We just moved into a townhouse built in 1821.  The previous owners had painted the walls and crown molding of a large, north-facing guest bedroom in an intense reddish coral/persimmon.  Although the white ceiling is 11' high, the room is always very dark– good for hibernating, but not for sewing projects, etc.  

How can I lighten the walls without a major repainting?  

Would a gold or copper glaze help?

Could I do it myself?  (BTW, the fireplace has a lovely peach marble surround.)      

Many thanks for your help.  Mary

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Hi Mary….

You're in luck… A gold glaze is very easy. And… it will look gorgeous with the peach marble in your fireplace.

You have the perfect basecoat color already… and with the high ceilings every thing should reflect on itself nicely. Because the window faces north… your light in this room will never be super bright. You know you need a good light for your sewing area. 

This gold sheen on the walls will be beautiful for your guests as well!  The gold glaze will actually look a bit coppery because of the color underneath.  If you choose a copper glaze… it will be toooo much of a copper color and look cheap and overwhelming. Get my drift? (can you say tacky????)

You absolutely must have a Woolie Pad for this faux painting technique. It will make the process easy for you to do yourself and will turn out like a professional did it for you.

Lowe's carries the American Tradition brand of faux glaze in gold. The gold glaze comes premixed… as you will be using more than one bottle… you will want the premixed version. You won't have a problem with color matching as you go.  

Make sure you prep the entire area… you know covering furniture… tapping of doors and ceiling… etc.etc. etc.

Shake the glaze before you pour it into a paint tray. Every time you pour another cup into the tray you need to shake first. Pour the cup of gold glaze into your paint tray. I like using a paint tray, because it keeps the glaze contained at the deep end of the tray… and a place to hold my Woolie pad in the shallow end.

The Woolie pad should be pre-dampened - see the directions preparing a Woolie pad here.  

I use a different method than most with a Woolie Pad…. I don't use it to apply glaze… but too manipulate the glaze.

It's a two handed or two person process.

The left hand has a 2" Chip Brush for applying the glaze in a slip slap fashion… or cross hatch for those of you that are particular. You only apply as much as the brush will hold at first… this should cover about a 2'ft area. When you get comfortable with the technique you can continue… filling and slapping on the paint several times before going to the right hand.

Don't slap on the paint in square boxes.. strive for puzzle shaped areas. 

The right hand then pats the glaze. You pat onto the wet area… and then continue patting outwardly onto the dry wall. Pat… Pat… Pat until you don't see anymore glaze being transfered to the wall in the dry… outside the puzzle areas.

Rinse and repeat. 

This creates a variety in your finish and covers up the brush strokes. It's the easiest way for beginning  faux painters to get good results.

The ceiling and corners are the most difficult part of this process.  Usually the Woolie pad comes with a tiny version that works somewhat. But I just usually fake it in with the 2" Chip Brush.  

The faux painting process will go quickly… don't stop in the middle of a wall. It will leave a line that isn't easy to blend after it's dry. If you need to stop… it's much better to get to a corner. 

Good Luck!