If you love the look of raw wood, learn how to paint wash to get a raw wood look with this easy tutorial with simple supplies.
I picked up a short chest of drawers and it had this frame attached to it but it was missing the mirror.
That didn’t bather me at all because I had other plans for this mirror frame.
This frame is HUGE! It is 4’x3′. I did not want to put it back on the chest of drawers. I saw it as a floor mirror propped up on a wall. It reminded me of the expensive Anthropologie mirrors. I wanted to paint it gold but I decided to share this paint wash technique to make it look like raw wood.
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Supplies Needed For Paint Washing
Raw Wood Piece
Water
Dry Rag
Container For Mixing (I used a plastic cup)
Paint Stick/Popsicle Stick To Mix
You want to do this process on bare wood so I needed to strip this frame first.
This frame was the perfect candidate for the oven cleaner stripping method. You can see how I do that in my post How To Strip Furniture without Stripper HERE.
Once I had the frame stripped, I gave it a good sanding to make sure I had it down to the bare wood.
Steps To Paint Wash
- Mix your paint wash. The ratio is 3:1. Three parts water to one part paint. THE PAINT COLOR MATTERS! If you want a raw wood look, the paint color matters. My favorite color to do this technique can be found HERE.
- Once you have the paint wash mixed, it is time to apply. Use a paintbrush to apply the paint wash. Work in sections so the paint doesn’t have time to dry.
- Once you apply the paint, wipe it off (in the direction of the grain of the wood) with a dry rag.
- Continue this process until you have the entire piece done.
- NOTE: The longer you leave the paint on before wiping it away, the more “saturated” the color will be. You want the end result to look like raw wood, not painted wood.
- NOTE: You can layer this process to get a more saturated color if you think it is too light.
I recorded myself doing this in real time on my YouTube channel. You can find that video HERE.
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That’s it! That is all you have to do to get a raw wood look with paint wash.
You can apply a topcoat over the paint wash if you want. I did not do that on this frame.
The most important part of this process is getting the right paint color. If you use a white paint color, it will look like whitewashing. It will not look like light/raw wood.
This process is a great way to make wood that has red or orange tones to look more like a light, wood color.
It is like “painting” it to cover it up but yet, it looks like wood in the end.
I did this same process on this antique wardrobe.
What do you think of this project? Is it something you would try?
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thank you so much for explaining this so well! i just stripped a desk and it came out much like the piece you stripped here (a whitish wood color) but I am actually looking to paint wash it and give it a warm honey color like your before picture LOL. The desk used to be a mustard yellow color. Any ideas on colors to achieve this? Would so appreciate any tips you might have. Thank you again.
I would go with a color that has more orange/brown in it. Water it down and work in a small area first until you get the color you like.