How to Blend paint on Furniture

I always enjoy a beautiful two tone finish. I think it adds a touch of character to a piece of furniture. A good blended finish should look smooth with transition from paint color to paint color. You want to make sure you can not tell where one color began and where one ended.

“It has been suggested that “Colors seen together to produce a pleasing affective response are said to be in harmony”. – Wikipedia

When I blend paint on furniture I always try to think of color harmony and what it means. It may seem simple. But, if you pick two colors that are not pleasing to the eye you’ll have a piece of furniture that is not pleasing to the eye. (okay, lets just say you’ll have ugly furniture. 😉

Affiliate disclosure: “This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link.”

Supplies to Blending Paint on Furniture

I used a light grey and black paint colors for this chest. I used Annie Sloan’s Paris Grey (now called Chicago Grey) and Annie Sloans Graphite.
Your favorite paint brush (this is mine!)
Water
Shop towels (to wipe off any excess)

Steps to Blending Paint on Furniture

Begin with a clean surface. Wipe off any dust with a shop towel. Once surface is clean dip paintbrush into your darker color paint. In this case it was Graphite (black). You just want a light coat of paint on your paint brush. After paint brush has a small amount of paint dip paint brush into your water. (I like to use old tubs from cottage cheese, the kids applesauce or yogurt cups to hold water. 🙂

Once you have water on your brush (just a small amount) begin painting your furniture in up and down strokes. Next (do not clean your brush. This is part of blending. 🙂 dip your brush into your second color of paint. For me this was Paris Grey. (If you are concerned about mixing black and grey together you can pour your grey into a separate container.) After Grey is on your paint brush dip paint brush into your water and begin painting over the darker color. This allows for blending. You should see the two colors becoming close to one. Be careful not to blend to much so that you can see some definition in your colors yet have no brush lines from where one color started and where one color finished.

Keep repeating the above process until your project in completely painted. Use a little water and a little paint. If you ever have too much water wipe off the excess with shop towels.

PRO TIP: Blending paint works great when you go back and forth with your paint brush until you have no lines between your two colors. Adding small amounts of water to your paint brush as you go.

Influencers of Paint Blending

I can’t post about paint blending without mentioning Bob Ross in this post! His go to technique was a wet on wet technique of paint blending. Have you watched Bob Ross paint before? If so comment below with your favorite Bob Ross paint technique! I’d love to know!

“Ross used the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, in which the painter continues adding paint on top of still-wet paint rather than waiting a lengthy amount of time to allow each layer of paint to dry.“ –Wikipedia