Tuscan Interior Paint Colors – Creating a Tuscany Flavor in Your Home
Amongst the paint finishes used to create an antique or weathered look, the Tuscan finish is extremely popular. It is typically achieved using faux painting techniques, especially color washing, to create the illusion of texture and age. The look can also be recreated by introducing actual texture, with Venetian plastering, for example. Faux finishes that create the appearance of texture on a flat surface are a practical and economical choice for decorators seeking the atmosphere of Italy. As well as texture, the right color palette is also of paramount importance in the Tuscan look.
The Tuscan Look
The weathered or distressed Tuscan look is cozy, rustic and evocative. It summons up a balmy Mediterranean climate and rural or peasant homes, redolent with the patina of age, with a worn, lived-in feel. The homes that inspired the Tuscan look have an organic quality, and would have been plastered and painted using subtly colored, natural materials, many locally available.
Decorative details are typically stenciled onto walls as borders and have a home-grown, folk-art quality. Tiles and mosaics in complementary colors are also used. The versatile Tuscan paint finish is well-suited to informal living areas, dining rooms, kitchens and patios but can also be effective in more formal rooms.
Tuscan Colors
Traditional Tuscan d?cor relied on local materials and homemakers did not have the chemical-based and highly engineered paints and plasters available today. The look is therefore organic and earthy, with muted tones. The pigments that have been used throughout history for paints are colloquially known as ochre. They are typically metal oxides (principally iron, but also other metals such as manganese).
Iron oxide (iron ore) comes in many shades of red. The warm colors may range from bright red to a deep maroon or rusty red-brown. Allied hues are rich oranges, shades of terracotta, golden yellows and even varieties of pink or peach. These pigments are not only the basic color ingredients of paint, but can also be used to tint plaster.
Though these colors are the core of the Tuscan palette, other colors are also incorporated into the range. Muted blues and greens (shades of olive and sage) are also effective in recreating Tuscan finishes. The Tuscan look goes well with terracotta tiled floors.
Choosing Your Tuscan Palette
The natural colors in the Tuscan palette mix and match well, though there are further considerations. You can choose paints of different color intensity. Warmer colors may be required for a cold room and conversely, cooler colors for a bright, sunny space. Color washing requires a minimum of two colors, but further colors can be added to produce a more textured and varied effect.
Depending on how you apply the paint and the nature and range of the colors used, you can achieve a cloudy, airy finish or a denser, moodier feel. To complete the Tuscan paint finish, consider stenciled borders in similar muted tones. Foliage such as acanthus leaves or vines and grapes are motifs in keeping with the Tuscan theme. Faux mosaics and tiles in suitable colors provide another finishing touch.
By: Debra T Conrad
About the Author:
Ready for more Tuscany in your home? Visit ThatPainterLady.com for more ideas and extra tips for faux painting finishes in golden yellow tuscan too.
Categories: Painting Tags: Art Quality, Local Materials, Organic Quality
How To Antique Your Kitchen Cabinets
If you need new cabinets but can’t afford them, you might try some do it yourself antiquing. Antiquing your kitchen cabinets can revitalize old tired cabinetry and add warmth and character to the room. Antiqued cabinets go with a wide range of decorating styles, from country, to Victorian to Tuscan to French.
Antiqued cabinets will give your kitchen a warm lived in look as well as make the room feel more relaxed and comfortable. There are 2 basic methods you can use to antique your kitchen cabinets – staining and distressing. You can use them alone, or combine them for some old world charm in your kitchen
Antiquing Your Cabinets With Stain
This method of antiquing kitchen cabinets works best on cabinets that are painted a light color or have a light stain.
You will need some dark stain, a brush or sponge and lots of paper towels. Achieving an antique look is easy but you might want to try it in an area that isn’t so noticeable or practice on something else until you get the hang of it and develop a technique.
To antique stain your cabinets, simply apply a light layer of the stain on one section of the cabinet and wipe off to the desired level of “antiqueness”. Repeat all along the cabinet until you are done! You’ll want to make it look natural, so concentrate more stain on the areas that would get the most wear like around the edges and handles.
Distressing Your Kitchen Cabinets
This method of antiquing kitchen cabinets works only on painted cabinets. It is called distressing because it simulates the wear that an old piece of cabinetry would endure after hundreds of years of use. Some people use chains and hammers when distressing furniture, but I think a little bit of sandpaper is enough for cabinets.
The object is to sand off the finish on the edges and worn areas. Therefore, you would take a medium grit paper and sand at the door and drawer edges to reveal just a thin layer of the wood underneath. It looks best when the color underneath is a bit darker or if the cabinets are dark then it looks best if the color revealed is lighter. Personally, I prefer to stick to the edges, but you can sand a bit off in the middle if you want an overall worn look.
Some other methods of antiquing kitchen cabinets include crackle painting and faux painting.
Crackle painting is done with 2 types of paint – the bottom layer is painted on and the crackle medium is brushed on top which causes the layer underneath to crackle. I have tried this method many times and have never been really satisfied with the results. If you really like this look, I suggest you practice, practice, practice on something else before you attempt to crackle your cabinets.
Faux painting can be a very nice way of antiquing your cabinets. You can probably find a local artist that will do
this for a reasonable price – they can add depth to the cabinet as well as some nice artistry!
Other ways to add interest to your cabinets include changing the knobs and hardware and adding
molding, legs and trimwork.
By: Lee Dobbins
About the Author:
Lee Dobbins is the owner of A Kitchen Decorating Idea where you can get more ideas on how to decorate your kitchen on a budget.
Water Filters – Reverse Osmosis
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Categories: Painting Tags: Cabinetry, New Cabinets, Worn Areas