Directions for Faux Finish Painting

Tape around the area that you are faux finishing with low-tack painters tape. Select an appropriate primer for your surface. Latex primer is suitable for most surfaces and has less odor than oil-based primer. If you are painting a glossy surface, you may need to sand the surface first to help the primer adhere. Paint around the edges with a wide, flat brush and roll out the rest of the surface with a roller.

Select a base color in a satin finish to match your photograph or sample. Use tan paint as a base coat for faux wood. Most light marbles require a white base coat. Opt for paint the color of grout or mortar if painting faux stone or tile. Apply two coats of paint. Allow the paint to dry completely before glazing.

Tape the surface with low-tack tape, as necessary, to create planks for faux wood, slabs for faux marble, and blocks for faux stone or tile. Use tape in a very thin width if you want to leave faux grout lines upon removing the tape.

Mix acrylic paint or tints with glazing medium to match the color of your sample. Use various shades of brown for wood grain, such as burnt umber, raw umber, and raw sienna. Carrara marble requires both white and pale gray glazes. Tile and stone colors vary widely, even within the same sample.

Apply the glaze using a wide brush. To make wood grain, paint a strip of brown glaze and drag a graining comb through it in a continuous stroke. Paint the two glazes for marble in a soft, random pattern and blend by dabbing with a bunched-up cloth. Duplicate the naturally rough surface of stone by applying or removing glaze with a sea sponge.

Add finishing touches and make corrections with a small brush. Use a long, thin brush to apply wavy, diagonal gray veins to faux marble. Dab on accents of other colors to faux stone. Achieve a trompe l'oeil effect on faux tile by painting a shadow around the same two sides of each square.