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How to Create a Stone Faux Finish
Add a unique style and texture to any room or wall with a faux stone finish. The process of achieving this look is easy to accomplish, affordable, and is a great way to express individual creativity. By adhering to simple instructions, anyone can create a realistic stone faux finish.
A stone finish adds elegance to a home. Stone is simply one of nature's most beautiful objects. It varies in not only size, and texture, but in color as well. Each year, consumers spend millions of dollars updating their homes with stone such as granite. However, you do not have to spend a fortune to add the look of natural stone to your home. Instead, follow stone faux finish painting techniques so that you can add any color stone you wish to any room in your home.
However, before you run out to the store to buy all the supplies you need for this project, you first need to do a little research. Begin by studying other stone faux finish projects. Pay close attention to the colors they used as well as the size and style of the stones. Look closely at the details outlining each stone, as this will be the most difficult aspect of this project.
Materials
After you spend a sufficient amount of time preparing, you are ready to buy the necessary supplies including:
- Paint/Glaze: While you can buy paints specifically designed for stone finishes, the best way to individualize your project is by preparing the finished look by hand. For this, you will need a base coat paint preferably with a low luster sheen and about a gallon of earth-tone tinted glaze for the top coat. It is important to note that if you buy latex paint, you should also buy latex glaze.
- Brushes: You will need a brush or roller to paint the base coat as well as a smaller artists brush to paint the outline around each stone.
- Additional materials: As with any painting project, you will need a drop cloth, paint try, paint stick, gloves, and goggles.
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the area you want to paint by removing nails, filling in holes, and generally cleaning the surface. Next, paint the entire section using your base coat color. Paint two even coats allowing each one to dry sufficiently.
Step 2: After the second base coat dries, practice applying your tinted glaze to a spare piece of cardboard. Experiment using different materials such as rolled-up rags, crumpled newspaper, or a natural sponge until you achieve, the texture you want. After you finish practicing, you are ready to apply the glaze to the entire area you wish to transform. Start in an upper corner and dab the applicator of your choice in a random pattern by rotating it. It is also a good idea to make some areas of the wall light and the others dark just as natural stone has varying degrees of light and dark.
Step 3: Allow the glaze to dry thoroughly. Next, create a stone outline using a real stone as an example, or by drawing the outline free hand on a piece of cardboard. Cut out a few different stone outlines from the cardboard and trace them to the wall using chalk or a pencil. It is important that the outlines do not look too perfect, as natural stone does not have even edges.
Step 4: Next, use the artist brush to paint over the outlines. Blend thoroughly using a feathering method, and experiment using different blends of colors for each stone outline to add depth and style.
Step 5: Allow the wall to completely dry. While you may be satisfied with your work, you may still want to add additional touches such as painting small amounts of plant life to the intersection of the stones. Do this by using a sponge to apply small amounts of dark and light green paint over the corners of a few stones.
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