Use faux-finish techniques to create unique textures and effects.

Basic

•  

  Sponging: Sponging is perhaps the easiest decorative technique to learn. You'll need a natural sea sponge, glaze and two or three colors of paint to produce a wonderful interplay of dimensional color and texture. With sponging, you can add personality and interest to your kitchen, bathroom, bedroom or child's room.

   
•  

  Color Washing: Color washing, or "broken finish" technique, can bring authentic old world charm to any room, making it feel as if it's weathered by time. Yet it's amazingly simple to do. Best of all, brush marks are actually encouraged. This process involves applying a thin, translucent glaze over a contrasting base color and using feathery brush strokes to produce a mellow, soft texture. Once you're done, you'll feel like you've stepped into an Old Master's painting. It's a great look in a kitchen, family room, den or master suite.

   
•  

  Ragging: Turn any room into an elegant place where you can entertain your guests or just cozy up with a good book. Achieve the rich look of old leather or weathered stucco with ragging. You simply use a rag to add or remove paint/glaze mixtures that have been applied over a different-colored base. Use a rag with texture for more interest. Whether you're in the mood for something subtle or bold and dramatic, ragging is a simple way to make a big impact in any room.

   
•  

  Clouds: This technique is surprisingly simple to master and utilizes a basic "sponging on" of white paint to form the clouds. You can sponge them onto a field of blue or any soft color you choose. Finish off the edges with glaze if you wish. The secret is to concentrate the white in the center of the cloud and less toward the edge for an authentic "up in the sky" look.

   

Textured

•  

  Marbling: The rich color variations, veining and intricate patterns of natural marble are the inspiration for this stunning technique. Marbling offers great enhancement to many surfaces, including fireplace surrounds, tabletops, picture frames and, of course, walls. Marbling can make a small space, like a powder room, intimate and dramatic. Marbling, which is a process of layering tinted glazes over a base coat, does take some time and effort. But with a little practice, you can achieve effects that a stonemason would envy.

   
•  

  Granite: Many homes today are featuring the sophisticated styling that only granite can provide. There is virtually no limit to the colors and pattern variations of granite. When you look at a piece, the colors and texture are random and very interesting. Express yourself with this simple faux stone painting technique that combines sponging and speckling – flicking or dabbing glaze on with a brush. Use this technique on furniture, floors and decorative containers in addition to walls.

   
•  

  Bricks: The bricks technique, with its rugged textures and earthy colors, can add true character to your decorating scheme. It's the perfect touch for an accent wall in a family room or to give definition and presence to a fireplace. It's a surprisingly easy look to achieve with faux painting. You simply use a light paint to simulate mortar and then sponge in the "bricks" using varying shades of paint. No trowel necessary – just a little imagination and creativity.

   
•  

  Crackling: Want an aged, weathered look on a surface such as a door, chair or table? Crackling can provide real attention-getting style and create a focal point in a room. There is an endless array of color combinations you can choose and the difference between the colors can be subtle or dramatic. This technique uses two colors of paint, crackle medium and varnish to make the magic happen. It's fun, and can give an instant country or Old World look to your selected surface.

   

Advanced

•  

  Dragging: Think of the beauty of sumptuous silk or crisp, airy linen. You could spend a fortune on real fabric or expensive wall coverings. Or, you can try the faux technique of dragging, also known as "strié." Dragging is just that - pulling a special paintbrush or wallpaper smoothing brush over a colored glaze that has been applied to a base coat. The darker the top glaze, the more drama you create. It's a luxurious, high-end look that you can master in no time.

   
•  

  Frottage: Think of the beauty of sumptuous silk or crisp, airy linen. You could spend a fortune on real fabric or expensive wall coverings. Or, you can try the faux technique of dragging, also known as "strié." Dragging is just that - pulling a special paintbrush or wallpaper smoothing brush over a colored glaze that has been applied to a base coat. The darker the top glaze, the more drama you create. It's a luxurious, high-end look that you can master in no time.

