I have some furniture painted in white. I would now like to paint, on top of the current color, a wooden like pattern. Which technique can I use to achieve this?

  • @guitarthrower it's not the same. I actually did that question. But there I was looking for getting a white wash look. I than understood that with the given solutions, although answering my question, wouldn't help and therefor made this one. So, I no longer want to see the under wood, but I want to create the pattern on the painted surface. – nsn Dec 3 '15 at 17:00

What you want is called a "wood graining tool":

wood grain tool

The basic idea is to use a darker color stain on top of a lighter color. You rock the tool back and forth to create the knot look of real wood grain.

This is commonly used to apply gel stain to a metal or fiberglass door to give a wood look, but can also be used in other situations.

There are tons of videos and instructions online to use the tool now that you know what its called. It does take practice, but can give good results.

  • Example video – grfrazee Dec 2 '15 at 21:29
  • Note that this approach, or simply painting on a grain pattern freehand, has a long history for inexpensive or repaired furniture. Local museums have examples dating back to the early 1700's, and I'm sure it's older than that, – keshlam Dec 3 '15 at 5:57
  • @keshlam, Good call. Those pieces are typically referred to as "grain painted" and can range from fine heirloom pieces to very rustic primitive ones. – JPhi1618 Dec 3 '15 at 14:16
  • This is amazing. – Matt Dec 6 '15 at 1:49

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