How to Faux Wood Grain a Mantle

Creating a faux wood mantle adds a rustic appearance to your room. Use it in a beach house to evoke the sense of a tide swept wall. For a house in the woods, faux painting wood grain in lieu of purchasing expensive reclaimed lumber, can save you money. With inexpensive tools and a few learned painting techniques, you can craft wood knots and veins on your mantle. There's no need to call in the professionals to give your room the custom look of recycled wood.

Paint roller
2 roller covers
Paint tray
Base color paint
White latex paint
Clear glaze
Three piece wood-graining kit (glaze comb, graining tool, rocker)

Instructions

- 1
  Roll on two coats of your base color with the paint roller.
- 2
  Mix the glaze and white paint at a 50/50 ratio.
- 3
  Apply the glaze mixture over your dried base. Use your roller and work in sections.
- 4
  Cut the paint edge of your mantle with your glazing comb. Hold the comb at a 45 degree angle and pull it through the glaze.
- 5
  Create the grain by using the graining tool and the affixed rocker. Set the edge of the rocker onto one end of your section. Pull the tool through the glaze, while setting the curved rocker pattern into your mantle.
- 6
  Repeat steps 2 through 5, in sections, until you've completed the whole mantle.
- 7
  Let it dry.

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