How to Decorate Rooms With Faux Finishes

Faux Finishing a Wall

• 1

  Prepare the room to be painted; remove as much furniture from it as possible and protect the floors with throw sheets.

• 2

  Apply two coats of an eggshell or satin latex base color to the wall, using a standard roller or brush. If you paint the darker color on first, the wall will appear frosted when the lighter color is applied over it. If you use the light color as your base, the wall's finish will look deeper.

• 3

  Pour a measure of the second paint color into a clean paint bucket and add an acrylic glaze to it as directed by the glaze's manufacturer. Using a glaze slows the paint's drying time and allows it to be moved around on the wall.

• 4

  Apply the glaze/paint mixture to the wall. There are two methods of sponging: sponging on or sponging off. To sponge paint onto a wall, dip the sponge into the glaze mix, squeeze any excess paint from it and press it lightly to the wall. Repeat on every section of the wall. To sponge off paint, you need to enlist a helper to apply the paint with a roller or brush while you use the sponge to remove the freshly applied paint, creating a soft, mottled effect.

Faux Marble Table Top

• 5

  Prepare the table by sanding off its existing finish. Wear a protective face mask as old varnish can be toxic. It is not necessary to completely remove the finish. Wipe the roughened table top with a cloth dampened with white spirit.

• 6

  Apply two coats of white oil-based wood primer to the table top and allow it to dry. Ensure that the original finish is covered.

• 7

  Paint a coat of oil-based semi-gloss paint onto the table top. Choose a color close to that of natural marble; use cream or beige to simulate light-colored marble and dark gray or green for darker marble.

• 8

  Dip a feather into the white spirit and drag it across the table top while the base coat is still wet. Move the feather diagonally and irregularly, leaving a jagged white "vein" in the paint. This vein is the primer showing through the paint. Repeat the process several times, always moving the feather in the same direction.

• 9

  Select a clean feather and dip it into the dark oil paint. It helps to pour the paint in a saucer so you can dip the whole length of the feather into it. Add some veins as before; this time create some that split off in other directions. Use an artist's brush to add thicker veins.

• 10

  Sweep the decorator's brush lightly across the table top to create a softened effect.

• 11

  Allow the table to dry thoroughly before sealing it with a coat of polyurethane varnish. Do not use the table for at least 72 hours as the finish needs to cure.