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Paint and color are among the most popular and potent decorating tools we have. And with the addition of a decorative faux technique, you can also produce beautiful and sophisticated textures, or add an illusion of depth and dimension to give your home a unique and professionally designed look.
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Start by asking yourself what feeling you'd like to achieve, as this will dictate your choice of technique.
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Are you trying to make a contemporary space look more antique?
Are you after a special effect for an important space—such as a formal dining room, or a master bedroom?
Are you seeking a different texture, not necessarily for a whole room, but perhaps just for one wall?
Do you have a room that's missing a certain something, perhaps an accent somewhere, but you're just not quite sure what?
Perhaps you have some furniture that's unusual in some way, and needs something special to complement it?
Or maybe it's more personal—perhaps you simply want to develop your decorating skills, and want to learn and master more exciting decorating techniques?
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Perhaps the easiest decorative finishes to start with are textures.
Perfectly smooth walls are a fairly modern home invention. Giving your walls a distinct texture takes a step back in time. It adds another dimension beyond just color, creating a look that's subtle yet sophisticated.
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Sandwash™ simulates the look and feel of sand, with an understated stone-like finish. It's available in 36 colors and simply rolls on in two coats.
Use it in living areas to promote a cozy feel, either for the entire room or as an accent (for example, an alcove). Textured walls can also make a contrasting backdrop for art pieces—a smooth sculpture, for example, or a polished mirror.
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Venetian Plaster takes texture even further, producing a wonderful three-dimensional, marble-like appearance. It comes in 24 colors, but can also be colored to match any color in the BEHR Premium Plus® range.
You don't need to be a professional plasterer! Simply apply two coats of Venetian Plaster with a trowel in a random pattern, letting the original wall show through, and then burnish it once it's dry. You can also add a topcoat for extra durability.
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Faux glazing techniques enable you to create decorative illusions by layering colors on top of each other. They also add depth and dimension, with subtle shades of colors, and can make an ideal setting for antiques and other aged or weathered pieces.
The products are easy to use and (as you'll discover) lots of fun. You don't need lots of experience, just a few moments on a BEHR® practice surface will usually suffice.
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Additive means simply applying a glaze over your dry base coat of paint. For added dimension, you can add another coat on top of that—in a different shade or hue.
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Subtractive sounds complicated, but all it means is rolling a glaze onto the dry base coat, then removing it with a faux tool—such as a sponge, rag, stippling brush, comb, or even a tool of your own invention.
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Simple Faux Glazing Techniques
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Sponging On adds variations of color and dimension using a water-dampened sea sponge to apply the glaze color.
Sponging Off removes the glaze color from the base color.
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Ragging On simulates a lacy, elegant look using a water-dampened cloth rag to apply the glaze color to the base color.
Ragging Off removes the glaze color with the rag.
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Colorwashing is a wonderful, romantic finish that uses three colors to create a soft, semi-translucent blend of color with the subtle illusion of texture.
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Frottage uses squares of plastic pressed against wet paint, and then removed, to simulate the warm, aged look of antique leather.
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Dragging gives a softly textured and distinguished look to walls or woodwork. You simply drag a dry brush vertically down the still-wet glaze color. For a denim or woven fabric look, you let the surface dry, lightly roll a thin coat of the glaze color over the previously dragged surface, and then drag your brush across horizontally.
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Accents are an easy way to add extra interest to surfaces or decorative objects.
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Crackle (sometimes called Crackle Glaze) simulates the fine paint—or varnish-cracking you'll sometimes see on very old, painted or varnished surfaces.
It's a great way to add interest to trim, molding, baseboards, cabinets, furniture, and mirror and picture frames. There are 16 combinations of top and basecoats, but you can also have custom Crackle colors made up in any color from the entire BEHR Premium Plus® color system.
Luminosos (in Gold, Copper and Silver finishes) and Pearlescents(in Gold Veil and White Opal) are perfect for accenting trim, doors, moldings, furniture, frames, lamps, architectural features and decorative metalwork. They can be brushed or sprayed on.
Luminosos are a great resource if you're creating a rich or an exotic feel—for example, today's highly popular Moroccan (see Colors of the World feature) look.
You can also use Luminosos and Pearlescents to give an intriguing shimmer to Venetian Plaster finishes (you just add them to the Venetian Plaster Topcoat). This is an interesting way to spice up the décor in your home's signature areas like dining rooms, (see Entertaining Décor feature) or to enliven a dull alcove.
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Tip: Use a practice board to practice your technique and color combination before beginning your painting project.
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Want to see a detailed, step-by-step demonstration on the BEHR Faux and Decorative Finishes described above?
An excellent starting point is our 2-disc CD-ROM, Faux Finishing Techniques (available at any Home Depot paint department).
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Reminder: As with any painting project, remember to properly prepare the surface by repairing any imperfections and by cleaning and priming the surface as necessary.
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Try the ColorSmart™ by BEHR interactive program to experiment with thousands of different color combinations and see how they look in actual room settings.
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