Can't Afford Wood or Marble? Try Paint!
by Wendy Croix
wendy.croix@homeimprovementideas.net
Home Improvement Ideas Columnist
With inexpensive paint, a bit of patience, and a little technique, you can give your drab bathroom trim the look of expensive marble. Or give wood-grain warmth to forgettable fixtures and doorframes. Light or dark, natural or colorful, the home decorating ideas are all yours when you improve with paint.
Marbling Techniques
Marble surfaces are classic, yet hot today. If you've priced these beautifully veined tiles or countertops, you know what a strong statement marble makes. It's best, then, to use faux marbling techniques on baseboards or crown moldings where the striking effect won't overwhelm your décor.
To marble, you'll apply a basecoat of semigloss latex. Once that's dry, you'll add the major marbled shapes in the acrylic of your choice with a small, flat paintbrush, wiping off spots with a chamois cloth to create a more complex pattern. Add acrylic veining with a fine pointed brush. Varnish and viola! Marble.
Wood Graining Techniques
Commercial furniture manufacturers use wood graining to give the look of expensive wood, and so can you. You'll need to experiment with colors to find the just-right combination of light base and slightly darker glaze that fits your home decorating needs.
A rich mahogany look can be achieved with two glazings of oil-based paints. Apply the first coat with a spalter brush (available at art stores), and streak with a cloth to soften the effect. Once that surface dries, a second glazing and feathering with your fingers adds the arched look of crotch-mahogany. Alternating panels of strait-grained and crotch-mahogany gives a dramatic effect.
Step-by-step Home Decorating with Paint
Design writer Mindy Drucker and painter Pierre Finkelstein offer clear guides for bringing your home decorating ideas to life. Recipes for Surfaces: Decorative Paint Finishes Made Simple is readily available in an inexpensive paperback edition. These techniques of marbling and wood graining, along with many others, are clearly pictured in a step-by-step, easy-to-follow way. If you'd rather not risk the little snafus that can crop up by doing it yourself, there are many professionals that can help you transfer your drab trim into elegant décor.
Source
- Drucker, Mindy and Pierre Finkelstein. Recipes for Surfaces. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.
About the Author
Wendy Croix, Ph.D. is a creative writer, freelancer, and self-confessed home improvement junkie. She's also a professor with more than twenty years’ experience in the field of education.
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