Learn how to easily grey wash wood! This weathered gray stain finish works great for how to make wood look old and gray!
Last week on the blog, I shared a rustic DIY desk that Brandon built and finished. The photos I took didn’t quite show off the gray wash stain finish like I wanted, so I am sharing some close up photos today of the finish as well as how we created a weathered wood gray finish.
We tested out a few different combinations to get a more gray washed look.
Ultimately, we decided on using a combination of stain and white washed paint (paint mixed with water) to achieve a more weathered gray stain tone. It’s a great, easy way to distress wood with paint!
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How to Create a Weathered Wood Gray Finish:
Supplies Needed for a DIY Gray Wash Stain:
- Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner
- Dark Walnut Stain(also available here)
- White Paint (we used White Dove by Benjamin Moore in a flat finish)
- A little bit of water
- Staining Rags
- Sandpaper (we used 80 grit) or sanding block
- Paint Brush
*A printable version of this tutorial and step by step video are at the bottom of this post!*
1. Stain your wood
Before staining, make sure your wood is properly prepared for finishing. To learn more about how to prepare your wood surface for a weathered wood finish, as well as other weathered wood finish tutorials and how to protect your weathered wood surface, check out Weathered Wood Recipes!
Then, apply the pre-stain wood conditioner and let dry.
Next, apply one coat of the Dark Walnut stain. Wipe away any excess stain. Allow your stain to fully dry.
See my tutorial on how to stain wood for tips on staining wood!
2. Apply a white wash mixture to the wood
To create a whitewash paint mixture, we mixed about 1 part water to 1 part white paint. We ended up making the mixture a bit thicker with paint and less watery to achieve our desired finish.
Next, apply the white wash paint mixture to the wood in long strokes with a paint brush.
Allow the paint mixture to set for 3-5 seconds, then rub over the white wash paint strokes with a staining rag or lint free rag to smear the paint mixture into the wood. Allow it to fully dry.
See my whitewashing wood tutorial for more details on how to whitewash wood.
3. Distress the wood finish with sandpaper to create a grey wash wood look
Finally, very lightly distress the wood finish with sandpaper until you achieve your desired look!
I prefer to use 80 or 150 grit sandpaper wrapped around a piece if wood and hand sand until I get the look I want. A sanding block may be used too.
And that’s it! Pretty simple! You can also add a top coat of poly or wax if you’d like, we chose not to since we liked the look at this point.
Here is a close up of the wood grain with this rustic, gray, weathered wood finish. I just love how the grain lightly shows through with this grey wash wood stain finish!
What do you think of our weathered wood, gray finish? I think it definitely gives off a rustic vibe and it’s perfect for how to make wood look old and gray or how to grey wash wood! It’s definitely one of the easiest ways to distress wood with paint!
If you want to see another example of this finish, check out my easy DIY entryway bench which we applied the same finish to as well!
Want to save it for later?! Pin it here:
More DIY Weathered Gray Stain Finishes:
If you’re interested in more easy weathered wood finish tutorials with a gray wash stain look, learning how to properly prepare your surface for a weathered wood finish, or learning about top coats and how to protect your finish for the best results, check out Weathered Wood Recipes here!
Weathered Wood Recipes includes easy and budget friendly tutorials on how to create weathered wood finishes like this:
And this!
Click here to learn more about Weathered Wood Recipes!
I’d love to see photos of your project using the weathered wood finish in this tutorial! Feel free to share your DIY grey wash wood finish with me on Instagram @angelamariemade, Facebook, or e-mail pictures to [emailprotected]!
Also, if you’re interested in more wood finish ideas just using stain, be sure to check out my 10 favorite wood stain colors, 5 favorite grey wood stain colors, and 3 white wood stain options.
Be sure to follow along on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest for my latest projects, fun updates, and sneak peeks!
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Yield: 1
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Easy tutorial on how to create a weathered wood gray finish. Make new wood look like old weathered wood or refinish your furniture with this gray wash look!
Materials
- Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner
- Minwax Dark Walnut Stain
- White Paint (we used White Dove by Benjamin Moore)
- A little bit of water
- Staining Rags
- Sandpaper (we used 80 grit)
Tools
- Paint Brush
Instructions
- Make sure your wood is properly prepared. Then, apply a pre-stain wood conditioner.
- Stain your wood with one coat of Minwax Dark Walnut stain. Wipe away any excess stain. Allow it to fully dry.
- Apply a white wash mixture to the wood, using one about 1 part water to 1 part white paint. Apply the white wash to the wood in long strokes with a paint brush. Allow the paint mixture to set for 3-5 seconds, then rub
over the white wash paint strokes with a staining rag to smear the paint mixture into the wood. Allow it to fully dry. - Lightly distress the wood finish with sandpaper until you achieve your desired look!
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