With the current trend of home decor being shabby-chic, its no wonder everyone loves the look of crackle finishes. Crackle finishes can change not only the look and feel of everything from flower pots, to picture frames, to various pieces of furniture, but they can also change the dynamics of the walls of a room by creating the illusion of depth.
Crackle finish is a faux painting technique, which is used to give walls or pieces of furniture an aged, peeling-paint look. This technique is easy to do and can be accomplished by most beginners. The entire project can be completed in about four easy steps. Whether you are a professional or a beginner to the world of painting, you can master the art of crackle finishing.
The numbers of materials needed for this type of project are very few. The only limit to this project is your imagination. This is a fun; creative, and inexpensive way to way to spruce up your home. Think of all of the items that are found in your home; you know that there are things that would look awesome with a bit of the aged painting look.
When you are ready to begin applying the crackle finish to your furniture or walls, you will want to make sure that you have the appropriate tools and materials to make your project flow a little easier. There are not a lot of materials needed. Basically, what you will need includes:
* Latex wall paints (preferably satin finish one base coat, one top coat)
* Crackle finish or white glue (available at craft stores)
* Paint brush, roller
* Masking tape
Step 1 - Using your roller, apply one layer of base coat to your walls. Allow paint to dry at least 8 hours or overnight if possible. Choose a color that is visually appealing as this is the color that will show through the "cracked" topcoat. It is recommended that you choose paint colors that contrast well.
Step 2 - Use the masking tape to declare "off limits" areas where you do not want the crackle finish. Working one section at a time, apply the crackle finish to the walls. The finish resembles clear glue with a paint-like consistency. Allow to dry - generally 30 minutes to 1 hour - or as the manufacturer recommends.
Step 3 - Once dry, immediately apply the topcoat, starting in one corner of the room and working quickly. Be sure to load the brush with enough paint to cover each section in one motion. The crackling will begin immediately so be sure to avoid applying too much paint and over-blending which will erase the cracks. Continue this way until the entire wall is finished and allow to dry.
Step 4 - Remove the masking tape, clean out your brushes, stand back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Of course, if you are running short on time, or you are not crafty, you can always let a professional take over the job. You can buy items that already have the crackle finish applied, from tables and chairs to cabinets and everything in between. Pieces with the crackle finish can really make a difference in the look of your current décor.
About Author:
Barry Goodknight - Custom Cabinets Wall Units.
Article Source: http://www.isnare.com
Feature Video:
Crackle Faux Painting Technique
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Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Preparing Rooms For Paint
While it is certainly not the most enjoyable part of the painting process, careful preparation can make your home painting project easier and less stressful. In fact, this is quite possibly the most important part of the job.
Improper or incomplete preparation is a recipe for disaster. Fail to prepare, and your project is doomed before it has even begun.
The steps I’ve listed below are general, all-purpose prep rules. They are standard steps for most jobs. Before and after preparation, reassess the space to see if something does not look fully prepared.
Things You’ll Need:
•Roll of plastic sheeting
•Painter’s Tape
•Primer (Water-based Primer is usually sufficient)
•Spackling Compound
•Putty Knife
Clear the Room
Clearing the room of all possible obstacles is the first step toward a quality paint job. A cluttered room will increase the stress, work, and difficulty of your painting project.Begin by clearing the walls any removable pieces. This includes outlet covers, light switch covers, curtain rods, pictures, etc… Label any outlet covers and light switches with masking tape so they can find their proper home again. Keep the mounting hardware together (a plastic sandwich bag works great), labeled, and in a safe place.
Remove everything that’s possible from the room’s interior as well. Furniture, fabrics, home décor. Furniture that cannot be removed for some reason should be moved into the center of the room and covered with plastic sheeting. You should not use cloth to cover the floor or any furniture, as paint will soak into the fabric and stain whatever is underneath.
Clean the Room
Clean the room thoroughly. Vacuum carpets. Sweep and mop floors. Wipe down baseboards and woodwork with a damp cloth. Clean those pesky cobwebs from the corners.
Once this stage of cleanup is completed, cover the floor completely with plastic sheeting. Secure the sheeting to the edges of the floor or baseboard with painter’s tape.
Wash the Walls
Walls (even those that look clean) accumulate dust, oily buildup, soot (from candles, cigarettes, etc…). Washing the walls to be painted is a critical step in the preparation process. Paint will not adhere well to dirty, oily walls.
There are many cleaning products available on the market for this type of application, but I’ve found that plain old dish soap and warm water works just about as well as any of them. A sponge-headed mop is an excellent tool for actual cleaning. Its long handle should allow you to reach 8 or 9 foot tall walls with relative ease.
