How to Faux Finish Cabinets

Lead Image for How to Faux Finish Cabinets
  • 4-12 hours
  • Beginner
  • 40-150
What You'll Need
Faux finish glaze
Faux finish brush
Blending Brush
Lent-free rag
Clear top coat
Paint
Primer
What You'll Need
Faux finish glaze
Faux finish brush
Blending Brush
Lent-free rag
Clear top coat
Paint
Primer

You can add a distinctive look to your home by creating faux finish cabinets. You don’t need a lot of money or materials for this kind of project, and you can probably find everything that you need for under $50. Adding a faux finish to your cabinets can completely change the look of the room. This project is inexpensive but produces big results.

Prepare the Cabinets

Before you begin adding glaze to the cabinets, you need to make sure they are clean and ready for the glaze. If your cabinets are already painted and you don’t plan on changing the base color, all you have to do is wipe them off with a warm, soapy rag. You want to make sure that there is no oil or grime left on the cabinets.

If your cabinets are stained, you will want to sand them and then prime and paint them with your preferred base color.
You are going to apply a glaze to the cabinets that are translucent. Because the glaze is translucent, you will be able to see the base color through the glaze. You can play around with color combinations to find exactly what you like.

Glaze the Cabinets

Once the paint has dried, you can add the glaze. You will want to work in small areas, about 2’x2’, and apply a thick coat of glaze. You will be using the faux brush to apply the glaze. The brush will add long stripe-like designs to the glaze. Be sure to work in the same direction throughout the entire unit of cabinets. If you start in a horizontal pattern, continue in that way through the entire project.

If you don’t like the way the design is coming, use your lint-free rag to wipe the glaze off and start over. The glaze will take a long while to dry.

Finish the Faux Finish

Once the glaze is on all of the cabinets, you need to use the blending brush to go over the glaze. The blending brush will add a softer look to the faux finish. If you added a thicker coat of glaze, you will use the blending brush to add definition.

The faux finish is not going to be perfect. The whole idea of adding a glaze is to give the cabinets an aged finish. If you find that you don’t like the look of the glaze, you will still have time to wipe it off and start again.

Let the Finish Cure

The glaze is going to take a long time to dry and then about a week to cure. During this time, you will need to make sure that you keep the traffic at the cabinets to a minimum so that the glaze isn’t damaged.

Apply Clear Coat

Once the cabinets have cured, you should apply a clear coat to the glaze to keep them protected. If your cabinets get a lot of wear and tear, you should add more than one coat.