Ask THAT Painter Lady A Question
THAT Painter Lady!
Have a question about faux painting, how to own a faux painting business, one of my books or videos or choosing colors? I’m always happy to hear from people who visit my site and I will do my best to help you and answer your question quickly.
I do get a ton of questions… so I can’t promise I’ll answer as fast as you would like.
I don’t answer questions by email… I usually address them on the message board .
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Please Note: by submitting a question or comment to Debra Conrad you relinquish any rights of ownership of your question and agree that I can rephrase, reword, modify, correct or repurpose your material without limitation or constraint. Don’t worry, though, it’s just part of how I pick which questions to answer and rephrase questions to be as broadly applicable as possible…
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello, & thanks for this opportunity to ask a question.
I just painted my bedroom an uncomfortable shade of yellow: It was supposed to by icy-looking (name: Yellow Shimmer”), but the green in it is too heavy-handed, & overall the shade is too dark for the room. I’d like to lighten this shade up, & at the same time tone down the neon look.
Have never faux-finished anything before. Is there a glaze I could use to effect the change I’m after? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, any source for paint additives, since even Lowes & Home Depot in my rural area doesn’t offer glazes.
BTW, I prefer off-shades, especially in pastels.
Regards,
Nica in Big Bend WV
Good morning. Your blog has some great information. My wife and I have a very successful faux finish and cabinet refinishing business as well. We’d like to swap links with you. How would we go about doing that?
Thanks!
Hello! We are wanting to paint our kitchen two shades of red (like brick and fire) with a faux finish, like a marble look. What is the easiest way to create this? We just did a beautiful gray sponge technique in our livingroom and want a little different texture in the kitchen. (We used a washcloth saturated in the glaze color to sponge…it was much easier than the cheesecloth they say to use!). Thanks for your help!
Hi Hope,
I love Red in the kitchen. Of course – I love red in almost any room
The two shades of red will look great if you don’t “blend” to much and make mud.
My favorite and easy way to do this is to paint the entire wall one color and then use that same color in a glaze mixture and the other color in a glaze mixture and then use the “Woolie” pad to blend.
BTW – I agree about the cheese cloth. What a pain in the neck to use… good idea about the wash cloth. Just the right size and texture.
Send me an email with link swap requests.
debra@thatpainterlady.com
Hi Nica… I think going over the top with a pearl glaze is going to knock back the bright color and give you a nice shimmer as well.
Apply with a 2″ brush and blend with the “Wollie” pad.
debra
Hi! We just did a Tuscan Faux finish in my Living Room and I feel like the glaze looks really streaky. (you can see the lines where it was put on)We used a neautral tan base coat and a Chocolate brown over the top. Is there any way to fix this?? We didn’t use an oil base glaze and I know it moves around more…could we re-texture the walls with the base over the glaze and wipe with a rag to get a more uniform look???
Thanks…Erica
Dear Painted Lady,
I am trying to paint a room in an old farm house. The place was built in the late 1800, with lath(spelling?) and plaster on top. the walls looks very wiggly. Do you have any ideas on how to paint so you can’t see the walls imperfections? There are many imperfections, but we can’t afford to replace the walls! Hope you can help.
Thank you so much!
Katherine
Hi Katherine…
I’m sure you are asking about a faux finish for the walls. Right? Old lath and plaster walls are often filled with imperfections. My idea
would be to “embrace” the imperfections. Funny… here in Arizona we pay big money to have walls that look old and imperfect.
Anyway… I would suggest a soft faux finish using glaze and the Woolie pad. It’s the easiest and will give you a nice warm effect on the walls.
Debra
Hi Erica…
It’s that Chocolate brown glaze that caused all the problems. I can visualize the streaky look you ended up with. :0(
I wouldn’t go to all the trouble and expense of retexturing the walls. Yikes.
You will just need to keep adding layers over the brown to get it to blend. It will blend… I promise.
Using the Woolie pad will make all the difference in the technique and using several colors for the glaze mixtures
other than dark brown will help soften the walls. In fact the dark chocolate colored glaze you have as the first
layer might be an accent you will love.
The top layers might be a golden yellow and a pale mocha brown… Test a few colors until you get a look you love.
Have fun… Debra
Hi,
I really messed up my bedroom and painted it petal blossom it looked peach in the store, but not it seem more pesto pink and it is to say the least UGLY. I painted over a purple paint, but need something to tone this stuff down, any helpful ideas which aren’t too expensive? And easy. I am not that great with a paint brush.
I have a poweder room with horrible wall paper that will be too difficult to remove. Can I paint over it and, if so, what do you suggest? Thanks
I have two articles for you – they should answer all your questions.
paint over wallpaper
paint over wallpaper
read this article tone down paint colors.
Of course – you will want to use a different color over your base coat of “pink”. Using anything with a yellow base for the glaze will
turn the pink into peach… trust me on this.
I just painted a bedroom one coat of SW “Rustic Adobe” and it turned out to be a vibrating orangey instead of a warm earthy color. It seems that different light bulbs accentuate or decentuate the orange but can’t tell which will tone it down the most. I’m about to paint the second coat and wonder what I can mix into the second gallon of paint to make it less orange and more earth tone when I’m done. Thanks!
HI Judith…
This is easy… take it back to the paint store and have them add (paint tint) raw umber or burnt sienna – which ever the “paint guy” thinks will make your current color more earth tone.
I promise you – this is the only way to truly change the color. Have them shake that paint well!
debra
Hi Debra
It was so strange when I got your most recent email today.
I have been wanting to paint my kitchen cupboards since moving into our new home two years ago. I finally bought the paint on the weekend and was just thinking of writing to you for suggestions, when your kitchen cabinet email came in.
The cabinets are solid wood and I have purchased an antique white. My problem is that the cupboards are just a solid door. There is no character…..ie trim, routered edges, indented areas. Nothing but a flat surface with handles. Do you have any suggestions of what I could do to the doors to make them more interesting after painting. A friend of mine suggested crown molding around the top level. Which is possible and I am most likely going to take her advise. I am now wondering about the actual door itself. Also, I am bouncing back and forth between removing the doors to paint them or leaving them in place. I know that it would take longer to paint with the doors on, but am worried that they may not be as secure if I removed them and replace them after painting.
Thanks for your time. I love your website and enjoy reading your emails.
Jen
Hey Jen… great minds think alike… I just knew you wanted to paint your kitchen cabinets.
I understand that the doors are flat and I’ve seen shows on hgtv.com where they added molding to the edges of every door.
Looked great – but what a pain in the behind!
Because you are planning to paint the cabinet doors… you have some great options.
You could “paper” them with paintable textured wallpaper.
You could attach some great molding in a square.
If seen some trivets or place mats that would be great to glue on and then paint.
Think about what you could attach to the doors and then paint (even glaze or antique).
Options girl – you have options!