Marble Faux Finish Instructions

Mask off floor trimmings, edges, ceilings and anything that you want to protect from the painting. Masking tape or painter's tape will easily come off after your painting job. Place your drop cloth on the floor, or on whatever you need to protect from the paint.

Roll on your white base coat with the 3/8-inch roller. Roll from ceiling to floor, using long strokes to prevent roller marks. Follow the manufacturer's instructions regarding how long to wait before applying the second coat. Roll on the second coat, then wait at least 24 hours.

Mix your glazes by adding one part latex paint to one part faux technique glaze and one part water. Repeat with the other latex paint. By mixing the glaze and water, you are creating a thin transparent glaze to mimic the marble look.

Paint a 12-inch squiggle line--starting in a corner and moving diagonally--with each of the glazes you made, using separate 2-inch angled brushes.

Ball the cheesecloth without leaving any ends exposed. Rub the painted squiggle lines with the balled up cheesecloth in a figure eight motion until the lines are mixed together seamlessly. You want a rounded random look of marble. Continue painting squiggles and rubbing them with the cheesecloth. If the cheesecloth becomes too saturated with paint, wash it in warm water. Rinse it and wring dry to continue using it.

Finish the entire area, then wait for the glazes to dry completely.

Paint veins with your fine-pointed artist's brush and the white base coat. Veins are random, vary in size, intersect, and stop and start regularly. Use different pressures and wrist angles to create the veins. Avoid creating a pattern.

Swipe the veins back and forth, using a dry, natural bristle blending brush. This will soften and blend the white parts of the veins to make the surface look like natural marble.

Apply polyurethane with either a brush or a foam roller to seal and protect your faux marble finish. Allow it to dry.