HERE’S HOW TO CREATE A MODERN FAUX WOOD FINISH USING PAINT AND GLAZE ON A CEDAR CHEST | YOUTUBE VIDEO

Hi creative friends and welcome or welcome back! I think I’m addicted to this Rubber Pet Hair Remover and this awesome paint and glaze technique. No joke. Today I’m sharing how I updated this cedar chest with a modern faux wood finish. I can’t wait to hear what you think!

It’s also Furniture Fixer Uppers Day. We usually post on a Thursday but seeing as US Thanksgiving is on Thursday, we decided to share with a few days early! I’m joining my FFU crew and sharing links to their projects down below.

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Here’s the salvaged cedar chest I started with. I found this selling at my local Restore for $70. Not the best price but I sure did love the quality and lines on this piece. The funny part was, that the volunteer who loaded it into my car was actually the original owner of this piece! He said he loved it but he recently moved and didn’t have room for it anymore. Lucky me!

Once I brought it into my studio I noticed a few areas with some missing veneer.

The top wasn’t in the best of shape but nothing that I couldn’t fix up. Challenge on!

THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE.  YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Cedar Chest  – SALVAGED
White Lightning Cleaner

Wood Glue (similar)
Bosch Sander
BIN Shellac Based Primer

Wood Filler
1″ Purdy Brush

Big Daddy Brush
Cobblestone Chalk Mineral Paint
Endless Shore SILK Mineral Paint

Rubber Pet Hair Remover

Van Dyke Brown Glaze
2″ Round Paint Brush
Gator Hide Topcoat

PAINTED CEDAR CHEST MAKEOVER

Here’s how it all came together…

REMOVE LOCK

Since this piece will be listed for sale, the very first thing I did was remove the latch lock. I unscrewed the mechanism from the inside and it popped out really easy. But then I was left with a large hole. To fix this up, I used a dowel from a scrap piece of wood. I cut it down and glued it in place with some wood glue.

CLEAN & PREP  

I gave this chest a good cleaning with White Lightning. making sure to rinse my sponge and wipe with clean water to remove any residue before sanding and priming.

SAND 

Once this chest was all cleaned and dry, I gave it a quick scuff sand with my Bosch Sander.

PRIME AND FILL

There were A LOT of scratches and dings on the top of this piece. And even though the chest is made of cedar, it’s covered in a walnut veneer so I couldn’t sand them out. Instead, I primed with BIN Shellac-Based Primer so I could see all the divots and scratches before patching. Once I started filling in all the imperfections, almost the entire top was covered…lol.

Here are the steps I took to get a smooth top and fill in all the missing veneer.

1. Prime (so all the imperfections are easily visible)
2. Fill with wood filler
3. Let dry 100%
4. Sand smooth
5. Remove Dust with a Tack Cloth
6. Prime again

PAINT

For the base coat, I used a 50/50 mix of this Cobblestone Chalk Mineral Paint and this Endless Shore SILK Mineral Paint – by mistake! I thought they were the same line of paint. Once it was mixed, I didn’t want to waste it so I thought I would give it a try. It was a success! It adhered really nicely and passed the scratch test the next day. I don’t think the primer in the SILK All-In-One Silk paint would have worked but that wasn’t an issue because I had already primed. It’s good to know that these Dixie Belle paints and products all work together!

HOW TO – FAUX WOOD PAINT FINISH

To create my ‘modern’ faux paint finish, I brushed on a thin coat of this Vandyke Brown Glaze over my dried custom paint color. Then using this Rubber Pet Hair Remover (which works AWESOME as I’ll share on this Saturday’s Youtube video!!) I added lined wood grain into the glaze. To soften the grain effect, I used this large Big Daddy Brush. If I got a little messy with the glaze – no problem. A shop towel dampened with a little water will wipe the glaze right off.

PROTECT

To protect this piece, I sprayed three coats of Gator Hide.  Gator Hide does require a little water (10-15% dilute) to spray it through my gun properly. Once I thin it slightly, it sprays beautifully!

FINISHED CEDAR CHEST

Here’s the finished look. Doesn’t it look way more modern?! It was a lovely piece to start but I have to admit I’m pretty smitten with it now.

The two paint colors I mixed together created such a gorgeous neutral!

And this base and these legs. Such a great detail!

Here’s a closer look and the faux finish.

The inside of this red cedar chest is in pristine condition and has a ton of storage space. As an extra bonus, it also has a shelf for smaller items!

What a fun project!

YOUTUBE TUTORIAL

Here’s the full step-by-step YouTube tutorial! You can also watch it on Youtube HERE. Our #siyoutubefamily is already a community of 42.1K so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already! So exciting, thank YOU!

And now for some FURNITURE FIXER UPPER FUN!

You’re going to LOVE what my creative FFU ladies do!  Below are the BEFORE photos. Visit the links provided to see the amazing AFTERS and learn how they did it! I’m heading over to take a peek as well!

1. CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL DIYER

2. PETTICOAT JUNKTION

3. SALVAGED INSPIRATIONS (HAPPY YOU’RE HERE!)

4. A RAY OF SUNLIGHT

5. MY REPURPOSED LIFE

Here’s another look at this painted cedar chest before and after. I hope it has inspired you and given you some ideas for your upcoming furniture painting projects.

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS MAKEOVER FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE… I ALWAYS LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. IT MAKES MY DAY! 🙂

Happy painting my friends!

Denise x

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