How to Paint White Kitchen Cabinets to Look Like Wood

Revamping your kitchen cabinets is one way to update the entire look of your kitchen. Create a faux-wood painted finish to spruce up plain, hum-drum cabinets. This method makes your cabinets look like they have been refaced or replaced at a fraction of the cost, and it is not a difficult technique to master. Study real wood to create the most accurate likeness of grain, and keep a sample of the real wood you want to recreate nearby as a reference.

Things You'll Need

• Surface cleaning preparations
• Sandpaper
• Paint
• Glaze
• Stain
• Brush assortment
• Graining tools assortment
• Blue masking tape
• Practice pieces of wood

Instructions

Surface Preparation

1. Remove all doors and hardware from the cabinets.

2. Clean the surfaces with a commercial product specifically for the type of surface you will be refinishing. Sand or repair any loose or flaking white finish. Sand all surfaces lightly with very fine sandpaper to provide good adhesion for the first coat of faux finish.

3. Paint all surfaces with the base color. Natural-looking base colors usually range from light yellows and tans to darker golds and browns. The older you want your completed faux finish to appear, the darker the base color should be. Paint in the direction your wood grain will go on each section of the cabinets. Allow this to dry completely--at least 24 hours.

Use Graining Tools

1. Apply a thin coat of the darker graining glaze over the painted surface. Create a grain pattern in the wet glaze with a heartwood grained roller or stamper by moving it across the glazed surface, leaving the pattern in the coat of glaze. Keep the graining tool surface free of excess glaze to avoid drips and unnatural looking marks. Mask different sections if you need help in keeping the grain directions from overlapping. Work on one section at a time, allow it to dry and then mask adjoining sections.

2. Use a comb type graining tool to create striated grain designs. Use an assortment of sizes of comb type tools for a realistic effect. Hold a comb type graining tool at different angles as you draw it across the wet glaze; a slight twist of the wrist will create different grain changes in your glaze grain design.

3. Let your glaze grain design set up for about 15 minutes. Use an artist's quality 2 inch flat brush and tap-flick the tips of the bristles over the glaze grain you have created. Do this very lightly all over with a dry brush to create a hint of smudge along the edges of the glaze grain for a feathering effect. Wipe the brush often with a rag to keep it clean and dry. Allow this to dry for at least 24 hours.

4. Apply wood stain over the paint/glaze finish for additional blending. If more than one coat of stain is needed, allow them all to dry completely between coats and do not sand between coats.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep work surfaces flat whenever possible. Make practice pieces before you begin on your cabinets. Test all paint and glaze colors and learn how to use the graining tools to achieve the grain effects you desire.

• Always work in a well-ventilated area.

References

• Faux Wood Technique
• Faux Wood Finish

Resources

• Create Faux Wood Grain
• Create Faux Oak Grain
• Graining Tools