Faux Techniques

This faux painted wall was created from two faux techniques, when combined they form a soft smokey, wispy affect. The faux technique gives an illusion of the mirrors floating on the steam from the shower. The base coat was painted with Benjamin Moore # 1068 eggshell finish. The glaze BM 1070 was color washed with a sea sponge, then an off white glaze using BM 1068 and white was applied over the surface to achieve more depth and soft highlights using a rag technique. Choose three colors in the same family that are a few shades apart, this will produce the depth. This technique can also be used for creating a faux marble finish, add the veining, gloss protective coat and you'll fool everyone.

Repair Painted Dresser

 This beautiful piece of furniture was going to be thrown out, until the owner contacted me to see if I could repair the painted dresser. This piece of furniture has been in her family about 50 years, there are several pieces that were split up between family members and the thought of loosing it was heart breaking. This hand painted, faux painted Bombay style dresser was originally made by the White Fine Furniture Co., purchased in New York City. There is a beautiful oriental scene on the entire front of the dresser and it flows onto the sides. What I loved about this nine draw piece was its size was unobtrusive, the color and the art work was not overwhelming.

So, what happened? Incense oil spilled out and over the top of the faux finish, melting away layers of paint, right down to the wood. The spill measured around two and a half feet,  several areas had quarter size holes in the finish. As you can see, it was pretty bad.

 The first thing I needed to do is to clean off any residue from the dresser top, sand the entire top with 180 grit and then apply a patching compound to level out the damaged areas.

The compound was sanded smooth with 180 grit and leveled off, dust was vacuumed and wiped with a damp cotton cloth. I primed the entire dresser top and when dried, sanded lightly with 220 grit. I then applied two coats of the base paint, which was a latex eggshell finish. After the first coat of paint was dry I went over the the top with 220 grit to knock of any dust particals. To apply the primer and finish coats I used a mohair mini roller with a 3/8 in. nap. This roller nap is fantastic for a quality finish.

         Finally, the top was faux painted to match using a dry brush application to create a subtle wood grain. Then a light splattering was added. The protective finish coats of urethane was applied using the mohair mini roller with a 3/8 in nap. Each coat of urethane was lightly sanded with 220 grit, wiped clean before appling  the last coat of satin finish.

 I was happy that I could save this furniture from being thrown out, but then you know that old saying, one person's trash is another's treasure.

Faux Painted Metal Garage Door

A faux painted metal garage door is a great way to achieve the look of beautiful stained wood. There are so many colors to choose from and many combinations of design. Most metal doors have a grain pattern embossed into the metal which runs horizontally across each panel. By having the grain running in one direction makes the job a lot easier, there is no taping off each piece of wood going in opposite directions for this project shown above.

The metal garage door was previously painted so I pressure washed it prior to painting.  I applied   the base coat, Benjamin Moore # 1110 exterior latex paint in satin finish with a brush and roller.
When the base coat has fully dried apply the glaze mixture of 1 part  BM - Charleston Brown exterior latex satin finish with 3 parts of glaze.  A 3 inch brush was used in the direction of the grain.

Start at the top most panel and work from one side to the other. This glaze application gives the door the different variations of undertones in wood. Let the base show threw in some areas and apply the glaze heavier in others. Once the first top panel is completed move onto the next panel and continue.
As your glazing the door glance at the other panels so you don't repeat the same variations.

The final glaze which is a darker brown is applied starting again at the top and working from one side to the other. This application will add deeper wood grain. Again, let each section have its own personality to add interest to the door. The darker glaze will also be applied lighter in areas and darker in others.

Take a look at a piece of real wood and try to duplicate the grain pattern.