Faux Painting - Creative Ideas For Unique Faux Finishes

We've been using paint to transform our worlds for over thirty thousand years. Faux painting uses the magic of paint to create fabulous illusions. Whether you want a stylish new look for walls, floors, doors, columns or cabinets, there's a faux painting technique for the task.

Some well-known finishes that can be achieved with faux painting including brick (or block) effects, wood grain finishes, the appearance of marble and the look of leather. You can also created distressed finishes that are ideal for making rooms match the style and ambiance of an older house or character building. Alternatively, faux painting can revitalize drab and tired spaces, indoors or outdoors.

Brick and Block Finishes

There are many scenarios in which you might want to create a brick effect. You can transform a plain wall into a life-like brick wall. Outdoors, ugly concrete patios, floors and pillars can be made over using brick stencils. Stenciling is a simple method for adding texture, pattern and color to dull surfaces. The 'breakaway' look (bricks showing through exfoliated plaster) is another striking visual effect.

Wood Effects

The plainest and cheapest door, beam or other feature can be transformed with grainy wood finishes. Fireplace surrounds and picture or mirror frames also invite a warm, wood treatment. Oak, country pine, rich mahogany or that clean, bleached driftwood look are just brushstrokes away. It's far cheaper than trying to source old doors to match others in your home, let alone finding one with a grain that matches existing fixtures. You'll just need some practice to master the dragging technique.

Faux Marble

It's hard to beat marble's elegant look. Faux marble has been around for centuries. The secret lies in the sponging method of applying paint, which is then sealed with a high gloss paint to give it that highly polished sheen. Painting surfaces to resemble marble can turn your bathroom from a functional space into a luxury one, or add a touch of class to your kitchen. Other stone finishes are possible. Polished granite is one popular alternative.

More Designer Finishes

Any material can be replicated with paint and some know-how. Faux techniques can provide the finishing touch for a particular style. A leather look makes an unusual finish, ideal for a masculine study or in modern décor schemes. Metallic finishes of chrome or bronze effectively complement contemporary and antique décor respectively.

Warm Tuscan finishes that evoke antiquity are ideal for rough walls. They create a multi-layered, textured effect in glowing, earthy colors. The versatile Tuscan look can set the tone for an elegant living room or provide a cozy, lived-in feel to a kitchen with a terracotta tile floor. A rustic stenciled border of acanthus or vine leaves completes the look.

With faux painting techniques you can endow furniture and features with an antique or distressed appearance to enhance a room's atmosphere and character. Co-ordination is the key in interior design. Faux painting helps achieve that unity. Paint can simulate the deep glow of a patina that may take centuries to develop naturally. Color washes and treatments provide texture, banishing that sharp, 'too new' look, while crackle glazed dry to resemble old varnish.

Faux painting is the answer to a host of home decorating problems. Not only is it economical, but it's a creative and fun way to make your home uniquely your own.

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