It has always been our nature as humans to decorate our surroundings to enhance the environment that we live in. Since the early times, humans beautify their own nests to express religion, spirituality and/or sense of style. These days, whether it is for significant expressions or mere aesthetic purposes, the different techniques on faux painting help us create more life in our homes.

In a literal sense, the word “faux” means “fake” in French. True enough, faux painting gives our homes and offices the kind of finish that mimics a wide variety of surfaces that we get from materials such as marble and wood with paint. There are several faux painting techniques that we can use to accentuate certain areas, if not all, of our New York homes, offices and other business establishments. Among these techniques are Marbleizing, Graining, Color Wash, Trompe I’oeil (“trick the eye”), Strie (“stripe” or “streak”) and Venetian Plaster, each giving different effects on your wall or furniture.

One particular technique in faux painting, the Venetian Plaster, catches my attention every time I walk in to a new establishment. This traditional decorative technique has been in existence since the 16th century. It is amazing how Venetian Plaster makes wonders to a room. It is even hard to imagine that just by using thin layers of paint, carefully and artistically applied on your New York home or office wall by a simple trowel or spatula can create a smooth surface with the illusion of depth and texture in a room. The elegant effect definitely makes it one of the most popular choices among the other faux painting techniques.

Throughout the years, new innovations and developments on the Venetian Plaster faux painting technique are offered, giving us even more creative possibilities when decorating our homes and business establishments in New York. There are now more colors available within the Venetian Plaster technique added to the original lime and marble mixture ingredients. It is also now more consistent and durable. In addition, those who have children at home will be pleased to know that the improvements on Venetian Plaster have made its use safer for the family.

Combine this age-old technique with the latest technology and highest quality now available for us to make use of, and we have a very long list of options for our home and office decorating projects. So, set your imagination free and let your walls be your canvass! There are literally thousands of design combinations we can come up with the Venetian Plaster faux painting technique.

Woodworking Tools

Plaster was common for covering walls in the 19th Century, but with the advent of drywall, plaster fell by the wayside, since it was costlier and took longer to apply. However, with many homeowners looking to recreate the look of plaster walls, the art of creating faux Venetian plaster finishes grows in popularity.

You can buy fake Venetian plaster or hire a trained professional to finish your walls with real Venetian plaster. Some decorative painters train in Italy, but many take classes in the United States.

To create that look yourself, you’ll find lots of help on the Internet or in a growing number of books. Do your initial experimenting on a test panel and not on your walls. That way, you can make mistakes without having to clean them up and start all over.

Start by using a textured paint with a consistency slightly thinner than joint compound. It’s available at most good hardware centers, since it’s commonly used to hide wall and ceiling imperfections and cracks.

Holding a trowel like those used to apply cement to the curved surfaces of swimming pools, apply the textured paint. The larger the trowel, the more surface you can cover with each stroke. Distribute the paint fairly evenly. You can go back later to achieve the texture you’re looking for. Hold the trowel at about 45 degrees for the first pass, then flatten it out a little to create more texture.

Let that coat dry for about twenty-four hours before moving to the second step, which is applying paint to your textured surface. A satin finish works best.

Let that coat dry for at least an hour before applying the top coat, a water-based glazing liquid, with a medium nap roller. A glazing medium, tinted to your desired color, works better than watered-down paint, because you’re going to go back immediately after you’ve finished and take most of it off again, and you wouldn’t be able to do that with watered-down paint. It dries too fast.

Once the glazing liquid has been applied, use a rag towel to begin removing it, using a circular motion. Go over the surface, allowing the glaze to collect in the low spots in your textured paint, until you no longer see any swipe marks. don’t press down too hard and ruin your textured surface, and don’t worry about mistakes, because you’re making them BEFORE you tackle your walls.

Let the surface dry for about a week. It will have the look and feel of plaster, adding class and warmth to your room–at a fraction of the cost of real plaster work.

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