Faux Painting: 4 Easy Steps to Add a Designer Look for Less Money
Many women struggle to create a home that provides more than shelter. If you want to make your home a haven from the outside world, try decorative painting to create more visual depth, visual space and boost your emotional support at the same time.
New painting techniques, some mimicking ancient faux art, dramatically alter the look of a room without setting you back a huge amount, and some decorative painting methods are fairly simple. Decorative painting adds depth and texture to a room and helps hide wall imperfections.
Practice on a spare piece of board before you begin painting your walls. That way, your mistakes can just be thrown away after you’ve learned your lesson.
Four Steps to Decorative Painting
#1 Add the base color to your surface. You can use flat, satin, or semi-gloss, according your taste. Once that has dried, which generally takes a couple hours, you’re ready to add your top coat.
#2 Mix one part of your top color with four parts faux glaze, which is available at most hardware centers. If you want your top coat to be darker or denser, use less faux glaze. The more glaze you add, the more transparent your top coat will be.
#3 Take slightly damp sea sponge, also available at most hardware centers, and dip it into your top coat mixture. Wipe off the excess and then begin applying the top coat lightly, starting by pressing the sponge into each corner. Then begin working your way across the surface, tapping the sponge lightly so you don’t get too much glaze mixture in any one place. don’t try to be uniform in your application of top glaze. Work small areas at a time to achieve a random look. When the glaze starts to decrease, dip the sponge in your glaze mixture again and continue the process until the entire surface has been sponged.
#4 After you’ve done the main areas, you can go back with a raggy brush and touch up areas between larger ones to create a pattern that’s consistent without looking too regimented. The idea is to create a whimsical, random look and feel.
Some things to remember if you’re thinking about decorative painting in your home:
A light base coat and darker top coat will give rooms a darker feeling. If your goal is to lighten the feel of a room, make sure your top coat is lighter than your base coat. Also, don’t use colors too far from each other on the color wheel. If there’s too much contrast, the room will look spotty and discordant, rather than warm and inviting. The true designer look gives you a subtle depth by using the same base coat paint in the glaze.
Learn more about using decorative painting at Flip That House with FAUX
Chicken faux art over tea glazed decorative paint; the wall was green before the tea glaze was ragged on.
See expert faux artists for inspiration or hire a professional in Southern California
Kim’s Decorative Murals
Faux Finishes
Valley Faux Custom Paint Finishes
Copyright © 2007 Jeanette J. Fisher