Once the walls have gotten a thorough washing, give them a final once-over with plain old water to wash any soapy residue from the surface.
Patch Holes
A smooth surface is critical to the finished look of your paint project. Fill any nail holes, small dents, and nicks in the drywall with spackling compound.
Press the spackle firmly into the hole with a putty knife and smooth as flat as possible. Allow several hours to dry (per spackling manufacturer’s instructions). Sand the repairs flush with the wall. Apply a second coat of spackling if necessary. Sand flush.
Spackling is meant only for minor drywall repairs, such as nail holes, hairline cracks, and small nicks. I urge you to contact a professional contractor/drywaller for any larger repairs, unless you are confident in your ability to handle it yourself. Drywall finishing is something of an art form (in my book at least) and I have encountered far too many botched do-it-yourself jobs to prescribe the “fix-it-yourself” method.
Priming
Once you have patched your walls, priming is the next step in preparing them for paint. Primer bonds to your current surface and gives you a perfect base to paint on. Primer may be unnecessary if you are using Latex Paint to paint over a previous low-gloss latex paint.
Even if your surfaces are already painted with a low-gloss, latex paint and do not require priming, you should apply primer to any areas that are patched with spackling. These areas will appear glossy even after painting if they are not spot-primed.
Taping
Taping is another necessary evil of preparing for paint. Taping off baseboards, woodwork, light switches, outlets, ceilings, adjoining walls, etc, is the best way to protect those surfaces you do not intend to paint.
Use only “painter’s tape”. It is blue and available at nearly any paint, home improvement, or hardware store. Any other tape may damage your surfaces when you attempt to remove it. Painter’s Tape is low tack and can usually be removed without incident within two weeks of application.
Taping can be very painstaking work. Apply it so the edge is flush against the surface to be painted, then press down along that border with a putty knife to seal the adhesive. This will help keep paint from seeping behind your tape.
Once you have finished taping off all areas, you are ready to begin painting. Take a deep breath. The hardest part is already done.
About Author:
Adam Smith is a professional painter and faux finisher. He also maintains a "how-to" website providing information on interior painting and faux finishing for do-it-yourselfers. You can visit it at http://www.how-to-faux-finish.com/
Video Painting Tips:
Bob Schmidt gives advice about painting products and procedures to make your painting project go more smoothly
WallDreams Paint Ideas!
I like to spray prime the outlet covers and paint them separately in the faux finish being rendered unless the original color works well with the home interior. When doing a mural, sometimes I include the wall plate into the design as well.
My preferrence is to keep the work area clean during the entire process by keeping a trash bag/can nearby and picking up shrapnel as I go. It's safer, cleaner and less work to do when finishing up.
Pull tape as you go whenever possible! It's far easier to retape an area and you get a cleaner pull on the tape than if you let the paint dry on it. You can easily pull your paint finish right off the wall making for many touch ups later. While the paint is still wet any bleeding can be easily corrected.
Improper or incomplete preparation is a recipe for disaster. Fail to prepare, and your project is doomed before it has even begun.
The steps I’ve listed below are general, all-purpose prep rules. They are standard steps for most jobs. Before and after preparation, reassess the space to see if something does not look fully prepared.
Things You’ll Need:
•Roll of plastic sheeting
•Painter’s Tape
•Primer (Water-based Primer is usually sufficient)
•Spackling Compound
•Putty Knife
Clear the Room
Clearing the room of all possible obstacles is the first step toward a quality paint job. A cluttered room will increase the stress, work, and difficulty of your painting project.Begin by clearing the walls any removable pieces. This includes outlet covers, light switch covers, curtain rods, pictures, etc… Label any outlet covers and light switches with masking tape so they can find their proper home again. Keep the mounting hardware together (a plastic sandwich bag works great), labeled, and in a safe place.
Remove everything that’s possible from the room’s interior as well. Furniture, fabrics, home décor. Furniture that cannot be removed for some reason should be moved into the center of the room and covered with plastic sheeting. You should not use cloth to cover the floor or any furniture, as paint will soak into the fabric and stain whatever is underneath.
Clean the Room
Clean the room thoroughly. Vacuum carpets. Sweep and mop floors. Wipe down baseboards and woodwork with a damp cloth. Clean those pesky cobwebs from the corners.
Once this stage of cleanup is completed, cover the floor completely with plastic sheeting. Secure the sheeting to the edges of the floor or baseboard with painter’s tape.