   
•  

  Diamonds: Diamonds can be everyone's best friend. A diamond pattern on either an accent wall or in the entire room can be fun and casual or elegant and trés French. While it necessitates careful taping, this technique can add an incredible ''wow'' factor to a bedroom, hallway, vestibule or dining room. To achieve this effect, you apply the lighter color base coat, then create a tape grid of diamonds, filling some in with either a contrasting color or another finish in the same color as the base.

   
•  

  Stripes: Stripes are a classic design element that can add texture and interest to any room. You can achieve the simple elegance of fine damask by using the same color in two different sheens. You can be bolder and more contemporary by using stripes in irregular widths. Or, stripe a room horizontally for a cozier effect. Your choice of colors also dramatically affects the end result. Striping is a versatile and fun technique that only looks like it was difficult to achieve.

   

Other Faux Techniques

•  

  Antiquing: There's a special technique that you can use to give a piece of furniture, cabinets, tables, planters or anything else you can find around the house the look of age. The Antique look is accomplished with the application of a glaze that is usually earth-toned or darker in color. You can antique the other way around, but remember a light base coat needs a darker glaze, whereas a dark base coat should use a light glaze.

   
•  

  Lime Washing: The ''scrubbed-chalk'' finish has been popular since the medieval period. This finish duplicates a uniquely aged look and is versatile enough to be used for period rooms as well as modern interiors. For instance, lime washing looks great in a kitchen or porch, but works equally well in a bathroom or bedroom. This process also has the advantage of a short drying time.

   
•  

  Pickling Wood: Pickling, also referred to as ''highlighting,'' is a technique that can lighten old wood that has been darkened with age or give a new piece of wood a wash of color. Therefore it's best for wood furniture, cabinets or other woodwork.

   
•  

  Stencil a Wall or Border: Stenciling is perhaps the most widely used decorative painting technique and it's something almost anyone can do. In part, the reason must be its aesthetic appeal and its relatively easy degree of difficulty. Stenciling can also be an inexpensive fix for decorating and architectural problems. Some stencil locations: Border a too-small window to make it appear larger. Use a border on a wall just below the ceiling to warm up a cold room or to make a high-ceilinged room look cozier. If you like the look of a chair-rail molding but aren't up to the carpentry involved, try a stenciled border there. You need very little paint but likely several colors. Choose colors that coordinate with your furnishings. In any case, you'll find this technique to be both fun and easy.

   
•  

  Stenciling a Wood Floor: If you have wood flooring in your house, stenciling can turn it from wood to WOW. Stenciling is unique, it matches your room perfectly and it is more artistic than area rugs as the centerpiece to any room. Plus, it even covers up scratch marks. In order to create the look of an area rug, just make a large rectangular or square border with a central design in a different color. The central design can be anything, from a recognizable shape (such as a sun) to an abstract form (such as alternating circles and ovals). Use this idea in any room simply by adjusting the scale. One thing that you need to decide is if you want to design your own stencil or buy it ready-made. If you have an abstract design in mind you probably want to design your own stencil, which is easy to do and cheaper than buying ready-made stencils. However, if you have a design that you can't draw, buying ready-made is the better choice. There are a wide variety of ready-made stencils in many different styles that could complement your room, and they're easy to find at your local True Value Hardware Store.

   
•  

  Verdigris Finishing: Create the look of aged bronze on accent pieces with the Verdigris technique. The term ''verdigris'' is from the French, ''vert de Grece,'' which means ''The green of Greece.'' True verdigris is actually a coating of cupric carbonate formed by weathering on copper, brass and bronze from age. The beautiful blue-green patina, which can be seen on historic domes and spires, lends an ancient, soft and chalky aspect to decorative metal work.

   
•  

  Wood Graining: Wood graining is a centuries-old painting technique used to simulate the appearance of wood. This dramatic technique can be easily applied to doors, painted furniture or interior trim molding.