How to Apply Faux Finishes

Ron welcomes Keven Locke, a television set designer, to share a variety of faux finishing techniques. Faux finishing involves using paint and a variety of application tools to give walls the appearance of rich texture, wood grain or even marble. Keven emphasizes that anyone can use these techniques to bring depth and beauty to ordinary walls.

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1. Sponging technique:

• Keven began his first demonstration using ordinary water based, latex house paint. Especially for first time sponging, Keven recommended using flat paint in three shades of the same color family. In this case he selected three shades of green. The middle tone was used first as the base color and applied evenly to the entire wall just as in any painting project. This technique can be used on just about any wall with or without texture.

• To begin the sponging, Keven first worked with the darker color. Instead of dipping the sponge directly into the paint container, Keven carefully poured some paint onto an old but clean piece of board.

• He carefully smoothed the paint out with a wide bristle brush.

• He then dipped his sponge into the paint on the board. This technique helped to ensure that the paint was only on the bristles and not soaked into the center of the sponge.

• Before placing the damp sponge onto the wall, Keven used another piece of board to blot the sponge a bit more. This would also help the first timer get a sense of how much paint would come off of the sponge and onto the wall.

• Keven began applying the paint to the wall starting in the lower corner and working upward in roughly a diagonal direction. Keven showed Ron how to rotate the sponge at various angles as he worked to avoid getting a noticeable pattern of similar or identical dots.

• The goal was to make sure that each sponge mark appeared a little differently on the wall. Keven moved around in a random pattern so you could not tell by looking how the paint was applied to the wall.

• The final step was to apply the lightest color over the sponged wall.

• Where there were darker areas, Keven went in with the lighter color a little more heavily. Where he saw lighter areas, he was careful to go a little softer. The lighter color was applied to smooth and even out the overall look of the wall.

• Keven moved a little more quickly and gently around the wall with his sponge. When Keven had more or less finished with one half of the wall, he pointed out the difference between the two areas. The finished half had a much smoother appearance than the half that did not have the lighter color on top.

• Keven explained the importance of maintaining the same look in the corners and near the baseboards as in the center of the wall. When the sponge paint gets near a corner but not really up into the corner, the results look less professional. Keven showed how to use the brush to paint a little of the darker color right along the edges, in corners and just above the moldings.

• He then went back with the sponge and blended these edges into the rest of the wall. Keven explained that this small detail would help to give a more professional look to the finished wall.

• For a room with moldings, Keven recommended two things. First, sponge the entire wall getting very close to the edges. Second, unless you want to hide the moldings, you should go back and paint them over again with a flat color.

2. Dragging and combing - glazing techniques :

• The second two techniques Keven shared with Ron were called dragging and combing.

• The only difference between what Keven referred to as a glaze and ordinary house paint was that the glaze had been thinned with water making it more translucent. The thinning allowed the light to move through it creating the interesting texture. The first step was to cover a portion of the wall with glaze. Keven began at the top with a full paintbrush and made a continuous stroke all the way down.