Pottery Barn Faux Wood Dining Table Refinish
Step-by-step guide made from Black Sheep House's YouTube video.
Refinish an old wooden dining table with a faux wood grain look using a tan primer-paint base coat, brown antiquing glaze, and a whisk broom graining technique. The tabletop is accented with subtle dry-brushed highlights and sealed with an oil-based polyurethane topcoat for a durable, scratch-resistant finish.
- Difficulty: beginner
- Time: about 4 hours
Safety
- Wear a particulate respirator mask while scuff sanding to avoid inhaling fine finish and wood dust.
- Work in a well-ventilated area such as an open garage when applying oil-based polyurethane topcoats or using mineral spirits.
Must know before you build
- Base coats need 24 hours dry time before glaze; rushing causes lifting or streaking.
- Avoid direct sun/heat when glazing; it dries too fast, leaving dark overlap marks.
- Grain with whisk broom only while glaze is wet; dry glaze will glob, not form clean lines.
- Brush all coats and grain parallel to table seams for a blended, seamless faux wood look.
- Mix primer 50/50 with base paint; skip this, and acrylic paint will peel off.
- Oil-based poly needs 2 days to cure; water-based offers faster dry, no ambering.
Tools
- Plastic mixing bowl (plastic utility bowl)
- Sanding sponge (flexible foam sanding block)
- Respirator mask (half-face particulate respirator) (optional)
- Shop vacuum (wet/dry shop vacuum with brush nozzle, Ridgid)
- Divided paint tray and measuring cup (plastic paint container and paper cup)
- Angled paintbrush (angled sash paintbrush, Zibra, 2 in to 2.5 in width)
- Deck staining brush (wide bristle staining brush, 5 in width)
- Whisk broom (handheld natural corn/straw whisk broom, 6 in width)
- Plastic zip tie (pointed plastic cable tie) (optional)
- Chip brush (natural bristle disposable chip brush)
Materials
- Dish soap degreaser (liquid dish soap, Palmolive, OxiClean, 32.5 fl oz)
- Paper towels (disposable paper towels)
- Sandpaper (fine-grit sandpaper sheet, 3M, P220 grit, Pro Grade Precision)
- Water-based primer (water-based interior/exterior primer, Zinsser, Bulls Eye 1-2-3)
- Tan base paint (acrylic interior semi-gloss enamel paint, Behr, Rugged Tan, Premium Plus Interior Semi-Gloss Enamel)
- Decorative antiquing glaze (water-based decorative glaze, Rust-Oleum, Java Brown, Transformations Decorative Glaze, 32 fl oz)
- Pale yellow dry-brush paint (flat interior paint sample, Behr, Natural Twine, flat sheen)
- Polyurethane topcoat (oil-based urethane topcoat, General Finishes, Arm-R-Seal)
- Black spray paint (aerosol spray paint, Rust-Oleum)
Step by step
Step 1: Clean and degrease the tabletop
Wash and degrease the tabletop and edges using dish soap and water, then wipe the surface dry with clean paper towels.
- Mix soapy water and scrub the tabletop. Squeeze dish soap into a bowl of water, dip paper towels into the solution, and scrub the entire tabletop surface and molded edges to remove grease and grime.
- Tip: Use a degreasing dish soap like Palmolive OxiClean or Dawn to cut through kitchen grease before sanding.
- Wipe the tabletop clean and dry. Wipe down the entire tabletop with fresh paper towels to remove soap residue and dry the surface before sanding.
- Common mistake: Sanding before degreasing, which grinds surface oils into the wood and ruins paint adhesion.
Step 2: Scuff sand and vacuum the tabletop
Lightly scuff sand the entire tabletop and beveled edges with 220-grit sandpaper and vacuum away all sanding dust.
- Scuff sand the flat surface and edges with 220-grit sandpaper. Wrap 220-grit sandpaper around a flexible sanding sponge and lightly scuff sand the entire tabletop and beveled edges for about 5 minutes to knock down bumps and dull the finish.
