Don't commit d & eacute;cor faux-pas

With a variety of faux finishing techniques, wallpapering is a thing of the past.
By REBECCA SLOAN
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
With subtle specks of color that blend and overlap like the patterns in a polished piece of granite, at first glance, it looks like a classy style of wallpaper.
But this wall has never been papered.
It's been painted using a faux finishing technique in which lamb's wool is used to apply three to five colors of paint.
"The end result looks like wallpaper or almost like granite," said Cheryl Summers of Poland. "You use the lamb's wool to apply the paint in the same way you would use a sponge. You can buy the lamb's wool at places like Home Depot."
A professional artist and owner of Nova 2000 Studios in Poland, Summers worked for 12 years as an interior painter specializing in faux finishing.
Summers said faux finishing endures as one of the most popular choices for interior decorating.
"People choose faux finishing over wallpaper because it is easier to change a faux finish. If you are tired of it in five or 10 years, you don't have to strip it off. You can just paint over top of it," Summers said.
Faux finishing can also cost less than wallpapering a room.
"It will cost less if you apply the faux finish yourself, but if you hire someone to do faux finishing for you, you will probably pay as much as you would to buy wallpaper for a room," Summers said.
A professional faux finisher might charge about $250 to $300 to complete an average-sized room, Summers added.
Besides the lamb's wool technique, other popular faux finishing techniques include Venetian plastering, sponging, ragging, rag washing and striping.
Venetian plastering
"Venetian plastering is really popular right now," Summers said. "You spread the Venetian plaster over the walls to create a textured look. You can mix in paint with the plaster, or paint the walls after the plaster has been applied."
People like Venetian plastered walls because they have an "Old World look," Summers said.
"The Old World look is really in right now," she added.
You can buy Venetian plaster at specialty paint stores such as Benjamin Moore and Old Master's.
But be prepared -- Venetian plaster is expensive, Summers said.
It's even more expensive if you hire someone to apply the Venetian plaster for you.
"Professionals charge as much as $500 to apply Venetian plaster to the walls of a small room," Summers said.
While Venetian plastering has only recently skyrocketed in popularity, techniques such as sponging, ragging, rag washing and striping have been around for almost a decade.
Sponging
Deni Holl, owner of Deni Holl Decorative Painting and Faux Finishing in Hubbard, said sponging is one of the easier methods of faux finishing.
"You are basically taking a sponge and using it to apply paint to the wall," Holl said.
Although Holl said any kind of sponge will do, Summers recommends only natural sea sponges.
Both Holl and Summers said the trickiest part of sponging a wall is getting even coverage in corners.
Ragging and rag washing
Ragging is a faux finishing technique in which paint is applied to the wall with a rag. Ragging produces a marbled look and is classified as a "positive application."
"The term positive application just means that you are putting paint on the wall and manipulating it as you apply it, and you are not removing any of the paint," Holl explained.
Rag washing is also a positive application technique, but instead of using straight latex paint, you add water to the paint and then apply the watered-down paint to the wall with a rag.
"The result is a swirled effect with soft highlights," Summers said.
Latex paint is the No. 1 choice for all types of faux finishing. Latex paint costs about $20 a gallon, Summers said.
Striping
Walls that have been "striped" also look as if they have been wallpapered.
"You basically divide the walls into even segments and then tape off the segments and apply paint," Holl said. "Striping involves a lot of measuring and is labor intensive in the layout and not the actual painting."
Glazes
Sometimes faux finishers incorporate glazes in their painting techniques.
"Glazes serve two purposes. They can slow down the drying time so you have more time to manipulate the paint, and they can increase the translucency of the paint," Holl said.
Glaze costs about $20 per gallon.
Practice makes perfect
If you want to experiment with glazes or with any faux finishing technique both Holl and Summers recommend practicing first on a sheet of poster board or cardboard.
"Or paint the inside of your closet," Summers suggested. "But always, before you just jump right in and start painting the wall, practice a little and see what the colors and techniques you have chosen are going to look like."
Holl said to make sure your practice piece of poster board or cardboard is at least 4-feet square.
"Otherwise it won't be large enough," she said.
Once you get down to business and start painting your walls, there are some other things you can do to avoid what Holl called "a bad faux finish."
"Stand back and look at your work every once in a while and make sure you are getting even application along all parts of the wall," Holl said.
Summers said not to divide the work with a friend.
"If you and another person split the job and each of you paints half of the wall, the two halves will look different," Summers said. "Each person has a slightly different technique."
Also be careful to achieve even application around windows, along ceilings and, once again, in corners.
"Paint stores sell special tools to help you reach into corners and tight spaces," Summers said.