Fake the Look of Grasscloth Using a Broom
This post was transcribed by a member of the Hometalk editorial team from the original HometalkTV episode.
Grab a broom to create this super cool effect on your next thrift store find.
I found this interesting wood trunk at the thrift store for just over $20, and it needed to be transformed… badly. I grabbed a corn broom and some paint to help with the transformation.
To start I gave the trunk a good clean and then removed the weird metal ribbon someone put around it. Luckily, the metal ribbon was just held on by little tiny nails so it was easy to pop right up and remove it.
Once all of the metal ribbon had been removed, it was time to give it a good sanding before I could paint it.
Now it was time to paint it. I used a beautiful sage color called Bellwood from Fusion Mineral Paint. I gave the entire trunk one coat of the Bellwood. I didn't even bother filling in the little nail holes because they just added some character to the trunk.
After the trunk was painted, I used some really wide painter's tape to tape off the edges of the trunk. I took pieces and laid them down and used the edge of the trunk as a guide. I did the same thing to each of the edges all around the trunk.
With the trunk completely taped off, it was time to start playing with the broom. I started by painting the panel I was working on with beige paint. You want to make sure you put on a nice thick layer.
Then I took the corn broom and used it to create a seagrass effect by dragging it through the paint. Your paint needs to be nice and thick so that you have ample paint on there to create this effect in it.
The darker color underneath started show through between the strokes and that is exactly what you want. You can go over the surface as many times as you want until you get an effect you like.
You can make your grass effect go one way, or you could go both vertically and horizontally for a cross-hatch pattern.
I did this same effect on each of the panels.
Once the paint started to dry, I went ahead and removed the painter’s tape. I like to do this when it's still a little bit wet. I used regular painter's tape because it was okay if it pulled up some of my original paint color. I really wanted the trunk to have a rustic look and the tape helped achieve that. If you don't want the tape to pull up your original paint color, you can use the delicate area painter's tape.
Using tape like this is an excellent way to get the paint to look chippy without having to use milk paint.
You would never know that this is the same trunk I picked up at the thrift store. It was so easy to give it a makeover with just a little paint and a corn broom. I hope you'll try this on a piece of furniture the next time you're looking for a beachy effect.
Find more of my DIY projects on my blog here!
Resources for this project:
Comments
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Interesting texture, nicely done. Do you lose texture as the paint dries as many paints are self-leveling these days?
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Too bad she ruined a great old antique trunk
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Thank you for your input but it was actually a cheap truck that was less than 5 years old.
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
What does milk paint have to do with "the chippy" look?