Painting Wicker Driftwood Grey

Here is a tutorial on how to paint wicker furniture!

Welcome back to another Trash to Treasure series!! Every month (2nd Friday) we take a “trash” item and turn it into “treasure”.

Be sure to follow my co-hosts, Karianne, Jenna, and Shannon at the end of this post!

Painting Wicker Driftwood Grey

So I have a lot of wicker throughout my house. I’ve had some of it going on 10 or 15 years or more! That’s a crazy amount of time for wicker furniture to last, really.

I had this wicker cube basket and it was getting pretty worn and I was thinking of sending it off to charity when I thought I could revive it somehow for this T2T series.

I decided to paint it a grey, a driftwood grey. Yep, I totally just made that up.

I’ll show you this easy paint technique to transform wicker to look like driftwood.

Painting wicker driftwood grey graphic.

 So here is the wicker cube. It has a lid so you can store stuff inside. I was storing my kids playdoh in it and sometimes we would even use it as a stool so I’m amazed at how well it’s held up.

A wicker basket before being painted in its natural state.

It’s seen better days, though, and the sun has bleached it in some areas of the wicker basket.

Sun bleaching on the top of the wicker basket.

 I decided to two different dusty grey paints on it and hopefully I would like the effect. Luckily I did! Here’s what you need:

SUPPLIES:

  • medium to dark wicker piece
  • two different grey craft paints (I used Martha Stewart Gray Wolf & Arrowhead)
  • two chip brushes
  • paper towel
  • paper plates (or something similar) to pour paint on
Martha Stewart grey paint laid out on the counter.

TUTORIAL:

1. Put a dab of paint on a paper plate. Dab your chip brush into the dark paint first (I used MS Arrowhead) and wipe the excess off.

Blue paper plates with the grey paint on it and a paint brush beside it.

2. Paint a light coat of the darker grey paint all over the wicker. Don’t worry about getting into all the cracks. It’s nice to see that dark wicker color show through at the end!

3. Once you’re done that first coat of paint, it should be dry where you first started (dries fast!). Take the lighter grey paint (I used MS Gray Wolf) and dry brush over the grey paint. Use a tiny bit of paint and wipe excess off on a paper towel or edge of paper plate. There will be less of this lighter grey paint going on than the darker paint.

4. If you make a mistake or want it a bit lighter, use paper towel to wipe off excess. You can use a wet paper towel if you need to get a lot off. Repaint that part again if you took too much off! Foolproof!

5. That’s it! My plan was to lightly sand it down afterward so you’d be able to see all the colors but I didn’t need to. The colors just shown through.

Putting the first coat of paint on the basket.

 Here is the finished painted wicker result!

The painted wicker basket beside a white couch.

I love the warm charcoal grey color!

The grey wicker basket in front of a large white mirror.

I added some coastal beachy accessories 😉

A candle, driftwood, and books on top of the basket.
The wicker basket in the living.
Up close of the grey wicker basket with a piece of driftwood on it and books.

The Beachy items on the top of the wicker basket.

Feel inspired to paint some wicker driftwood grey?

Be sure to check out what my co-hosts did for their Trash to Treasure projects!

Trash to Treasure series poster.

Karianne from Thistlewood Farm

Bicycle wheel calendar poster.

Jenna from Rain On A Tin Roof

DIY storage boxes poster.

Shannon from AKA Design 

TV table makeover graphic.

Linking up to these parties &

A Stroll Thru Life | Between Naps on the Porch | City Farmhouse | Common Ground | Coastal Charm | Finding Silver Pennies | From My Front Porch To Yours | Glamorous, Affordable Life | Jennifer Rizzo | Mod Vintage Life | My Repurposed Life | My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia | Remodelaholic | Savvy Southern Style | The Dedicated House | The Scoop | The Shabby Nest

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38 Comments

  2. I have some wicker boxes that are good quality, but I loathe the color. Never thought of painting them, and now I’m inspired to give it a whirl. Enjoy your weekend!

    Reply

  3. Pretty! I have a lot of baskets that are a similar color to your cube (the original color, that is!) and it would be fun to paint a couple of them to break up the uniformity. Great job!

    Reply

  4. I love that! I’m pretty sure I have the exact storage ottoman. I use it as my vanity stool and keep our bed linens in it (we have a tiny master, every piece of furniture does double duty!). It is starting to fade and fray though, it’s good to know it will take paint! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  7. There is a stain called weathered gray that looks very similar. Would that work as as well? I would think on wicker since it is woodish it might and there is no mixing involved. I have down several graffiti signs with it as my base bc my living room is gray. I am obsessed with that color right now!

    Reply

    1. Laurie, that sounds amazing! It might work well! I think it will depend on the finish of your wicker. Mine seems to have a bit of a sheen to it so it makes me think there was some sort of shellac or varnish on it, I don’t know. It would be worth trying it in a small spot first. What brand is the stain you are using.
      Thanks for the tip!
      Hugs,
      Jamie

      Reply

  11. Pretty and easy! Thank you for the inspiration.
    I love your slipcovers, been dying to sew my own. Did you make them?

    Kissesfromhome.Com
    Kissesfromhome.NET

    Reply

  13. Hi Jamie!!! LOVE your wicker makeover. Your cute driftwood cube was the most view paint project last week and will be featured tomorrow night at the Power of Paint Party! Thanks for linking up!

    Reply

  17. I have been wanting to paint a woven wicker-type chair to a coastal blue. I read on BHG that acrylic paint works well for wicker stuff because it’s flexible and so forth. I am wondering how well your paint has held up? I’m not necessarily looking for 10 years of wear time but something durable. Thanks!

    Reply

  18. This looks great! I inspired. I have a small wicker dresser I’d like to do this to. Do you think I can start with the grays and then add brown at the end to create the “driftwood” look, or should I paint the piece brown first?
    Love your site! Thanks!

    Reply

  19. Looks amazing!!! I’ve been wanting to paint my 6 Bali dining chairs (abaca woven in a checkered pattern – they’re kind of odd…see here, if interested: https://www.wayfair.com/furniture/pdp/bali-dining-side-chair-inc2003.html ) . The only problem is, they are BRAND NEW!! When I ordered them, I envisioned them looking “different” at my dining table…but now, I can’t stand the way they look. My hubby is probably going to want to shoot me, but I’m going to do this to our chairs now that I see it looks awesome! Thank you for doing this. I couldn’t seem to find anyone else who has painted their wicker in a driftwood look…I’m now convinced I have to do this, even if the chairs are new 😉

    Reply

    1. There is nothing worse than buying new furniture and you want to paint it, I get it. But it’s better to love them then just having to ‘deal’ with it, right?! I’m not sure if you’ve painted them yet, but they will need minimal paint to get a washed look. You could start with a small amount of paint over it, a wash of water and paint mixed together (1:1 ratio) and see if you like that then add more as you go. I’m not sure if you have cushions for the seats but it might help with keeping the paint fresh on the seats. I’ve had that wicker cube forever and this post is 4 years old and it still looks great! I like how some of the brown wicker shows through too. Hope this helps!
      Hugs, Jamie

      Reply

    1. You can definitely add a second layer. As long as you’re not putting too much on your brush, you can go over it many times until you get the right effect.
      Hugs, Jamie

      Reply

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