How to Patina Walls

Glaze

• While working with oil-based paints can be difficult, oil-based glazes dry slower and give you ample time to manipulate the glaze on the wall. For this reason, you may want to seriously consider using oil-based, alkyd, paints and glaze when you trying to achieve the effect of a patinaed plaster. Latex glaze will work, however, and may be the right choice if your experienced with the technique. Just remember that you cannot mix an oil glaze with a latex paint or vice versa. Glazes are sold untinted, so you'll need to have the paint store add pigment.

Colors

• Colors should complement each other. Yellow works well on top of white or red, blue on top of yellow, charcoal on top of light gray, and so on. If you're new to creating patinaed walls, practice getting the right effect on scrap lumber or the blank sides of cardboard, or on posterboard. It is worth sacrificing the paint and glaze. If you're new to this faux-painting technique, an easy way to select color is to think in terms of three different shades. Pick a main color and then go one shade lighter for the base coat. The second color should then be one shade darker than the main color.

Apply Clear Coat & Glaze

• Once your base coat is on and dry, apply clear glaze in 5-foot square sections using a cheesecloth. Apply the first tinted glaze coat with a round glazing brush, making random X-shaped patterns on the wall. You can also use a sea sponge, but use a dabbing motion instead of an "X" pattern. You'll end up with blank spots around the Xs you made. Fill them in with the second glaze color, again making X-shaped patterns. With a dry stipple brush, make rotating tapping motions against the wall, starting on one side and moving across until you've covered the whole wall. Blot the wall with crumpled cheesecloth, using the same rotating motion. When the cheesecloth is soaked with glaze, replace it with another section of cheesecloth. Use a fine-bristled brush to soften sharp marks showing on the glaze, feathering the colors together.

A Patinaed Copper Effect

• To get a true copper effect, you'll need to paint layers of turquoise, aqua and green atop a copper or bronze base color. This effect takes time, as you'll need to dip your glazing brush -- you can also use sea sponges -- into the turquoise, aqua and green paint, dabbing the colors over the copper or bronze base coat.