Faux Finishing Made Easy

So you've found a nice piece of furniture or a picture frame or neat little cabinet at a yard sale and you really want to give it a faux finish makeover. Well here is some good news. I've been refinishing, repairing and applying custom finishes on wood surfaces for more than twenty years and I'd like to share some relatively simple steps that can help you turn a "has been" into a "gotta have it". This can be a great weekend project that you will be be proud of if you follow these steps. If you are attempting this procedure for the first time I suggest you practice on a scrap piece of wood or a disposable surface first to get the feel of the technique.



Step #1 Find a candidate for makeover. We'll use this 1940s mahogany chest to apply our technique.





Step #2 Sand the surface to be painted with 150 grit sandpaper. Dust the surface.




Step #3 Apply a single coat of latex primer/stain blocker (Binz, Zap) onto the surface. Even though we've sanded the surface I recommend primer to help eliminate adhesion and bleeding problems that may arise when you are painting over old finishes.

Step #4 Apply a latex base coat in the color of your choice. This is the color that will appear under the topcoat. Use your imagination in combining colors that are compatible in contrast. In this example I'm using a light chocolate brown base. It will show up as a wood tone under the green topcoat that will be applied later.

Two coats are applied to completely cover the primer.



Step #5 Apply a media that will prevent the topcoat from adhering to the base coat in all the areas of the surface where you want a distressed layered appearance. In the project I'm using a wax candle.

Edges and mouldings are prime candidates for the wax. If you are attempting to be somewhat authentic with your distressing consider waxing areas that would normally show wear; around drawer pulls, the fronts of the top, legs near the floor, the arm rest of a chair, anywhere you would expect to see normal use and wear. Or just use your eye and imagination to create the look your after.

When you are satisfied you have applied the wax everywhere you wanted, lightly brush the loose material away. This will help the top color coat go on a little more evenly and keep some wax out of the paint container.




Step #6 Apply the top color coat over the entire surface. Paint over the waxed areas as if they weren't there. I'm putting on two coats of green for an even finish.




Step #7 Scrape all the previously waxed areas to create the distressed layered look. You can experiment with different tools for scraping. After a while you will discover a favorite. The only tools I used on this project are pictured. My favorites are an old flexible putty knife, a scotch brite pad and my thumbnail. The thumbnail really gives me the control and feel for the technique I can't get with anything else. Unless your thumbnails are very tough, scraping paint off wax will destroy them. Be careful!


Scrape lightly. You don't want to cut through the base coat. We're just trying to take the top layer of paint off so the base color will show through as an old finish.

I like to use the putty knife to "find" the waxed areas quickly and then detail them with my thumbnail.

After your satisfied with your layering effect, scuff the entire surface with a scotchbrite pad to feather the layered edges and smooth the surface for the final step.

O.k., we're finished scraping and have removed all the paint that didn't stick to the wax. This chest is ready for the last step.

Final Step Finish the piece with a durable clear coat. Here I'm using Valspar's clear satin faux finish protector. It gives the painted surface depth and seals and smooths the layered areas nicely.

With a clear finish coat and hardware back in place we've created a completely new look for our furniture. It is absolutely one of a kind and will be the envy of your friends.

Here's a matching nightstand finished with the technique described above. For this project a complete bedroom suite including chest, nightstand, poster bed, vanity, mirror and bench were given a faux finish. The owner is very happy!

A few notes about the finishing process. Each paint coat should be allowed to dry before the next coat is applied. Temperature and humidity should be considered in estimating drying time. Always practice on a scrap piece of material before going for it on the final piece. All of the paints and finishing products used in this project were latex. I recommend latex because of quick drying time, ease of cleanup and the availability of a huge palette of designer colors. While I chose to use wax as the paint releasing agent in this project a number of other choices are available; glue, sand, chalk, rubber cement and others. I use all of them for particular applications and have been pleased with the results. This technique should only be used for interior applications. Similar techniques can be used outside but require different considerations for materials not addressed in this project.

Consider this technique as you would a good recipe. You can follow it or it can be altered to suit individual taste. My cake turned out just right. However, this isn't my first cake. If yours doesn't don't blame my recipe. The good thing is that the results of this technique will never come out exactly the same. That is what makes it yours. I'd be happy to discuss the technique with you if you are interested. Contact me at (sidelyner@gmail.com).

Have fun with your project.