Faux Painting

Painting is the most important aspect of home decoration. Painting gives a lively look to a house. A painted house stays longer than non-painted house, a good paint also protects the walls from rain and harsh sun. There are loads of paint colors and types to choose from. One should choose paint colors depending on which look they want their house to have, like a formal look, a fun look or a warm look. If you are bugged with the usual paint color schemes and are looking for something unique and sophisticated, faux painting can be the right choice for you.

Faux Painting Ideas

Plaster work and glaze work are the two important processes of faux painting. The final result is either textured or plain. The following are some of the common faux finishes; you can add your creativity to these ideas to create a personalized pattern!

Color Wash: Color wash is one of the most popular faux painting techniques. In this technique, two shades of paint are used, one the base or light coat and the second a bright shade. The bright shade is mixed with glaze, as the glaze makes the first shade visible. You can create all sorts of patterns with the help of color wash.

Graining: Graining is a common technique used to imitate ancient and antique wood varieties. This is also one of the easy faux painting techniques, however, the furniture or rather the entire look of the room should match this wall painting technique. Graining is more of a vintage style, that is why the other arrangement should be in accordance.

Ragging: Ragging or dragging is a glazing technique used to create different textual patterns. This is quite an easy technique which is why it is used widely by beginners. All you have to do is roll glaze over the surface and then remove it with rags. This makes the underlying paint color visible, also creating a textual pattern. Different patterns of ragging can be created.

Strie: Strie, also known as stretched linen, is quite an easy faux painting technique. This finish is created by applying glaze and then dragging it off with the help of a brush. You will see linen pattern on the wall when the paint dries; this is the reason why it is called stretched linen. At least two people are required to get a perfect strie finish.

Marbleizing: As the name suggests, marbleizing finish is used to make walls look like real marble. Two techniques, viz. glaze and plaster are used to achieve the faux marbleizing effect.

How to Faux Paint

You can learn to faux paint within hours, if you follow the below given faux painting tips and add a little of your creativity and skill to it.

Step #1: First decide if you want to use faux techniques for interior or exterior painting. After that choose a solid color that you like and matches well with rest of the house. Paint the wall with this color and let it dry at least for 4 hours, or if possible, overnight. This solid paint will serve as the background color.

Step #2: Now select another wall paint color; this time choose a lighter color or a contrast color, whichever suits you the best. Acrylic paints work great.

Step #3: To create your glaze color, tint the glaze with the acrylic paint that you have chosen for the second coat. Pour this mixture into a roller tray.

Step #4: You will now need to decide which of the above mentioned faux finish you would like to paint your room in. Ragging and sponging are obviously the easiest of faux finishes. Do not start painting on the wall directly, try out the desired pattern on cardboard a couple of times and then on the wall.

This was all about faux painting. When you have thoroughly practiced any of the finish faux finishes, you can try all the above, and turn your room into a dramatic colorful space!