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Faux painting is a
relatively easy technique you can do yourself. It uses a
base coat with glaze colors applied over it. Your base coat
may be your existing wall color, or you may choose to apply
a new base coat. If you use your existing wall color as a
base, it must have an eggshell, satin, or semi-gloss sheen.
The glaze cover may be applied with a rag or sponge, and may
be ragged on or ragged off. A ragged on coat simply means
you apply the color with a rag. A ragged off coat entails
painting a coat of paint over your base color and ragging
some of it off while it is still wet. A ragged on technique
will give you a more marbled appearance, while a ragged off
technique will be muted, somewhat like suede. The same
technique is used for sponging on and off. Sponged walls
that are sponged on will look more mottled, while sponging a
glaze coat off will look muted.
You can buy glaze colors from your local paint or home store
or you can make a glaze yourself. Your home store will have
various color combinations you can see in the store, so if
you aren’t sure of the color you want, this is the best
approach to take. You can make your own glaze by mixing one
quart latex paint to 1 ½ quarts water, and 1 cup water based
polyurethane to 1 gallon mix. You may add more water if
you want a more transparent look to our walls. The hardest
part of faux painting techniques is choosing your color
combinations, but most stores will help you with your
choices and have a variety of colors to choose
from. Remember it is only paint and can be easily changed.
Experiment with colors before you buy a large amount. If you
can’t find what you want at your home store, an easy way to
make choices is to go to your craft store and buy the 1 or 2
ounce bottles of latex craft paint. Mix in 1 ½ ounces water
to 1 ounce of paint and experiment. The paint store can
color match your choices. |
