by THAT Painter Lady on Friday, January 26, 2007
Have you ever thought of painting a Faux Brick Wall on Brick? Do you have brick in your home that has been painted? All too often this is the solution used by homeowners to “freshen up” worn red brick. Maybe the design of the room called for something other than worn red brick.
The easy solution was to paint the brick…mortar included.
While each home and homeowner is different…and we all have our good ideas, how can learn to paint the brick back to original? How about painting the brick with a faux finish to resemble brick? It really is much easier than trying to strip all that old paint.
Question from subscriber:
The following is an email with just that question and my solution to the problem…including a link to some free information.
Hi Debra,
I have four real brick pillars on our house – 2 are four-sided supports for the entryway porch and 2 are one-sided at either side of the garage.
All this brick was painted white (horror of horrors) when the house was built 13 years ago – I would like to restore the brick to a natural brick appearance — I have not been able to find a local painter who does this special work and am wondering if your instructional materials would applicable to this particular project.
I do not want a single color brick so there would obviously be some artistic skills required to replicate the multi-color design (with natural variations) from brick to brick – Can you help me?? Any advice/suggestions??
My Answer:
I have faced this problem many times. Imagine being paid to paint a brick wall back to looking like bricks after someone covered them with paint. The fact that the grout is usually painted as well makes painting in the faux brick wall back to original looking brick and mortar… a challenge.
The techniques taught in the
Video and eBook for mixing colors and painting in “bricks” one brick at a time… are very useful. They are the techniques I use to faux bricks for clients.
The trick is to paint the grout first. You can be as messy with the grout color over the bricks as you want. Just get the grout color in to every nook and cranny before you start painting the bricks. This will make your life so much easier.
Then just worry about painting the face of each brick. One at atime…so you will get the variations.
Thanks for the question.
Want to see the process in step by step photos?
Here is a link to photos and actual step by step of repainting brick to look like brick. Check out the inventive way they painted in the grout using real mortar!
Click on each of their photos to see all the details up close!
Faux Brick on Brick Finish
by THAT Painter Lady on Saturday, September 23, 2006
Professional decorative painting artists- listen up!
UPDATE: New Faux Painting For Profit Website…. Sign up for the newsletter and FREE Faux Painting Information.
Last week Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. announced that Lowe's will carry over 350 of Martha Stewart's paint colors to choose from.
The paint will retail for around $25.00 per gallon. K-mart will still carry the Martha Stewart brand.
About 15 years ago (when a Kmart was still in the local area) I started using Martha Stewart paint. Not for it's quality or coverage ability, but as a decorative painting artist… it was a marketing ploy on my part.
I would recommend a few colors from her current pallet and my clients to be were hooked. The timing was perfect… as I didn't have Ralph's or any other decorator brand names available at that time.
Martha was at the top of her game, and my customers wanted colors and furnishings that were Martha Stewart style. So not only did I offer my customers designer colors for the decorative painting, but they could brag about it to their friends.
I would show up to their homes with Martha Stewart paint cans in tow and I was a hit! It didn't matter to my client that I had to work harder to get the paints to work correctly for my techniques. The paint quality was more like $10 a gallon paint and the color saturation was minimal. Coverage was poor and consistency was watered down.
I used this paint because of the name and the can.
I could charge more for a decorative painting technique because of the Martha Stewart name.
Then the inevitable happened…Our local K-mart store closed and Sears hadn't picked up the line yet.
I was in shock. I had to get creative with my marketing and I had to learn to use other paint brands.
What a blessing. I could choose the brands that worked miracles with my decorative painting techniques come alive.
Then I hit pay dirt! Lowe's and Home Depot both opened a store in our local area. I now had easy access to designer colors and designer brands.
I could offer my clients a buffet of choices and they lapped it up! Martha Stewart is again a name that clients will want to brag about. She has competition in the paint field, but her style is current and easily consumed.
I have yet to try Martha Stewart paint from Lowe's… so I can't comment on it's coverage or how user friendly it will be for decorative painters.
For those of you that are professional decorative painters…I would suggest that as soon as it is available to you, give her paint a try. If you can stand to use it at all… definitley add the Martha Stewart name to your bag of tricks.
You will be amazed at you client response and you may be able to command a higher price for your decorative painting work.
If you are a professional in the faux painting field… check out this new website just for professional faux painting and mural artists.
by THAT Painter Lady on Sunday, August 13, 2006
These Two Faux and Mural Painting Business Partners are like Two Peas (Painters) in a Pod – Cast
These two Previous Mural Painting Business Partners are still the best of friends. Distance has not prevented them from working together. When a two person job comes along, one pea only has to call and the other is already traveling to help.
We were not sure whether to start off our first Mural and Faux Paint Podcast with the explanation of the name and then talk about our mural painting business…Or should we just cut straight to dessert and give up the link now…How 'bout now? Nooo, what about Now? Sorry – inside joke.
So, I being the webmaster…having put on my DIVA crown made an executive decision and Voila….zee have zee link.
True Story about our first Faux Paint Podcast…This recording was never intended for release. I needed good solid information – quickly – for a Special Free Faux Paint Report I was building.
I took my trusty recording device and with the bribe of food (which always works) I had a 10 minute recorded conversation with my old Faux Painting Business Buddy. It turned out to be really fun.
You can listen to this good old fashioned giggle fest at: Two Painters In a Podcast
In Future Podcasts we will divulge the faux painting business partners name and reveal just how it was starting our own faux painting business and being self-employed moms on the run.
Now…Lets Go Paint!
