With this simple technique you can create a DIY Plank look without actually using planks. It’s a budget friendly alternative and can help you achieve the look you always dreamed of!
I have to start this post off with an apology. I think I got more requests for this tutorial than I have any other tutorial and I totally dropped the ball. Life got busy, I had blogging obligations, and this post along with my fake wall kind of fell through the cracks! But here I am to finally share with you this tutorial! Then I will share the fake wall ; )
Supplies: (some affiliate links below)
Piece of wood to plank (at least 1/2″ thick)
Circular Saw
Kreg Kreg Rip Cut
Paint
Dark Wax
How to Fake a DIY Plank Look
I used this process on my Ikea Rast Dresser that I turned into a nightstand.
*You may want to test this on a scrap piece to make sure you’ve got it down before cutting into a piece of furniture!
The first thing you will want to do is determine how wide you want your planks to appear. Since I was using this on a dresser I divided the height by 3 to determine an even spacing to have it appear as though it was 3 separate planks. If you are doing this on a larger surface area, you would just need to adjust accordingly.
Then you need to attach your Kreg Rip Cut to your circular saw and set the depth of the blade to only cut into the wood about 1/8″ – 1/4″ depending on the thickness of your wood. The awesome thing about the Rip Cut is that you set where you want your cut and it’s good to go. If you’ve never used one before it comes with instructions so all this will make sense ; ) In the picture below I already made the cut, but I sat the saw back on the drawer so you can see how it all looks.
Once I had my lines cut, I needed to fill the holes with wood filler for the hardware since I was adding my own and the current holes didn’t line up where I needed them to be. You may not need to do this step, but be sure you do it before you paint or sand for the best finished product! Once your wood filler is dry then you sand everything down so the wood filler is level with your wood. Wipe everything down with a damp cloth to remove any sawdust and then it’s time to paint!
I painted my nightstands with Sherwin William’s Urban Bronze. The trick here is that I sealed it with Annie Sloan’s Dark Wax. Then after I rubbed it on I took a small brush and brushed it into the cracks to give it a little more depth to make it look like it was actually planked and not just cut. : )
Then I drilled my holes for the new hardware and that’s it. It really didn’t take long at all and it greatly improved the look of this simple little dresser!
I hope you can find a fun way to fake this DIY Plank look .
To see more of our Master Bedroom click here or on the picture below.
Looking for more DIY Tips? Check out our latest posts here.
Linda J says
Thank you, thank you. I am so happy to learn this process! You bet I will be using it lot!
Benita says
I love how this turned out! A really cool look without having to cut board after board!
Kammy's Korner says
Love this idea! Pinning. :)
Kitty says
I have been waiting to learn how to make this night stand correctly – thank you so very much….
Liza joy johnson says
Fantastic!
Mari says
They look great! Did you make chalkpaint out of the sherwin williams paint or as is?
Ashley says
Thank you!! I used it as is since the dresser was already unfinished. : )
Hello,
Just a quick question, what was the finish of your paint?
Thank you.
Hi, just wondering if you used a primer before the Sherwin Williams paint? Or just the Sherwin Williams paint straight on the unfinished pine?
I didn’t do a primer on the ikea pine, but typically when building furniture I do because lumber from the hardware store tends to be quite a bit more porous!
Did you fully assemble the dressers before painting? How did you handle the insides of the drawers, are they all painted too (I realize this is just a personal preference thing, but I’m always curious what other people decide!)?
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Hi! I have a couple of quesitons. What is the finish of the paint you used? And also, is the dark wax the Annie Sloan Dark Chalk Paint Wax or is the is just called Wax? Thank you!
So… What is an alternative to a circle saw? I don’t have one of those lying around haha