Faux painting adds grace and texture to the walls of the home. Walls can be made to look like real leather or marble by using the techniques of faux painting. The procedure described below explains how to give a faux leather effect to the walls. The materials needed for the purpose are:

- Latex paint

- Latex glaze

- A paint roller

- A thin Plastic cover

- Cheese cloth

- A dry 4-inch stipple brush

These materials are available at any hardware or paint shop. It is advisable to wear gloves while working on the project to avoid unnecessary finger marks or paint marks.

Procedure for the leather effect:

Step 1: Take a clean section of the wall that has been coated with a primer. Apply a base coat evenly over the primer (with a Satin or semi-gloss latex paint), using a roller. Allow it to dry.

Step 2: Now, for giving the faux effect, mix one part of latex semi-gloss paint (choosing the appropriate color, preferably brown or yellow) with four parts of latex glaze. Apply a generous coating to the wall using the roller.

Step 3: Take a clear, transparent plastic cover, crumple it and then lay it out flat.Put this plastic over the section of the wall where the paint is applied, so that the painted surface is covered. Press lightly with the flat of the hand.

Step 4: Take the stipple brush, and lightly rub on the covered surface, with random strokes, so that the plastic cover is pressed lightly onto the glaze. The random wrinkles, produced by brushing thus, create the desired leather effect.

Step 5: Slowly peel away the plastic covering to reveal the underlying leather pattern which has just been created.

Step 6: Dampen the cheese cloth in water, and lightly press on any area where the color pattern is too intense.

Procedure for the marble effect:

For a marble effect, the technique outlined above holds good, except that the plastic cover is crumpled and patted over the surface of the base coat, instead of laying it over the painted glaze. The procedure is as follows:

Step 1: After the application of the primer, apply the base coat(again with a Satin or semi-gloss latex paint) with a paint roller. Let it dry.

Step 2: Prepare a mixture of latex semi-gloss paint (choosing an appealing color, typically blue) and latex glaze in the ratio of 5:1. Also, prepare another mixture of paint and glaze; here the paint is of a lighter tint.

Step 3: Crumple a piece of soft and clean plastic, dip it in the darker paint mixture, shake off excess paint, and gently pat on the surface of the base coat. Start from the top and keep patting till a small portion of the wall is covered.

Step 4: Then, dip another piece of crumpled plastic in the lighter paint mixture, shake off the excess paint and pat over the painted surface. The wall now has bits of both the shades distributed randomly.

Step 5: Repeat Steps 3 and 4 in an alternate fashion till the whole wall is covered.

This leaves a superb marble effect to the walls

• Written by Sridevi.
• In category Home & Garden.
• 14 years ago.

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