Faux painting kitchen cabinets - Woodworking Talk

bzbatl · 04-10-2009, 04:50 PM

My mother decided to go cheap on me and just reface her cabinets with paint. We started talking about it, and she'd love to match the doors to a Thomasville piece she has in her breakfast nook.

It is a cherry piece that has stained raised panels and painted (yeah, painted) stiles/rails. The paint is black and has the "antiqued bronze" effect on the edge where it's sanded away to reveal the stained wood underneath.

Now here's the issue: her cabinets are MDF with a melamine covering that is peeling off.

I've primed the back which I couldn't get to come off, and it seems to be taking paint just fine. What I need to know is:

1. How should I go about attempting to match the doors? She realizes it will not be "stained" in the panels and just a solid color - but I've seen the antiqued bronze effect done before on a HGTV program before. Anyone know how to do this?

I'm thinking of actually staining the MDF with a mahogany stain on the edge, then just lightly sanding the paint with different grits to see how it comes out.

2. What kind of paint leaves a really smooth, satin-like finish? Latex always seems to be rubbery feeling to me, no matter what brand or sheen.

cabinetman · 04-10-2009, 05:56 PM

Could you post a picture so we can see what you're talking about?

Rick Mosher · 04-10-2009, 07:24 PM

This is a table base made out of birch ply that I faux painted Macassar ebony with a birds-eye raised panel. The first picture is before with just primer and the second is the final result. There is no real raised panel it is created by airbrushing shadows and highlights. Pierre Finkelsteins book "The Art of Faux" is probably one of the best places to learn. Here is a link to his web site he also sells faux brushes etc. If you would post a picture of the finish you are trying to duplicate maybe I could make some suggestions...

http://www.fauxbrushes.com/mm5/merchant.mvc

breakfastchef · 04-11-2009, 09:05 AM

Rick: That is outstanding! I am going to have to pick up a copy of Finkelsteins book.

joesdad · 04-11-2009, 02:35 PM

Sometimes the "worn edge" on painted pieces with what looks like the base wood showing through is actually done by very lightly feathering the edge with a lighter natural wood colored paint on top of the black. Take a closer look at your mom's Thomasville piece and see if the paint is actually sanded off. Look close, it can be deceiving when done correctly.

Rick, that piece is insane...I think I need to break out the old airbrushes and play around some. Airbrushing furniture can't be as detrimental to one's health as screwing up a flame job on some angry biker's Harley...

bzbatl · 04-12-2009, 11:17 PM

Holy crap, Rick. That's amazing. I'll try to find a picture in the next few days, or hopefully walk my mom through uploading a photo to the web, haha. The "grain" side is something I'd love to try to do for the panels.

cabinetman - I took one with my iPhone as a reference, but I didn't check it before I left, and it's all blurred and dark... hard to make out what I'm talking about. Hopefully I can find a pic of the unit, only problem is I have no idea what it would be called. It's like a hideaway desk, but it's only around 20" wide.

joes - I'll have to check that as well, thanks.

So far I've gotten the entire thing primed and the back is painted with black satin Rustoleum oil-based paint made for patio furniture. It gave it the exact finish I wanted. Now I just have to figure out how to do the fronts :)