Wall Paint Technique To Get a Leather Look

Prep Work

• Prepare your room for painting by moving furniture away from the wall, spreading out drop cloths and opening windows for good ventilation. Protect with painter's tape the areas you don't want to get paint on. Leather does not have a perfect finish, so minor imperfections in your wall won’t be noticeable. If you have any holes or serious cracks, fill them before you begin with a joint compound and sand it smooth when dry. Wipe your walls down with a mild cleaning detergent and damp sponges.

Priming

• Unless your walls have been freshly painted a light, neutral shade in the last couple of months, they need to be primed first. Apply a coat of primer or primer/sealer. If the walls are of new, unpainted drywall, or have not been painted in a very long time, a splotchy finish may result where the walls absorb the primer. Additionally, if your walls were a very dark color, the color may show through one coat of primer. Add a second coat after the first coat dries if you feel it’s necessary. Let the primer dry completely.

Paint Colors

• Choose two paint colors to give your faux leather a rich, shaded texture. The first color should be the base coat. Brownish shades like taupe and cocoa produce a natural-looking result, but don’t be afraid to use color. If you want the look of white leather, get a creamy off-white base coat such as antique white. The base coat should be in a satin finish. Paint it onto the walls and let it dry. Get a shading color that is at least two shades darker than your base color, unless you want white leather. If you want it white, use a true-white color paint to go over the off-white. Mix one part shading color with three parts glaze.

Faux Treatment

• Crinkle and uncrinkle many sheets of newspaper and stack them nearby. You may need to use an entire newspaper, so have it ready. Apply a top coat of tinted glaze to about a 3-foot wall section. Work in sections because the glaze needs to stay very wet for the technique. Start at the top of the section and press a sheet of newspaper to the glaze with your palms, patting it and smoothing it over the glaze. Peel the sheet of paper off and immediately dispose of it. Use as many sheets as necessary to go over the entire section. Glaze the next wall section, and repeat the process until you finish the entire wall.