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Before you start a painting project for your home, you might want to consider a wider-range of possibilities. Not just straight up “painting”…but other applications, too. Think about adding a few faux painting styles to your home improvement vision. It’s a great way to add some simple pizzazz to your project.
To take advantage of this inexpensive little design adventure, you’ll need some effective instruction. Oh…and another thing … make sure is that you don’t fall into some of the common pitfalls of faux painting.
When it comes to choosing the kind of faux painting you’d like for your home, you need to know what’s out there. To add a translucent appearance to walls, color washing offers a dreamy effect to walls. It’s subtle and soft. Want something a little more eye-catching? Consider using a combing method for your faux painting idea. Lines, waves, as well as checkered patterns can be created.
Maybe you’d rather portray the look of the Old World? Want to bring aged perfection into your living environment? Consider some of the crackle faux painting ideas out there that would really compliment your prized antiques.
Have an archway or entryway and want to make it sizzle with creativity? Use faux painting to create the illusion of stone or brick masonry. You might even want to create a decorative mural to set the scene for visitors. The limitations of a faux painting project are completely and totally up to you. No need to hire a professional; YOU can easily create the spaces you want to live in!
How about a soft glow in a room created with just paint? There are many different faux painting ideas to choose from. And you might want to consider adding a metallic finish to a setting. Ragging, colorwashing and combing techniques can be used to create this particular look.
Speaking of ragging…this faux painting idea produces an appealing fabric-like wall appearance. But don’t do just ONE layer. You have to go deeper than that. Three at the least. It’s still a good faux finish to use, but you don’t want to do that one layer or you’ll end up with a polka dot look. GADS! 
You can do monochromatic using varying shades of the same color OR you can do three separate colors. And another great tip is to “haze” it at the end. Either use a white or cream (with glaze & water mixed in to thin it out) to “frost” the surface or use a charcoal or chocolate (again with glaze & water to thin it out) and “smoke” the surface. Both will give your sponged faux finish a GREAT finish.
One of the best sponging jobs I ever saw was GOLD paint sponged on a butter yellow wall and the “frosted” with cream…then sponged again with the gold. Just BEAUTIFUL!
If you love the great outdoors, why not bring the textured look of nature into your home? Consider some of the faux painting ideas that incorporate sandy scenes. Sponging has also helped to produce numerous faux painting ideas for years and years. This is a great way to add depth and texture to a room. Use greens and browns to simulate displays that make Mother Nature proud. The key to a good sponging job though is LAYERS and remembering to turn your hand this way and that. Avoid the polka-dot look.
Before trying out any of your faux painting ideas, you should familiarize yourself with the 7 Pitfalls of Faux Finishing. Click Here for Faux Painting Ideas Help.
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Hi Gals,
Have you ever tried faux painting with a feather duster? Buy them cheap @ Walmart and use some latex conditioner to thin the paint a bit. Dip the ends lightly in the paint and shake to remove excess. Do a practice board to try the different “touches” to get a light wispy effect easily. If the room is big, it will take several dusters. The first time I did this, I used spray paint on the dusters, but it got “hard” too quickly and looked kind of gloppy on the wall!