with clear, non-yellowing polyurethane when the design is dry. If you're wanting to do plaster stenciling for a raised design, you will need to prime them first. Let me know if I can help further.
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If you have ceramic tile, it will still look like tile because of the grout lines, but it will look like "wood tile".
Frequently asked questions
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Where do I buy wood grain stencils? I want to make a canvas look like wood planks but can't find one large enough. Perhaps need 24 x 24. Thank you.