Wednesday, August 27, 2008

~ Black Glazed Finish for Painted Furniture & Cabinets







When thinking of writing this tutorial I was considering what the differences might be between doing this black glaze the antiqued white (mocha) glaze that I have written about previously.

A lot of people like wood cabinets rather than white. I love both. Some days I love one, then the next day I love the other look. And it can switch at any time.
In addition to changing your white cabinets into a richer more finished look with glazing, you can also do this for wood cabinets. If you look at cabinet doors, etc. at the stores you will see that they often have a black or brown glaze on them, as do many good furniture pieces. This is pretty easy to do once you get used to it. Although this is simple, it can be frustrating at first, but once you get the feel for what the paint does, it is really easy.

  1. Black Paint, one little bottle of craft paint will do most jobs.
  2. Glaze, either the same used on walls, or use a bottle from the craft store found either in with the artists supplies or craft paints
  3. Small art brushes
  4. Rags, lots of them.
  5. Latex gloves are quite handy to have, or you will have black hands most likely
  6. Small container or bucket of water to dilute and clean up as you go.
Start with a small container and mix some glaze and a little water. Just enough water so that the paint is thin enough to run into the crevices. (Although I have done this with just water to make it thin enough, water dries quicker than glaze. If you feel good with the technique you can do it with just water.)

Add black paint to the ratio of 1 part paint to 3 or 4 parts glaze & mix.
Add more glaze or water as needed to control the strength & thickness of the paint.

You will use a small artist brush to brush on like a pin stripe line beside the moldings or lines of the piece. As soon as you paint that area, take a damp rag on your index finger, angled away from the painted area and wipe it clean, leaving the glaze where you want it. (Sounds tough, but it gets easy!)

Carved areas or crevices: Brush on the glaze into all the deepest areas and along side any moldings. The black can stain a bit where ever it touches. So be sure to control it. Keep water and damp rags nearby to remove from any area as soon as you need to. (If it gets on the wood where you really don't want it, Comet will usually remove it right away.)

The smaller the line and the more detailed you want it, the smaller the brush to a certain degree. You will not be using any large brushes for this kind of detail glaze.

I like to splatter and speckle mine when I'm done. You do this by loading the brush with watered down paint, and tapping the brush on something hard over the area you want splattered, and it will splatter specks from the tips of the brush.
OR you can use an old toothbrush. Load it with watered down paint, and then use your thumb to splatter the paint by pulling the bristles back and letting them go. Some old paint brushes are short and stiff enough to it that way as well.

The glaze outlines the molding shapes and really adds a lot to ordinary cabinets. Lots of people have done this who had not painted much or at all before. Once they got the feel for it, they all did a fabulous job with it.



~ See Y'All Soon ~

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for the tips. That's a really great way to get a little extra mileage out of stained cabs. I'd love to redo my whole kitchen sometime, but in the meantime, I'm considering adding a bit of glaze to the stained wood.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How about that Donna? We were on the same page today. Your kitchen is beautiful too & you should show it ALL off.

    Love your new rug, if I didn't say so already.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Donna, I remember all your wonderful painting techniques from the other site. You give great directions and are always so creative! I loved seeing this cabinet again. Can you believe I was just standing in my craft room thinking of doing this to the oak cabinets....just stock cabs from Lowes.....Question, do I have to sand or use deglosser before I begin?
    I'm going to take down the wallpaper border & paint the room so I may as well do this too since I've been wanting to for a long time.
    You must be getting vibes from me up here in PA.
    Take care, DebraK

    ReplyDelete
  4. Gorgeous cabinet! I have a question for you about how to paint/antique/glaze whatever on my kitchen table base... (I'll get back with you with pics so you can "instruct" me if you are so inclined!)

    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, what a difference a little black glaze makes. Beautiful. Thank you for sharing the step by step instructions.

    Blessings,

    Sher

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for posting about how to do this I will try it something!! Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  7. How did you know that I wanted to attempt this in my kitchen? I'm so scared to though. We just bought a home that has some ugly oak cabinets. I ant to try wood filler (I know this is difficult) and then paint them a cream. After that use a dark brown glaze. Am I totally nuts for wanting to do this myself?

    ~melody~

    ReplyDelete
  8. I came across your blog looking up great front doors and yours came up. I love love love (did I say "love") your blog...It is truly wonderful! I will be back VERY soon!
    -Sandy Toes

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Donna,
    This is yet another room in your home, I simply love.

    My pkg arrived. The pieces are beautiful! Thank you so much for the surprise!
    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  10. mmm I love this black glazing tip , thank you !

    ReplyDelete
  11. BAck again...your house is SO BEAUTIFUL and all these wonderful deco tips (must get a pencil and jot them down)

    I was drinking it all in - better than a magazine! DEFINITELY

    I had a nice little chuckle over the refrigerator and felt so validated because we have a 1950's home....yes....the whole refrig thing. You pay MORE for a smaller one that will fit. CRAZY. And thanks to you - I will remember the counter top issue when we get to those....

    Wonderful info here right and left and such pretty pictures, and good writing, and and and.....

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi, great tips!! Have a question can I do this over finished cabinets without any sanding?? or prep work ?
    Thanks! Michelle

    ReplyDelete
  13. Just found your blog while searching for how to use black glaze. Love it! Question (and I see others have asked this, too) - do you need to prep the finish before doing this, i.e. sand, degloss, etc.? Thanks for the instructions.

    ReplyDelete

Everyone loves comments! Thanks for stopping by and for taking a moment to leave a little note. (Comment moderation maybe be on at this time. Simply leave your note, and it will be published shortly.)
Donna