How To Paint Wood Grain: An Easy Guide with Video

How to paint wood grain? The cabinets in my laundry room are high, and it’s hard to get around my washer and drier. I grabbed this stool from a garage sale and gave it an easy makeover with a wood grain tool.

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You can create texture and layers with faux wood grain.

How to paint wood grain? The cabinets in my laundry room are high, and it's hard to get around my washer and drier. I grabbed this stool from a garage sale and gave it an easy makeover with a wood grain tool.

How To Paint Wood Grain Materials

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How To Paint Wood Grain Video

Here’s a quick shot of my laundry room, these are the cabinets above my washer and dryer. The top shelf and above the top shelf are a little hard for me to get to so I need a step stool.

How do you paint faux wood grain?

How do you paint a wood grain pattern?

How To Paint Wood Grain instructions

I found this step stool at a garage sale for super cheap. I wanted to match my laundry room so I’m going to be painting it. As you can see it’s got some marks and rough spots on it so the first step is to do a little light sanding.

1. Sand your furniture piece

It is important to smooth out the rough spots before you start painting. Depending on the kind of paint you are using, sanding will also help the paint adhere to the surface of the wood. You could use spray paint with primer if you don’t want to do any sanding, but if you have rough spots they will show through the paint if you don’t sand them down. Some paints, like chalk paint, for instance, say that you don’t have to do any sanding before you paint. This is somewhat true but you may be left with rough spots if you opt not to do any sanding. I’m going to keep sanding until I get a nice smooth surface.

Once I'm done sanding I will clean the stool with Krud cutter. This will clean off all the dust and anything else that may be left behind. Once we give it a good cleaning we are ready to move on.

2. Clean your Furniture Piece

Once I’m done sanding I will clean the stool with Krud Kutter. This will clean off all the dust and anything else that may be left behind. Once we give it a good cleaning we are ready to move on.

3. Paint your furniture piece

Now we are ready to paint. The first color paint I’m going to be using is Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in the color Kessel. I chose this color paint because it’s going to bring out those dark tones that are already in my laundry room. Make sure you choose a paint that is safe for the surface you are painting. So in this case I know this is wood and I want to make sure that I pick a paint that is good for wood.

Brush strokes can matter so once you have the paint on you want to finish off with nice smooth brush strokes. You might have to do more than one coat depending on how the paint covers. Chalk paint is self-leveling which is one of the things I like about it.

Once the top is dry I will turn the stool over and paint the bottom. Here’s a quick look at it after one coat. I’m going to let that dry and see how it looks and decide if I need a second coat.

4. Mix the Glaze

I mixed my second color paint which is Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in the color with Folk Art Glazing Medium with Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint in the color Partisian Gray. I mixed a 1:1 ratio. This helps slow down the drying process.

5 Paint the glaze on the furniture piece

I want to start with the glaze and the wood grain tool and I need time to work before the paint dries. I’m going to start by painting the glaze on. If you don’t like the way something turns out you can easily just start over and paint It again. So I am painting on the glaze and I’m ready to use the wood grain tool.

6. Use the wood Graining Tool

You start with the tool at the top and then you rock it back and forth as you move along. I usually wipe off some of the excess glaze as I go. I try to not push too hard because I want it to look as natural as possible. I am going for a plank look.

If for some reason you don’t like the way something looks you can easily just add some glaze to that spot and start over. Again, add the glaze to the piece and gently rock the wood grain tool as you move it to get the look you want. I think it’s a lot of fun using this tool!

7. Paint on a protective top coat

Now I’m just going to let this dry completely and then add a protective coat of folk art home decor varnish.

My goal was to tie in what I’ve done here with the cabinets. Now looking at the stool the color on the base matches and I’ve tied the wood grain in as well.

I’m very pleased with how this stool turned out for my laundry room.

How To Paint Wood Grain Video

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How To Paint Wood Grain Q&A Section

What supplies do you need to faux wood grain?

wood grain tool, either a roller or a drag wood grain rocker
glazing medium, like a clear acrylic glaze
paintbrush, like chip brushes
Paint – latex paint, acrylic paint, etc or stains like a wood stain or gel stain
painter’s tape
sandpaper
drop cloth
top coat of your choice

How do you keep faux wood grain from peeling after painting?

Know your surface. If you have a slick surface like laminate, you’ll need to put a base coat primer down to help stop your wood grain from peeling. You can also put a top coat on it as well.

Other painting furniture tips:

decide on your sheen of paint – matte, satin sheen, semi-gloss
work with a lint-free cloth when wiping anything up and wipe up that sanding dust before painting
You can create of wood grain look variations by using the tool to comb the different types of wood, moving the graining rocker, or dry brushing.
The knots will form as you rock your tool
Work on a smooth surface
You can make the wood look like real wood: cherry, oak, walnut, mahogany, etc So many shades to choose from.

Where can you use a wooden step stool?

Both adults and kids need a sturdy stool to step on, and here are some examples.

bathroom
kitchen
laundry room
utility room
bedroom
closet

What other supplies might you need in a laundry room?

laundry basket or cart
storage – cabinets, shelves, etc
washer and dryer, and they come in a variety of colors like white, stainless steel, etc to suit your needs
laundry supplies