How to Get the Cracked Painted Appearance on Furniture

Don't just toss your boring old dressing into a basement corner, transform it into a trendy new piece. Cracked paint, more commonly known as crackle paint, is a popular faux finish technique that instantly gives a piece of furniture, a picture frame or any other wood surface a weathered look. Crackled pieces fit in well with a shabby chic design concept. While the technique isn't difficult, you may want to practice first on a piece of scrap wood to get down the timing and the brush strokes required for the paint to crack correctly.

Primer
Paintbrushes
Contrasting latex paint colors
Crackle glaze
Fine sand paper

Instructions

- 1
  Prime your surface with your preferred primer. Use a traditional white primer if you plan a different base color than the current color of your surface. Use a clear primer if the surface is already the color you want showing through the cracks. Allow the primer to dry for 24 hours.
- 2
  Paint the surface with the color you want want the cracks to appear as. Contrasting colors work best for full crackle effect. For example, if the undercoat is blue and the top coat is cream, you'll have a cream surface with blue cracks showing through. Allow the undercoat to fully dry for 24 hours.
- 3
  Apply the crackle glaze, available in paint and hardware stores, in one even coat. Use the same direction of brush stroke for the entire piece to create consistent-looking cracks with the end result. A thin application of glaze yields a small web of cracks, while a thicker coat will create larger cracks.
- 4
  Allow the crackle glaze to semi-dry for one to three hours, depending on the thickness of the application. It should still be sticky, but not thoroughly dry. If it's too dry, the crackle effect will not work.
- 5
  Paint the top coat color onto the surface, using the brush strokes that go in the opposite direction of the way you applied the crackle glaze. Load enough paint onto the brush that you only need a single stroke to cover each area. Repeated strokes over the same area cover the crackle glaze and can ruin or diminish the end result.
- 6
  Touch up any missed areas by dabbing them with paint using a small paint brush.
- 7
  Allow the surface to dry. As it dries, you will see cracks appearing. They're caused by the crackle glaze drying faster than the top coat. As the glaze dries, it contracts, disturbing -- and cracking -- the top coat of paint.
- 8
  Lightly sand the surface, if desired, after the piece is dry to increase the weathered look.

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