- Tip: Scuff sanding an entire tabletop should only take 5 to 10 minutes—you only need to dull the surface and smooth out minor bumps.
- Tip: Unless the table has major structural damage, skip filling minor scratches since the faux wood glaze texture hides small flaws.
- Vacuum away all sanding dust. Use a shop vacuum with a brush attachment to thoroughly vacuum all sanding dust off the tabletop and edges.
- Watch out: Wear a respirator mask while sanding to avoid breathing fine finish dust.
- Common mistake: Over-sanding down to bare wood when a light 5-minute scuff sand with 220-grit is all that is needed.
Step 3: Mix the primer and base paint
Measure equal parts water-based primer and tan acrylic paint into a tray and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Measure equal parts primer and tan paint. Pour one cup of Zinsser water-based primer and one cup of Behr Rugged Tan semi-gloss acrylic paint into a plastic paint tray.
- Tip: Ask the paint counter to tint your primer to 'Rugged Tan' by Behr, or mix white water-based primer 50/50 with Rugged Tan paint yourself.
- Stir the primer and paint mixture. Stir the primer and tan paint together until the color is uniform and creamy, then load a 2-inch angled paintbrush.
- Tip: Mixing white primer 50/50 with Rugged Tan creates a slightly lighter, creamier base color; for an exact Pottery Barn match, prime first and then apply solid Rugged Tan paint on top.
- Common mistake: Applying standard acrylic wall paint directly to furniture without priming first or mixing in primer, which causes the paint to peel off.
Step 4: Apply two coats of the primer-paint mixture
Brush two coats of the primer and paint mixture onto the tabletop parallel to the center seam, allow to dry overnight, and wipe away any dust.
- Brush on the first coat parallel to the center seam. Use a 2-inch angled brush to apply the first coat of the primer-paint mixture across the tabletop in long strokes parallel to the center leaf seam, then brush around the molded outer edge.
- Tip: Always prime the surface or mix primer into acrylic wall paint so it doesn't peel off slick furniture surfaces.
- Apply the second coat after 30 minutes. Let the first coat dry for about 30 minutes, then brush on a second coat of the primer-paint mixture in the same horizontal direction parallel to the center seam, covering the top and edges.
- Tip: Brush the base coats in the exact same direction you plan to brush the glaze—parallel to the center leaf seam—so the seam blends in seamlessly.
- Watch out: Let the second coat dry for 24 hours or overnight before applying the antiquing glaze.
- Wipe dust off the dried base coat. Once the second coat has dried overnight, wipe down the entire tabletop with a dry paper towel or tack cloth to remove any settled garage dust.
- Tip: Wipe the dried base coat with a paper towel or tack cloth right before glazing to remove garage dust.
- Common mistake: Applying the decorative glaze before the base paint has cured overnight, which can cause the base coat to lift or streak.
Step 5: Apply glaze and brush faux wood grain
Brush brown glaze onto the tabletop in 4-to-7-inch strips, smooth each strip end-to-end with a 5-inch deck staining brush, and drag a whisk broom repeatedly through the wet glaze to form wood grain lines.
- Glaze, smooth, and whisk-brush the first edge strip. Brush a thin strip of Java Brown decorative glaze along the outer edge of the tabletop with an angled brush, smooth it end-to-end with a 5-inch deck staining brush, and drag a 6-inch whisk broom repeatedly along the wet strip to create fine grain lines.
- Tip: Wipe your deck staining brush and whisk broom on a lint-free cloth whenever product builds up on the bristles.
- Tip: You cannot brush over a wet section too many times with the whisk broom—keep brushing until it reaches your desired lightness.
- Continue glazing and graining across the first half of the table. Work across the first half of the tabletop up to the center seam in 4-to-7-inch strips—applying a light coat of glaze with the angled brush, smoothing end-to-end with the deck brush, and texturing with the whisk broom.
- Tip: If you don't like how a section looks while it's still wet, brush more glaze over that strip and wipe it back with the deck brush and broom.
