By painting your old closet doors in a faux wood, you can give your room a fresh new look.
Faux painting is the practice of painting one surface to look like another. Usually faux painting is used in interior design and home decorating as an inexpensive alternative to replacing a wall or door. For example, instead of replacing an old painted door with a naturally finished wooden door, you can paint an imitation wood grain directly on the surface of the old door. This method takes practice, so if you've never tried faux painting, practice on scrap wood prior to faux painting on your closet doors. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Choose the type of wood you'd like to paint on the door and then locate samples of that wood, so you can mimic the color and appearance of the wood grain.
2. Remove the closet door from the doorframe and take all hardware, such as hinges and door knob, off the door with a screwdriver.
3. Sand the door lightly to remove any finish or old chipping paint. You do not need to strip the door of its old coat of paint, but you do need to make the door as smooth as possible for the new coat of paint. Wash the door with soap and detergent to clean any dust on the door. Often contemporary closet doors are entirely flat, so this process should be quick and easy.
4. Paint the door with primer. Use a paint roller for flat doors, or a flat brush and an angled sash brush for paneled doors. Wait for the paint to dry according to the time listed on the can.
5. Paint the base coat on the door. The base coat will be the lightest part of the wood - the part seen between the wood grain. For lighter woods, like oak, this will be a blond-yellow color. For darker woods, like mahogany, this will be a deep red or medium toned gray-brown. Allow the base coat to dry.
6. Paint the wood grain on the door. For lighter woods, the wood grain will be a medium or dark brown. For darker woods, this will be a dark brown or black. There are specialty tools called graining combs, designed specifically for this purpose, or you can use a soft fan brush. The wood grain on the door should mimic the grain in the samples of wood. For example, if the wood grain looks a little wobbly or wiggly, you will need to wiggle your brush back and forth to produce the same results. Practicing on a scrap board before doing this on the door will help you.
7. Soften the lines of the wood grain with a soft bristle brush, by brushing it lightly over the wood grain in the direction of the grain. Do this before the wood grain paint dries.
Tags: wood grain, door with, base coat, faux painting, this will, closet doors, coat paint
