From the category archives:

Painting Techniques

Faux Finish How To: Painting Metallic Walls In A Bathroom

Holy Trinity Church, New Orleans. Interior of ...

I was recently talking about creating a patina or verdigris on “stuff” to make it look older and a friend I’m going to visit now wants to do it on their pergola! The difference is they have actual copper on the pergola so we’ll just be accelerating the aging process rather than faux painting it [...]

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Faux Finish How To: Hand Painted Paper

Okay…I know..I know…it’s PAPER. But it’s a very popular look in wall coverings. MUCH better than any roll of wallpaper because this look can be individualized. You can make it look like anything you want! Leather, wood, metal, and abstract painting! It’s a real durable finish as well. Easily wiped down with a mild detergent [...]

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Faux Finish How To: Aging…stuff – or – Adding patina!

There seems to be a recent revival in faux aging objects…and not just walls. I mean boxes, lamps, pots, etc. And as usual the popular “aging” is verdigris. That’s what happens to copper when it’s exposed to the elements over time. Copper slowly dulls, then it turns a gray-green (with a hint of black [...]

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Faux Finish How To: Aging your walls

Have you ever been to a home that was built in the 1800′s? Or better still built in the 1500′s or even earlier? Here in the United States you won’t find many homes built before the 1700′s. There just aren’t very many left standing. In Europe…you’ll find homes/buildings built over a thousand years ago! It’s [...]

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Faux Wood Grain on Curved Surfaces

Sometimes an idea about a technique is hard to imagine in “real life” terms. Debra’s written many times about her easy faux wood graining technique and how FABULOUSLY it works on straight surfaces (items without grooves or carving). But… what if you wanted to create a faux wood grain on a carved or turned post? [...]

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Fixing A Faux Finish

Question: “How can I fix my faux finish if I don’t like the way it turned out? The rest of the room is beautiful but the swirls and color accumulation near the door is too heavy.” Have you ever had this happen to you? Finish up your faux finish and then when you look back [...]

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Faux Painting Ideas | Colorwash Blending Too Much

Example of the color wash in multiple hues

Do you ever have a problem with a colorwash blending together tooooo much? You aren’t alone. It happens more often than you’d think, really. Suzy wrote in with just that problem, so I thought I’d share it with you … just in case you know someone that could use this information. Not YOU, of [...]

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Prep Your Surfaces – Whatever it may be – Part 2 – Wood

If you missed Part 1 – about prepping your walls, no problem! You can find it here–> Prep your walls before you paint. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + [...]

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Paint Faux Stone Around A Window

We just love it when readers write in and share their projects…and include pictures. Sometimes it’s just the thing to inspire us to get that project going we’ve been thinking about doing. I know Debra and I are often inspired to make changes around our houses by seeing pictures of someone else’s projects. Either through [...]

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Faux Paint over Bright Colors

Bright colors can be a lot of fun in a room — especially in a child’s room. A while back we painted a girl’s room with “raspberry” and “tangerine” and a yellow the color of margarine…deeper than butter yellow but not as bright as egg yolk. Wow! I never really notice they were all [...]