How to Decorate With Paint Glazing

Question

Faux painting and glazing techniques have become more common and popular. No longer a skill practiced by a few professionals, decorating with paint glazing is within almost anybody's reach. Most paint and hardware stores carry glazing medium and specialty tools so you can create your own leather-look, faux wood or stone, ragged or rolled, sponged or striped walls. The possibilities are almost endless, and you can customize colors and finishes to match your decor.

Answer 1

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    Choose the effect you want to achieve in the room. A leather finish on the wall adds gravitas to a library or home office, while rag rolling with glaze adds depth and texture to most walls. A soft effect complements hard-edged decor elements such as kitchen cabinets and tile floors.

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    Apply a multi-colored glaze with sponges or rollers on high-traffic walls such as hallways. This finish can disguise the appearance of scratches, dings and children's fingerprints.

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    Use a clear glaze to create subtle stripes in a dining or living room. Apply a base coat of flat wall paint. Use painter's tape to mark stripes on the walls, and paint stripes with a clear or pearl-effect glaze. The effect is shimmery and elegant without overpowering the room.

    4
    Choose colors that agree with your base coat. The base coat is the main color that you paint on the wall. In most simple glazing finishes, a glaze is mixed with a darker version of the base coat color and applied with sponges, rags, rollers or other applicators to achieve a wide range of effects.

    5
    Create more depth and texture to your wall by using several different colors. Instead of just using a darker-colored glaze over your base coat, use two shades of the same color and introduce a third, complementary color drawn from your decor. For instance, if your glaze includes shades of brown and you have burgundy upholstery, dab a little burgundy glaze on the wall to pull the colors together.