I fear faux painting. Maybe it’s a hangover from the ’80s, when “rag painting” was so popular…
But to be honest, when you have a zillion people working on a project – the contractor, the floor guy, electrician, plumber, team of painters, drapery installer, chirpy decorator (that would be me) – the last thing I feel like doing is bringing in some sponge-wielding, overall-sporting, kerchief-knotting artiste to do some faux painting.
However. I am a fan of strong color. And sometimes that color needs just a little…mellowing.
Enter glaze. We recently painted a master bedroom Benjamin Moore‘s 1341 Secret Rendezvous, and it was just a little too pink.
So to tone it down and give it some depth, we got a gallon of Benjamin Moore’s latex glaze…
…and mixed it with about half a gallon of paint that’s one notch darker, Benjamin Moore’s 1342 Mardi Gras. Here’s the result:
It’s tough to see in these pictures, but the lighter color does come through a little bit – the walls are slightly mottled and rich-looking, not flat.
The poor painters I sprung this on used a combination of brushes and rollers to apply the glaze, as you would normal paint. I felt terrible. I should have given them sponges and told them to wipe it on section by section. But three coats later (did I mention I felt terrible?) it evened out enough to give us the mellower, slightly stippled look we were after.
So, to summarize: Glaze is good. It’s not faux. Do not be afraid.
p.s. – A tiny note to say thanks, Anneshine, who mentioned an earlier post about wallpaper on a blog called Threadbanger – bossy blog got lots of click-throughs from that site! (What is an “Apparel Apprentice,” anyway?) Thanks for the mention.
p.p.s. – VOTE TOMORROW!
