I haven't seen a baby room as detailed as this one in a long time… wow!

The use of faux block to create the castle isn't intimidating or scary at all… the mural is all fun and whimsical in this Dragon and Castle Baby Room Nursery 

Sent to me by one of this blogs readers, Teresa Heinz. And… she isn't a professional painter, yet.

Technorati Tags: Castle Mural, Nursery Mural, Girls Room Mural, Painting Mural For Baby Room

I remember my mother and my grandmother sitting on the floor creating some sort of painted furniture. It was several… (I mean many several) years ago, and the fashion was antiqued furniture. So these two giggling girls would take old furniture… paint it up and add new hardware to create something new. 

Don't we all love to still do that today? I haven't painted a piece of furniture in several years, but I have a few pieces in storage waiting for me to create something fun. I still have a few pieces my mom and grandma painted that I am dying to paint over with something a bit more whimsical or in keeping with the style of my home.

I don't have any tips to share with you today about preparation of the furniture or products to use.

What I did find was this great video about whimsical painted furniture. You won't believe the great ideas you will get from this great little movie!

Once again I have the privilege of showing another tropical mural by one of my favorite mural painters. 

Dawn Papandrea-Khan

Surfaces with Paint
(845) 669-9093
Website: www.surfaceswithpaint.com
Blog: http://surfaceswithpaint.blogspot.com/

Prepare to be jealous!

Image via Flickr

Sometimes we get a question that is very general… a true call for help from someone who has never done a faux finish… ever.

Hi Debra and Tawn,

Thanks for your emails.  I love all the great hints in your newsletters and articles.  What I would like to do is a colorwash on a wall.  Could you tell me what I need and how to do it?
Thank you,

Rachel

It’s pretty hard to explain anything to do with painting…. with just words.  But we want to help everyone so we’ll give the old college try!
Colorwashing is a pretty broad subject.

Essentially, it is washing the walls with thin watery paint instead of soap. You can use brushes or rags to apply the paint. It is not a faux finish where you are removing paint, just applying it.

Woolie

After many years of applying paint with brushes and sea sponges… Debra found the Woolie Tool.  If you haven’t tried a Woolie – get thyself one and play.  You will have so much fun with your painting projects.  After Debra discovered the Woolie she shared it with me and it is absolutely my favorite tool now!

The Woolie creates smooth washes of color and you can use it to pat out any harsh places in the color washing.  It’s so easy to use!!  You can use one for all layers of color washing by washing out the pad and shaking it out very well.  You want it “just damp” and NOT soaking wet when you use it so make sure you push the water out after you clean it and then shake it and shake it to get it dried to the point of “damp” and not soaking wet.

Or you can have 2 or 3 on hand so you can just move from color to color… like painting with a paint brush and using a different one for each color.  It saves time and frustration to have more than one.

Woolie Decor Faux Painting Kit

Woolie Decor Faux Paint Kit

They have even come out with a Faux Technique Paint Kit with a video showing some basic painting techniques. Very cool!

Now… back to colorwash walls.

Colorwash on walls is a pretty broad classification in the faux painting world.  You’ll need to think about how you want the end result to look.  Think of these things:

• Are you going to use one, two, three… or more colors?
• And what do you want the finish to look like when you are done?
• Do you want a soft finish, or a textural looking finish.

The way you apply the paint and how you dilute the paint and how many colors you use… affects the outcome of the final painting technique.

Paint is pretty cheap and you can paint right over it if you hate the outcome.

That said… we will explain a basic two color – color wash technique.

First… you must understand that when using 2 separate colors – part of the wall will be covered with both colors which creates a third color. So… you must use colors that will blend together well.

You might think that…oh…say… pink and green look good together, but when layered over each other they will be brown and not so pretty.  So be careful of the choices you make in color.  I’d suggest using a sample board to test out your colors before making them BIG on the wall.  Easier to change your mind now rather than after you’ve applied two coats on your wall! 

Also… a color wash is applied with one color first on the entire wall and then the other color applied over the first color.  This second color is usually a softer… lighter color.  This then knocks back the brighter first color.

Second… When you first start painting the brighter color… it will seem to harsh and very messy looking.  You have to wait for the final coat to be applied to realize the beauty of a two color wash.

• Mix one part paint and 2 parts glaze in a bucket.

• Slip slap this color onto the wall with a large brush and then pat out the strong paint strokes with the Woolie pad. A strong color might be a burnt orange.

After the entire wall has dried… you will be applying the second color wash. You might choose a yellow color. Not pale, but sunny yellow.

By applying this second color you are knocking back the strong burnt orange color.  The entire wall when complete will be a lovely “Under The Tuscan Sun”  look (just had to throw that image in… I loved that movie!).

I know this isn’t a full color washing tutorial… just some basics. You really need to get a book and practice on a sample board until you find a technique you love.

Now get out there and splash some paint around!

Check out this amazing video of an Egyptian Mural for Bathroom as it unfolds before your eyes.  

This particular bath was constructed for this mural. The wall is obvious a planned
broken block wall and the ceiling is a barrel ceiling which just isn't found often
in a bath.

Couldn't this Egyptian mural be painted in any bathroom? 
Does the ceiling need to be a barrel vaulted ceiling? 
Does the wall have to be created with broken bricks? 

No!

This entire video is an inspiration…just see what can be accomplished with just paint! 

Things to look for:

• Blue (gorgeous) barrel ceiling with stars
• The mural breakout is painted on a "corner"
• The mural is drawn – then sections are basecoated in
• then the details are added.
•  The faux block is done in irregular shapes
• Check out the black counter with gold shell sink
• The wall sconce is worked into the mural
• Watch for sections of the "corner" that are
  
• actually 3-d breakout bricks.
  
•  The 1/2 sun in the mural is reflected in the mirror to make it an entire sun

[youtube]M6gOcZwwrjw[/youtube]

For those who can't see the video here… you can view it over at this YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6gOcZwwrjw