Wash the Walls
Walls (even those that look clean) accumulate dust, oily buildup, soot (from candles, cigarettes, etc…). Washing the walls to be painted is a critical step in the preparation process. Paint will not adhere well to dirty, oily walls.
There are many cleaning products available on the market for this type of application, but I’ve found that plain old dish soap and warm water works just about as well as any of them. A sponge-headed mop is an excellent tool for actual cleaning. Its long handle should allow you to reach 8 or 9 foot tall walls with relative ease.
Once the walls have gotten a thorough washing, give them a final once-over with plain old water to wash any soapy residue from the surface.
Patch Holes
A smooth surface is critical to the finished look of your paint project. Fill any nail holes, small dents, and nicks in the drywall with spackling compound.
Press the spackle firmly into the hole with a putty knife and smooth as flat as possible. Allow several hours to dry (per spackling manufacturer’s instructions). Sand the repairs flush with the wall. Apply a second coat of spackling if necessary. Sand flush.
Spackling is meant only for minor drywall repairs, such as nail holes, hairline cracks, and small nicks. I urge you to contact a professional contractor/drywaller for any larger repairs, unless you are confident in your ability to handle it yourself. Drywall finishing is something of an art form (in my book at least) and I have encountered far too many botched do-it-yourself jobs to prescribe the “fix-it-yourself” method.
Priming
Once you have patched your walls, priming is the next step in preparing them for paint. Primer bonds to your current surface and gives you a perfect base to paint on. Primer may be unnecessary if you are using Latex Paint to paint over a previous low-gloss latex paint.
Even if your surfaces are already painted with a low-gloss, latex paint and do not require priming, you should apply primer to any areas that are patched with spackling. These areas will appear glossy even after painting if they are not spot-primed.
Taping
Taping is another necessary evil of preparing for paint. Taping off baseboards, woodwork, light switches, outlets, ceilings, adjoining walls, etc, is the best way to protect those surfaces you do not intend to paint.
Use only “painter’s tape”. It is blue and available at nearly any paint, home improvement, or hardware store. Any other tape may damage your surfaces when you attempt to remove it. Painter’s Tape is low tack and can usually be removed without incident within two weeks of application.
Taping can be very painstaking work. Apply it so the edge is flush against the surface to be painted, then press down along that border with a putty knife to seal the adhesive. This will help keep paint from seeping behind your tape.
Once you have finished taping off all areas, you are ready to begin painting. Take a deep breath. The hardest part is already done.
About Author:
Adam Smith is a professional painter and faux finisher. He also maintains a "how-to" website providing information on interior painting and faux finishing for do-it-yourselfers. You can visit it at http://www.how-to-faux-finish.com/
Video Painting Tips:
Bob Schmidt gives advice about painting products and procedures to make your painting project go more smoothly
WallDreams Paint Ideas!I like to spray prime the outlet covers and paint them separately in the faux finish being rendered unless the original color works well with the home interior. When doing a mural, sometimes I include the wall plate into the design as well.
My preferrence is to keep the work area clean during the entire process by keeping a trash bag/can nearby and picking up shrapnel as I go. It's safer, cleaner and less work to do when finishing up.
Pull tape as you go whenever possible! It's far easier to retape an area and you get a cleaner pull on the tape than if you let the paint dry on it. You can easily pull your paint finish right off the wall making for many touch ups later. While the paint is still wet any bleeding can be easily corrected.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Faux Finish Walls With Ragging
Adding a faux finish can add drama and interest to any wall in any room, and ragging is a technique you can easily use to transform the look of a room. Ragging lends a textured effect to a wall while still allowing your chosen background color to show through. Here are some simple steps for you to add faux glamour to your walls.
Colors
First you'll want to choose your colors. There are no hard-and-fast rules here. You can choose colors that are relatively close on the color wheel or you can choose any combination of colors that you think will be pleasing to you and will create the effect you're hoping to achieve. The more radical the color difference, the more bold your ragging statement will be.
Once you've finishing painting your wall with your base coat, let it dry completely. This will generally take about twenty-four hours, but once it's dry, you're ready to begin ragging the top coat.
Ragging
Wearing a pair of rubber gloves to keep your hands from getting coated, start by dipping your lint-free rag into your top coat, which will be composed of a four-to-one mixture of glaze and the color of your choice. As you work, don't forget to stir the glaze/paint mixture occasionally, because it will have a tendency to separate as time goes by.
Squeeze out the excess paint and then open your rag completely to evenly distribute the mixture before loosely crumpling it again. Start at the top corner of the wall and press your rag down gently. Work in an area of about one square yard before moving on. As you move along, uncrumple your rag from time to time to vary the pattern. Remember, this is a unique work of art you're creating. You don't want it to look like wallpaper.
