Faux Painting 
for that Old World Look

  Color washing, faux painting and decorative painting are all used interchangeably to mean basically the same general techniques. The whole idea is to give the wall an old world look. Because they didn’t have the modern material back in the 1700’s and 1800’s that we have today, their finished walls often had an uneven look where the old finish would ultimately peek through the new finish. That’s the effect you want color washing to accomplish.

  This technique works best with earthy colors – Venetian red, raw sienna, Navajo brown, chocolate, terra cotta and other soft natural southwest and western colors.

  Here is an overview of what you will be doing. Most of the time, you will apply a light color base coat and then a darker more rich cover or glaze coat. This makes a darker more standout accent wall. The lighter color will show through the primary dark color. For a different effect, you can apply the darker color as a first coat and glaze with a lighter more basic color. This gives you a lighter wall with darker accent color peeking through. The preferred method is usually the first but experiment with the second and you might find that you have a really standout wall that gives it an older antique look.

  Professionals produce color wash in either 2 or 3 coats. For instance on a 2-coat covering, you will use a light color for the base coat (light off white – eggshell or light tan or other light earth tone color. Then you will apply a single much darker glaze coat allowing the lighter color to peek through. In a 3 coat process, you roll on a light color base coat again first. But then you will apply a medium color complimentary to your final darker color as a second coat applied with one of the random methods. For instance, use a sand color base, a medium brown or light rust first glaze (second coat) and then a dark rust color top glaze (third coat). Each of these methods gives you a totally different affect.

  Always test any paint choice and application method on a small area of the wall you will be refinishing. Do this for two reasons. First it provides you practice before tackling a whole wall. Second, you are able to check out the technique and design to see if it gives you the desired result. You can always start over and paint over it if you are not satisfied with how it turns out.

  Live with the test sample on a wall for a day or two before proceeding to see how the changing light of day and night change the look.

  Paint on the base coat according to manufacturer’s directions. You can apply it with a short nap roller or with a brush. Allow it to dry for at least an hour, overnight is even better. It is generally recommended that your base coat should be a satin finish paint to make application of the glaze coat easier.

  The top (glaze) coat can be any the same type paint as the base coat but you may want it to be a gloss finish rather than a flat finish.

  When applying the glaze coat (top coat) you can use many materials for your application device. Some of the ones we have seen used are: 3-5” wide paint brush, sponge (natural sea sponge works best), brown paper grocery sacks, heavy brown packaging paper, whiskbroom, terry cloth rags, large combs, plastic bags, bubble wrap or any other similar material that will give an irregular application of the glaze coat.

  Apply glaze coat in irregular patterns in all directions. Here inconsistency is the effect you want to have. Sometimes we recommend that you dilute the glaze coat latex paint with water before applying to create a lighter application of the top glaze coat. This works especially good if you want a very old looking wall.

  You get to choose how much of the base coat color you want to show through. Be sure to plan ahead for how much you want by testing. Apply more and more of the topcoat in a random manner to allow less and less of the base coat to show through. If you want more of the under coat to show, apply less of the top coat.

  Application methods for the glaze will vary depending on the application tool you use. If you use a sea sponge, pour the paint into a shallow tray and lightly dip the sponge into the glaze color and dab it on to the wall. Use irregular patterns and apply from the top down and left to right. That way if you do drip any paint it will not damage the design that you are creating. If you use a brush, try applying it with a slightly dry brush. In other words do not load the brush up with paint. Allow the brush to spread out and miss spots as you apply it. You can even come back before it dries with another totally dry brush and whisk through the paint to blend it the way you want.

  Another medium is paper, plastic bags or terry cloth rags. The idea here is to take the medium, let’s say it is brown paper shopping bags and loosely crumple up cut out sections of the bag. This will leave voids in the crumpled paper. When you wipe on the glaze with the wadded up paper, it will give you a beautiful irregular patter caused by the voids in the wads of paper. You will be wiping the glaze across the wall in sweeping patterns over small 2-3 foot areas to get the desired effect. If you use terry cloth dampen it first before dipping into the paint. Circular, sweeping patterns are usually best. Make sure you have enough paper/terry cloth in advance to complete the job.

  One of the most striking accent walls I’ve seen here in New Mexico was done with a paper wash. How much paint you allow to stick to the paper wad and how hard you press it against the wall as you wipe will determine how much of the under coat shows through. Probably this method is best done with very little of the base coat showing through.

  A dragging method is used with a brush, comb, whiskbroom or stiff bristled paintbrush. Paint on the glaze in two-foot wide strips from top to bottom. Then take your dragging tool and pull the tool through the fresh paint to uncover the lighter under coat. You can use sweeping patterns or straight up and down patterns based on personal preference. When using this dragging method you may want the tone of the base coat to be closer to the glaze coat (a medium and a dark).

  From time to time during the application of the glaze coat, step back and check your work from a distance to be sure that the application is even and appealing.

  Once dry, you can apply a water based varnish to protect the surface from damage if you want. It is not necessary however.

  Remember the key to success is test, test, test. Have fun and take a risk. You will be glad you did.