Fun for the Family Faux Finishes (Love Your Home’s Walls)

The reason why I love a faux finish is that each one is unique. A finish gives walls personality and texture. Depending on the look, I usually like to keep it to one wall or half way up or down a wall in a room. Dramatic finishes look amazing in small bathrooms and powder rooms.

The cost is so much cheaper than buying wall paper and you don’t have to rip it off when you don’t like it anymore. Depending on the size of your room and your wall you can easily do all of these finishes in an afternoon!

Linen Faux

Tray to mix paint and glaze that will also fit your brush, Stir stick, Paint, Glaze, Big brush, Paper towels

Tips:

Make sure your wall is primed and has the desired background color. Light colors work best for a base while using a darker color as the finish.
2 to 3 ratio of paint to glaze.
Test on something else first like poster board to make sure you are getting desired color.
Working in sections do top to bottom first, then side to side.

Faux Wood finish

Wood Graining tool, Paint, Glaze, Sponge brush or paint brush, Container to mix glaze and paint in

Tips:

1 to 1 ratio paint to glaze.
Apply mixture of paint and glaze down wall in same width of tool. I do two rows at a time.
Using tool and starting at top pull tool down and rock in a back and forth motion slowly.
If you don’t like how it looks you can go over it with your sponge brush and do it again.

Brushed Metal Finish

Metal glaze, Big brush, Long brush, Scraper, Tray for glaze, Paper towels

Tips:

I tried one of the expensive decorative brushes. I took it back because it shed! Just use a sponge brush to apply the glaze then use a wallpaper brush or long stiff brush to get the effect.
Move your brush from left to right in a half circle. The more varied your strokes the better it looks.

One Step Faux-Tuscan

Tire brush, Tray to hold paint and glaze, Paint, Glaze, Sponge brush

Tips:

Make sure your wall is primed and has your desired base coat. The lightest color should be your base.
Working in small sections, apply paint and glaze mixture in a random strokes.
Using a circular motion and light touch, immediately use the tire brush to work the glaze and paint into dark and light spots. You have a little bit of time before it dries to move the paint around to create highs and lows.

One more (ok, 2) important tips!!! Before you apply a faux finish to your walls test it out on a piece of poster board. Be sure to paint the base color so you can see exactly what it’s going to look like before you go to the trouble of doing a wall or room you don’t like.

You don’t need to buy all those expensive fancy tools! I used a tire brush from Wal-Mart that cost $3.00!! They sell the faux brushes for $15 to 20 bucks at the stores. At 3 bucks you can buy 3 of them and get the whole family involved!

If you are near Kingman, Arizona, I’m teaching Wow Factor Walls and Night Blooming Luminaries at the Mohave Home and Garden Expo today (April 20) and tomorrow.