After you've recrumpled the rag several times, repeat the process of dipping, opening and recrumpling your rag, and dabbing paint onto the wall until you've finished the entire surface. If you're doing several walls, you'll get the best results if you work on opposite walls first. Take a few steps back from time to time to check the uniformity of your ragging texture.
For a crisper texture, you can use a polyester rag instead of a cotton one. Plastic grocery bags also give a rougher texture. Regardless of which type of rag you choose, the key to a great-looking wall is to take your time and strive to achieve a random, yet uniform texture across the entire surface. It's not an expensive remodeling technique and it will take time to do, but with patience, you can dramatically change the look of a room by giving it a unique texture--one that you can proudly tell your guests you created yourself!
For professional decorative wall finishes, take a look at the Faux Artists who worked on the Habitat for Humanity project on http://flipthathousewithfaux.com/
Copyright © 2007 Jeanette Fisher
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeanette_Joy_Fisher
Video:
How to Faux Paint : Beginner Faux Painting Workshop Online : How to Use Rags for Faux Painting : Faux Painting Tips and Techniques
Learn how to use rags for faux painting, in this free video.
WallDreams Paint Ideas! Some cool tools for ragging are different textures in the cloth being dabbled or rolled on or off the surface. Again, its always better to practice your technique on a practice board before committing to the entire room. Likewise, try bubblewrap, terrycloth, sheets, plastic sheeting, burlap, cheesecloth, torn up t-shirts, a specialty rag rolling roller cover from a paint store, etc. Once you've put glaze to wall and begun a technique, stay on target. You can not change tool or stop mid-wall or the finish will be different. And as for any technique, do pull back occasionally and check for quality assurance, consistency.
Colors
First you'll want to choose your colors. There are no hard-and-fast rules here. You can choose colors that are relatively close on the color wheel or you can choose any combination of colors that you think will be pleasing to you and will create the effect you're hoping to achieve. The more radical the color difference, the more bold your ragging statement will be.
Once you've finishing painting your wall with your base coat, let it dry completely. This will generally take about twenty-four hours, but once it's dry, you're ready to begin ragging the top coat.
Ragging
Wearing a pair of rubber gloves to keep your hands from getting coated, start by dipping your lint-free rag into your top coat, which will be composed of a four-to-one mixture of glaze and the color of your choice. As you work, don't forget to stir the glaze/paint mixture occasionally, because it will have a tendency to separate as time goes by.
Squeeze out the excess paint and then open your rag completely to evenly distribute the mixture before loosely crumpling it again. Start at the top corner of the wall and press your rag down gently. Work in an area of about one square yard before moving on. As you move along, uncrumple your rag from time to time to vary the pattern. Remember, this is a unique work of art you're creating. You don't want it to look like wallpaper.
After you've recrumpled the rag several times, repeat the process of dipping, opening and recrumpling your rag, and dabbing paint onto the wall until you've finished the entire surface. If you're doing several walls, you'll get the best results if you work on opposite walls first. Take a few steps back from time to time to check the uniformity of your ragging texture.
For a crisper texture, you can use a polyester rag instead of a cotton one. Plastic grocery bags also give a rougher texture. Regardless of which type of rag you choose, the key to a great-looking wall is to take your time and strive to achieve a random, yet uniform texture across the entire surface. It's not an expensive remodeling technique and it will take time to do, but with patience, you can dramatically change the look of a room by giving it a unique texture--one that you can proudly tell your guests you created yourself!
For professional decorative wall finishes, take a look at the Faux Artists who worked on the Habitat for Humanity project on http://flipthathousewithfaux.com/
Copyright © 2007 Jeanette Fisher
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeanette_Joy_Fisher
Video:
How to Faux Paint : Beginner Faux Painting Workshop Online : How to Use Rags for Faux Painting : Faux Painting Tips and Techniques
Learn how to use rags for faux painting, in this free video.
WallDreams Paint Ideas! Some cool tools for ragging are different textures in the cloth being dabbled or rolled on or off the surface. Again, its always better to practice your technique on a practice board before committing to the entire room. Likewise, try bubblewrap, terrycloth, sheets, plastic sheeting, burlap, cheesecloth, torn up t-shirts, a specialty rag rolling roller cover from a paint store, etc. Once you've put glaze to wall and begun a technique, stay on target. You can not change tool or stop mid-wall or the finish will be different. And as for any technique, do pull back occasionally and check for quality assurance, consistency.
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