Things You'll Need:
- Acrylic paints in earth tones, golds, browns, taupe, rust, barn red and black
- Script liner artist brush
- Light bristled artist brush
- Plastic paint pallet tray
-
Step 1
Examine the wood grain. Each type of wood, whether cherry, walnut, pine or oak, the most common woods used in furniture, has its own wood grain pattern. The veneer patch that is used must be of the same wood type to begin the blending in process. Also, the veneer patch’s wood grain should be placed so that the wood grain is aligned with the surrounding area on the furniture piece.
-
Step 2
Have the piece of furniture stained with the stain that suits your tastes. Pick a quality stain, such as Minwax brand. They are great and come in a variety of beautiful stains. Many furniture restorers will simply use oak stain with oak furniture; walnut stain with walnut furniture, but in all honesty you can be more flexible than that. For example, if you’re working with a walnut table but want the wood to lighten up, then use oak stain instead of walnut. If you don’t want an oak chair to be so light, then stain it with walnut.
-
Step 3
Here comes the final touch to blending in that veneer patch. Get out your earth tones in acrylic paints. You’ll find these paints in any arts and crafts store in the artist paint section. Look for Delta Ceramcoat or Apple Barrel Colors that come in plastic squirt bottles. Buy colors like burnt umber, candy bar, taupe, black, barn red, rust, golden rod, and browns. You’ll also need a good quality script liner paint brush in the artist section. Bristles on this brush will be long, ¾ inch in length. Buy another light bristled artist brush and a plastic paint pallet tray. With the furniture piece dry from the staining process, begin to blend the colors of the paint to match the veneer patch wood tone and its surrounding area. This takes time and diligence. Acrylic paints can be removed easily with a simple wipe of a damp lint-free rag so don’t worry if you feel your first attempt doesn’t match the wood tone. It’s normal to blend many of the colors together and sometimes just a couple colors will match the wood tone. Lightly feather in the acrylic paint with the light bristled artist brush. Remember you’re not painting to cover up. You’re blending the wood tones of the patch to the furniture piece.
-
Step 4
Take your script liner brush and black acrylic paint. With a dab of paint on your painting pallet, add drops of water to it until it becomes as thin as ink. Roll your script liner bristles around in this ink-like paint. Steadily brush in the wood grain lines, crossing over the patch edges with the surrounding area. By studying the wood grain lines, you’ll be able to discern what will look natural. Let this dry and finish your piece of furniture with your choice of top coats to protect the wood, like varnish, shellac or tung oil applications. You’ll be proud that your veneer patch now blends in beautifully with the rest of the furniture piece. You have mastered the art of blending in.
