Color wash faux paint technique

[Tink]

Has anyone done a color wash faux paint technique?
I want to try it, and would love some words of wisdom from someone who has done it.

I've researched it online, watched a video about it, and read about it... but it's always best to talk to someone with practical experience if possible.

We painted the family room walls a khaki sand color, and are installing a wood floor, so there's not much POP there... then having bought solid color furniture, we decided we needed to give a bit more visual interest to the walls. We plan to put a blue second coat, with a lighter color 3rd coat on the khaki. My inspiration for the colors came from another recent purchase... which I set on the loveseat for this photo to get an idea of the color combo I'm going for.

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Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[DianaB]

Tink, I'm not sure what you mean by a "color wash" but I did kind of a sponge painting with layers of color using a plastic shopping bag. I've had a lot of compliments on it and a lot of people think that it's wallpaper. If it's what you're thinking of let me know and I'll give you the instructions. I used 2 colors of taupe and a cream color.

[DianaB]

Hmmmmm....... It didn't really show up very good. I'll get a closer look for you.

[Janet]

I did this on my family room wall. I just used the sponge I bought at Wal Mart.

[Marilyn]

Tink, Hubby has lots of experience with this. He suggests that you take a section of the wall and practice on it using different techniques. It's best to have a semi-gloss or satin as your base coat. He asks if you are using a glazing compound?

One technique he suggests is to use a paint brush to create a vein effect and then lightly rubbing with a damp rag to feather it in. If you are trying to go for a leather look what you want to do is some veining, brush it with a damp brush to thin it out and then lightly rub with a damp rag.

The walls in this picture have a troweled on texture and were painted a yellow color and a chocolate glaze was applied by rubbing with a medium sized damp rag saturated with the glaze. The decorative painting was added a few days later. http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u300/mhorst_photos/IM001545.jpg

The walls in this picture were painted a green and a slightly darker green was mixed with a glazing compound and the wall was lightly blotted with a small damp scrunched up cotton rag that was saturated with the paint/glazing compound mixture then squeezed until there was very little of the mixture in the rag.
http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u300/mhorst_photos/IM001522.jpg

Try different techniques until you get something you like and paint over the experiments and go for it.

There is no right or wrong, it's just trying to get an effect that you like.

Good luck, you can do this!! Let us know if you have any questions.

[Marilyn]

Janet, yours looks nice also. There are lots of techniques, and it's all to achieve the look you like.

[Tink]

Thanks ladies! Your pictures really inspired me!

Janet, your wall compliments the fireplace beautifully! I love it!
Diana, your colors were close enough to my own that it gave me hope mine would turn out half as nice.
Marilyn, Wow!

I really wish I could just hire you all to come help me. LOL You know how easy it is to just be super critical of your own work...

Anyway, I got the light brown and pale blue pearlized paint on last night. Here's how it looks today.

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Once it's dry and I get things moved back in place I'll take pics again of how it looks with the furniture against it.

Thanks for your encouragment. I love that I can always count on you ladies.

[Marilyn]

Wow, Tink!!! Great job!! It looks really cool!!! This should look great with your furniture. Please do post pics. ;)

[Mandy]

That looks really good! Well done :thumbup:

[Janet]

I think you're right Marilyn...there is no wrong or right way to do this kind of painting. You just do it to suit yourself.

[DianaB]

Oh, Tink, I think that it looks really nice. I bet that it looks really nice with your new furniture. When I did my dining room I had a friend that came out and helped me. We couldn't believe how easy and nice that it turned out. I bet that you'll get a lot of compliments on it!!!!

We tend to be critical of our own work but nodody else notices it. I have one spot in my dining room where my friend stood too long and pounced and pounced. In my opinion it looks totally different than the rest of the room but you know, nobody else has ever noticed it so I think that it really doesn't stand out as much as I think that it does.