How To Create A Beautiful Faux Wood Paint Finish | YouTube Video Coming This Weekend!
Today I’m sharing a little bathroom makeover… because I can’t look at this vanity in its current state any longer! 😆 This is now the third or fourth transformation of the same salvaged dresser turned bathroom vanity. I bought this vintage dresser for $40 over 20 years ago, and it’s a wonderful example of how an old piece of furniture can evolve with your home and personal style over time!
This time, I’m giving it a completely different look by creating a warm, natural-looking wood finish using PAINT! And the best part? No stripping off all that old paint! The finished result looks pretty fancy and technical, but trust me, this faux-wood technique is surprisingly easy, forgiving, and fun!
In today’s tutorial, I’m sharing –
- How to pick the perfect wood tone for your project
- The wood-grain tool(s) I use to get a wood look… even though I haven’t perfected them!
- My favorite paint colors for this technique
- And more…
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Bonus, it’s Furniture Fixer Upper Day! If you’re new here, on the fourth Thursday of every month, I join four super-talented friends (Christy – Confessions of a Serial DIYer, Kathy – Petticoat Junktion, Natalie – A Ray of Sunlight, and Gail – My Repurposed Life) to share our before-and-after furniture restyles. I’ve included the links at the bottom of today’s post, and I hope you join me in seeing what they’ve created this month! I always learn something new from these talented ladies.
Here’s my bathroom vanity in its current state. It’s a little beat up. It was painted 3+ years ago, and with all the use it gets on a daily basis, I’m surprised it’s held up this well.
A few months ago, I stripped the bottom drawer, thinking I’d stain the entire vanity. But with this bathroom being so small, stripping the sides would be a real challenge. Plus, as I mentioned, this was a $40 thrifted dresser that was converted into a vanity, so there are plenty of old nail marks and filled hardware holes that would be tricky to hide with stain.
That’s why a faux wood paint finish makes so much more sense!
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YOUTUBE TUTORIAL
I’ll have the full step-by-step YouTube tutorial for you this weekend. Our #siyoutubefamily is already a community of 60.3K, so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already. You’re the BEST, and I appreciate your support! 🙂
SUPPLIES
Vintage Dresser Bathroom Vanity – SALVAGED
White Lightning Cleaner
Auto Sponge
Bondo For Filler
DeWalt Impact Gun Drill Set
Palm Sander For Scuff Sanding
Sanding Sponge
BOSS Bonding Primer
4″ Smooth Roller
2″ Round Paint Brush
Mud Puddle Chalk Mineral Paint
Van Dyke Brown Glaze
Wood Graining Tool Set
Gator Hide Top Coat For Protection
PREPPING THE VANITY FOR ITS MAKEOVER
To start prepping, I removed all three drawers and emptied the contents inside. It’s amazing how much stuff accumulates in a bathroom vanity! I brought the drawers down to my studio, and there I removed the hardware. Then I gave the inside and out a good cleaning with my furniture cleaner and a sponge. The body of the vanity also got a wipe down inside and out as well.
When the drawers were dry, I filled the old hardware holes with Bondo.
I love using Bondo to fill old hardware holes because it’s super quick and easy to mix, dries rock hard, and is ready to sand in about 20–30 minutes! It’s also drillable and paintable, although it’s not stainable.
A couple of things to keep in mind. Work in a well-ventilated area and mix small batches because once you add the hardener, you only have about 3 minutes before it starts getting too stiff to spread smoothly. But that’s also what makes it so convenient… no waiting around for hours before sanding! Once dry, I sanded the Bondo down and scuff-sanded all the drawers and the vanity body.
Here’s a little trick I use: When filling old hardware holes, I like to push the Bondo all the way through until a little oozes out the back. Once it hardens, I trim off that little nub with a sharp edge. This way, I know the entire hole is filled solid, giving me a stronger repair if I need to drill new hardware holes later.
PRIME WITH BONDING PRIMER
Because this bathroom vanity was previously painted with Valspar Semi-Sweet paint, I wanted to make sure my new faux wood finish would stick. After a good cleaning and scuff-sanding, I applied Dixie Belle Bonding BOSS Primer to help the new paint adhere to the existing finish.
I love this primer because it’s water-based, has very little odour (perfect for indoor projects!), and also blocks stains and bleed-through. The only downside is the drying time. It requires two coats, waiting 2-4 hours between coats and another 24 hours before painting. But for a durable finish that’s going to last, I think it’s worth the wait when I have the time.
