Do you fake? I don’t do tanning beds anymore, but I do like some dark color on me in the summer so I opt for the “fake color”. Did you know you can “fake” a darker, deeper color on your wood furniture too?
If you have a piece of furniture that you don’t want to put the effort into stripping and restaining, or maybe it has a fakey finish to begin with. You are looking for something deeper, richer, more dramatic, but you don’t want to paint it, you still want it to look like a stain.
Here is an easy, wayyyyyyy easy fix for that. Do you remember when I showed you how to make anything look like wood? You can read that HERE.
This is the abbreviated version of that technique, as in abbreviating NO CHARGE to NC. ie, (hee hee). There is no charge for this free tip, (but a comment would be lovely).
Here is my side table (or Mark’s I should say) before:
I wanted to give this table a richer darker look. I pulled out my favorite bottle of Modern Masters “Coffee Bean” colorant. You can order Modern Masters online through a retailer. Some Kelley Moore stores stock their products too. Check your local store to find out. Here is a link to where I order mine. Artistic Accent Walls. I usually have it within a few days. The colorant is a highly pigmented acrylic. You could probably achieve this same effect with a highly pigmented acrylic paint. The trick here is, highly pigmented. With just using a chip brush, load it up about halfway, not as much as I would put on it if I were actually painting and wanted full coverage. Then I just brush on as evenly as I can, or not, depending on the look you are going for. If you mess up, you can keep a wet rag nearby and wipe it off quick before it dries. Here is how it looks getting started.
Do you see how the colorant naturally goes into the grain? That is the look you are aiming for. When this coat is dry, (it dried in about an hour). I came back and added detail to the edges and corners. You can go as heavy or as light as you want at this point. Just like if you got a spray on tan! (You don’t want to look like an oompa loompa, so don’t go too heavy)
Here are some details of the finished piece.
I added more colorant on the edges, then gradually let it fade in to lighter.
Here is the entire top:
And here is the whole reveal:
There is that canoe again, it is migrating around my bedroom.
Here is the table with some favorite people of mine:
Avant:
Apres:
(try not to notice where I got lazy and didn’t cut in, the dresser sits in front of the wall here, I know pahthetic)
It’s summer, go and get some brown on you!
looks really natural!
Oooo pretty! Darling Husband just sent a pic of a side table his office was going to throw out and asked if I wanted it? (I know! Duh!!) This colorant would work wonders on this tired little table. I will have to remember to take some before and after pics to share.
lovely! I’m so digging all your fun/quick painting tips.
So do you add anything on top of the Modern Masters? I’m going to have to give this a try. As I look around my house as some stuff I would like to make darker.
~Bliss~
That is amazing the difference it makes in that piece of furniture. Great tutorial too!
Wow, your table looks just beautiful! Now that’s the way to get a tan!
Love, love, love it!!! And no, with the sun out every stinkin’ day I don’t have to fake it. 🙂
Fabulous! I have some furniture that wasn’t screaming to be painted. I think it’s been holding out for a deeper tan
Is there anything you cannot transform. You need a show Extreme furniture makeover!
You should call that the fake n bake table.. Lol!! Seriously though that stuff is great and you did a fabulous job.
xoxo…mONiCa
Karen, that was the perfect table for this treatment. Makes a world of difference. So glad I’m not the only one with parts of their walls unfinished or spacked with drywall mud.
Wow…am I glad to find this tutorial! It’s the answer to the challenge of my dining room chairs. I can’t find the colorant on either of the links you provided nor via a general google search.
Edith
This is amazing! I’ve been procrastinating refinishing my dining room set – it’s a blond finish begging to be more walnut….all the pieces have beautiful lines and the most comfortable chairs ever so I don’t want to part with it – was just planning to strip and refinish. This is exactly what I need to do! THANK YOU!