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Here is a question about Leather Faux Painting Techniques On Leather. I never thought about how to make leather look like… well… leather.

The problem this reader has… her leather accessories look bland.

I just found your website while browsing and love the ideas and tips you have provided here.

I had a question about a project idea I have had for a while now.  I recently renovated my bedroom and changed it to a deep red/gold/cream theme on dark chocolate furniture contrasting with light grey walls.

I cut 4 18" square pieces of particle board, wrapped them with some foam and upholstered them with vinyl that has the appearance of dark brown leather.  I then attached with construction adhesive 12" square mirror tiles on each and hung the finished products in a nice design to make my bedroom mirror.

I am happy with the look but I wanted to give it some texture and pop, if you will.  I know that it is usually recommended that one starts with a bright base color and then add dark colors on top, but here I am already starting with a dark brown base.  

What can I do to enhance the look?  I was thinking of attempting to create a bright red/light cream grain look to the mirrors.  Any advice?

I  would think that the dark leather on the frames would look very good with your dark chocolate furniture against light grey walls.

I hesitate to suggest a painting treatment… please try this on a sample first. You may not be able to remove the paint if you don't like the results.

Red or light cream colors are both very different ideas. The light cream may work best.

If the leather like material has a " grain " in the material… like pressed in wrinkles, then you should have no problems.

The material should be sealed first. Since the mirrors are glued on… the sealer will need to be painted on instead of sprayed. (unless you can mask over the mirrors)

Seal with a poly-crylic varnish or sealer. This will dry fast.  Now the material will not absorb the glaze that will be applied next. 

Faux glaze mixed with creamy white paint in a 5 part glaze - 1 part paint mixture and a bit of water added should do the trick. 

The idea is to brush this mixture over the entire frame and then wipe most of it off… letting the cream color collect in the "wrinkles".  

Good luck with your Leather Faux Painting Techniques.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 30th, 2008 at 10:10 pm and is filed under Painting Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.