HOW TO PICK YOUR PERFECT WOOD TONE
Testing Faux Wood Paint Finishes
Now for the fun part! Before painting the entire vanity, I wanted to experiment with a few different ‘wood tones’. Using painter’s tape, I divided my test board into four sections and painted each with a different base colour.
Next, I tested Van Dyke Brown Glaze on one side and Black Glaze on the other. Right away, I could see the black was much too dark and stark for the look I wanted, but the Van Dyke Brown looked pretty darn good! I also tried a 50/50 mix of both glazes down the centre to see if that was a better combination but the Van Dyke Brown over the Mud Puddle ChalkPaint was my favorite.
Here’s a TIP! Don’t judge your faux wood finish by the base paint colour alone! It’s the combination of the base colour AND glaze that creates the final wood tone. And don’t be afraid to mix colours to get the exact shade you’re looking for!
While the glaze was still wet, I played around with my wood graining tools to create different grain patterns.
I LOVE making test boards because they’re a great way to experiment and practice before committing to an entire piece of furniture. It gives me more confidence when it’s time to paint the real thing! Plus, it’s amazing how DIFFERENT the paint combos can look in different rooms with different lighting. I’ll share more on this in this weekend’s YouTube video!
HOW TO PAINT A FAUX WOOD FINISH
Creating a faux wood finish with paint is easier than you might think! With a little paint, glaze, and a couple of inexpensive wood graining tools, you can transform almost any painted surface into something that looks like natural wood. The best part? This technique is super forgiving, and you can experiment with different colours and grain patterns to get the look you love!
- Paint Your Base Colour: Choose your base paint colour and apply one even coat. Let it dry completely before moving on.
- Apply the Glaze: Brush a thin, even layer of glaze over your painted surface, working in manageable sections.
- Create Fine Wood Grain: While the glaze is still wet, gently glide your wood graining tool across the surface to create fine, natural-looking grain lines.
- Add Larger Wood Grain Details: Using your larger wood graining tool, gently glide it through the wet glaze while rocking it back and forth to create knots and more defined wood grain patterns.
- Soften the Finish: Using a clean, soft brush, gently sweep over the wet glaze to soften the grain lines and blend everything together for a more natural-looking wood finish.
FINISHING TOUCHES
I top-coated with 3 coats of this Gator Hide for protection, and I tinted it with about 5% Van Dyke Brown Glaze. It’s my go-to topcoat for high-traffic pieces, and it’s not just water-resistant like other sealers, it’s water-repellent- perfect for a bathroom vanity! Once the three coats had dried 100%, I added new brushed bronze knobs to match the faucets.
THE BIG REVEAL…
Here’s the finished look! What do you think!?
I love the warmer tone this faux wood paint finish adds. And I’m really happy I decided to do the test board before jumping in and painting this piece.
And I LOVE the brushed brass knobs I picked up from HomeDepot. They are traditional for this vintage dresser and yet have a little hint of modern with the texture on the sides… and look how lovely they look against the wood finish!
And I know this isn’t showing off the painted vanity, but I had to share our beautiful fall colors. These gorgeous vines are all along my back fence! A great way to stage and style a home for the fall weather.
And just for fun, I prompted an AI to generate my NEW bathroom vanity. Here’s what it generated. I think it copy-cat my styling… but did it better, lol. Now I want to run out and buy some waffle towels, sprigs of greenery, and a marble tray!
And speaking of AI, I had SO MUCH fun with last week’s Ai image – Spot What Is Different! You were all pointing out things I didn’t even notice – like the straight edge, smoothed-out spindles but no one mentioned was AI changed the teardrop hardware design!
And now for some FURNITURE FIXER UPPER FUN!
You’re going to LOVE what these creative FFU ladies do! Below are the BEFORE photos. Visit the links to see the amazing AFTERS and learn how they did it! I’m heading over to take a peek, too!
1. CONFESSIONS OF A SERIAL DIYER
2. A RAY OF SUNLIGHT
3. MY REPURPOSED LIFE
4. PETTICOAT JUNKTION
5. SI (HAPPY YOU’RE HERE!)
Here’s another look at this bathroom vanity before and after.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m so happy I refreshed this vanity again. This faux wood vanity brings so much warmth and character to the space. It’s a great reminder that you can salvage existing pieces you already have. And they can look SO VERY DIFFERENT depending on the finish you decide to use on them.
Thank you so much for being here and for following along with our October Furniture Fixer Uppers Tour. If you have a question or want to say hello, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below — you always brighten my day!
Happy creating, sweet friends! 💙
Denise x
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WHITE WASHED BATHROOM VANITY
SALVAGED BATHROOM REVEAL
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BATHROOM CABINET MAKEOVER
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