- Tip: If the glaze has already started to dry and you want to redo it, wipe it off with mineral spirits or soap and water before it fully cures.
- Common mistake: Applying too much glaze and not wiping off the brushes between sections, which leaves the finish too heavy and slow to dry.
- Brush glaze along the beveled outer edge. Run the 5-inch deck staining brush around the molded outer edge of the first half of the tabletop to blend the glaze into the bevels without using the whisk broom on the edge.
- Glaze and grain the second half of the tabletop. Starting at the center leaf seam, apply glaze in 4-to-7-inch strips across the second half of the table, smoothing each strip end-to-end with the deck staining brush and dragging the whisk broom straight across.
- Tip: Work in 4-to-7-inch wide strips from one end of the surface to the other so the glaze stays wet while you texture it.
- Detail the remaining edge and optionally soften the grain. Brush around the remaining beveled edge with the deck staining brush, and optionally glide the deck staining brush lightly over the top grain if you want to soften drastic whisk-broom lines.
- Tip: If the whisk broom lines look too drastic, lightly go back over the wet surface with the deck staining brush to soften them.
- Common mistake: Letting a loose t-shirt rub against the wet glazed edge while leaning across a wide table.
- Common mistake: Allowing strokes to curve on a large tabletop instead of keeping them straight and parallel to the center seam.
Step 6: Remove excess glaze spots
Scrape away any dried globs or heavy spots of glaze along the grain direction using the pointed tip of a zip tie.
- Scrape dried glaze globs along the grain. Use the pointed tip of a plastic zip tie to gently scratch away small dried globs of antiquing glaze, moving strictly in the direction of the faux grain lines.
- Tip: Use the pointed tip of a zip tie, toothpick, fork, or fingernail to gently scratch off small dried glaze globs along the grain lines.
- Etch grain lines through heavy glaze spots. Draw the tip of the zip tie through any small, overly dark spots near the seam to break up the heavy glaze and blend it into the surrounding grain lines.
- Common mistake: Going back over a heavy spot with the whisk broom once the glaze has already started drying, which causes the glaze to glob up.
Step 7: Dry brush pale yellow highlights
Dab a chip brush into pale yellow paint, offload the excess onto a paper towel, and lightly dry brush highlights across the grained tabletop.
- Load a chip brush and offload excess paint onto a paper towel. Stir the pale yellow flat paint, dip the tips of a natural-bristle chip brush into the paint, and wipe the bristles repeatedly on a paper towel until almost no wet paint remains.
- Tip: Use a natural-fiber chip brush for dry brushing because its jagged bristle edge creates a natural, feathered highlight.
- Feather pale yellow highlights along the grain and buff. Lightly whisk the nearly dry chip brush along the wood grain across the tabletop and edges to add subtle dimension, wiping with a paper towel as needed to blend.
- Tip: Dry brushing pale yellow highlights is completely optional and adds subtle dimension, but the finish still looks great without it.
- Common mistake: Not offloading enough paint from the chip brush onto a paper towel before touching the table, which leaves heavy yellow streaks.
Step 8: Seal the tabletop with polyurethane
Stir the oil-based polyurethane topcoat, brush an even coat over the tabletop and edges following the grain, and leave it to cure for two days.
- Open and stir the oil-based polyurethane. Pry open the can of General Finishes Arm-R-Seal oil-based urethane and stir it gently and thoroughly toredistribute thesettled solids.
- Brush the polyurethane topcoat over the tabletop and cure. Use a brush to apply an even coat of Arm-R-Seal polyurethane along the faux wood grain across the entire tabletop and beveled edges, then leave it undisturbed to dry for two days.
- Tip: Oil-based wipe-on polyurethane provides maximum scratch resistance and durability for heavily used dining tables.
- Watch out: Leave the sealed tabletop to dry for two full days before use.
- Common mistake: Over-brushing water-based polyurethane over water-based glaze before it has fully cured, which can reactivate and smear the brown glaze.
- Common mistake: Using a low-quality chip brush for the topcoat without watching for shed bristles in the wet finish.