Of all faux finish techniques, sponging is the easiest, even children can do a somewhat messy reproduction of this technique. In order to sponge, you must first paint the entire area one base color. After this coat dries, then you can take a sponge or even a plastic bag, dip it in paint, and apply the paint randomly to the walls. Although this is a random process, you want to be careful not to get any one area of the wall extremely dark or leave it extremely light or your eye will be drawn to that spot immediately. Sponging is very easy, and for all supplies usually costs between $50-$100, which may also include classes if you want to learn from the professionals.

Combing is a little more difficult. When combing, you use a squeegee with teeth to comb through the top layer of paint. As with sponging, you want to have a bottom layer so that when you comb there will be a matching layer beneath it. Using a combing technique is also very inexpensive, and you can use the squeegee to make wavy, zigzags, and other designs on the wall. Glazing is actually the product that you put over your first coat of paint. In order to glaze your walls correctly, you should take a class. You may be able to find a home improvement store that offers glazing classes or you may need to talk to a local interior decorator about classes, although these will likely be very expensive. Glazing places a transparent coat over the base coat of paint, making the wall look a bit shiny and transparent. You can use as many coats of glaze as you want to get the desired look.

Trompe-L’oeil is French for “fool the eye.” This finish fools the eye into thinking that the wall has a marble or granite finish. This is probably the most difficult finish to accomplish on your own. For creating the marble finish, you use a technique very much like sponging, but this one takes a bit more talent. Visit local stores to see if they have classes or tips on achieving this style. These are the four primary types of faux finishes. The first two are fairly easy, while the latter two are significantly harder. Before attempting any of these, plan well so that you can estimate the cost, and visit your local hardware or design store for classes or helpful hints. Having a buddy to take classes with you or practice with you will make the experience more fun. You can even do one room in your house and then decorate a room in your buddy’s house; the fun never ends.

Wall color can really affect the look and feel of a room. Each individual color has a style that can brighten up a room, make a room feel bigger, or even add a sophisticated or modern look to a space. These three fun and decorative techniques will give your walls a beautiful and truly unique look. They use pattern and tonality to create dynamic surfaces that eye catching. Be sure to prepare your surfaces just as you would with any other painting project before your start.

The first technique is a tissue paper technique that creates the look of crinkled paper on your walls. You start by painting an area a little larger than the size of your tissue paper. Then you crinkle up your tissue paper and unfold it. Place it against the painted surface and smooth it out a bit with your fingers. Then paint over the tissue paper using horizontal strokes across the wall. You can smooth the tissue paper with your fingers even more as you go depending on how you want it to look. Continue this process over your entire wall making sure to slightly overlap the pieces of tissue paper.

Another cool painting style creates walls that look like parchment with lovely tonal variety. This technique requires that you use two colors of paint that will be your top coat colors. The colors should complement each other because they will be overlapped to create tonality. You will need to mix one part of each of your chosen top coat colors with one part water. Keep them in separate containers. Do the same and mix each with one part glaze. Also set each of these mixtures in separate containers. Make sure that you have a cheesecloth so that you can spread the paint. Now all you have to do is paint a few short swipes of each mixture. Then you’ll spread them with a damp cheesecloth. Make sure that you spread them in asymmetrical movements. The mixtures and amoeba-like movement of your spreading is what creates the beautiful parchment look.

The last idea looks really breathtaking. It is a simply way to create a fabric pattern on your walls. You will need two paint brushes, a paint pad, and a bottle of water. This technique works best when you mix your top layer coat paint with one part glaze and two parts water. You start out by dampening your paint pad. You then dip the pad into your paint mixture and apply it to your walls. You need to apply it in long vertical strokes. Right after you apply it, take a dry paint brush and drag it with quite a bit of force down the same vertical strokes. You must dry it between strokes and switch to a new brush when your first brush gets too damp.