Easy "Old World" Italian Finishes with Paint and Sandpaper
Known for its history and exquisite architecture, Italy's ancient elegant decorating is now a sought after style in today's modern American homes.
Worn Italian finishes are a popular look for both walls and furniture pieces today and enhance every decorating style from Traditional to Contemporary. These looks are super easy to achieve. With a bit of patience while paint dries and a bit of creative sanding with sand paper, you too will have the look of beautiful worn walls.
Choose two coordinating colors in neutral tones. One medium-dark and one light. My choice would be medium neutral brown (not a warm tone but rather, totally void of any reddish tones), and a pale gold toned paint. Other choices might be: Medium Sage Green with Gold or Cream Paint Brown with white paint Darker Gray with pale brown paint Medium warm brown with pastel blue. Choose flat wall paint rather than gloss or semi-gloss as these are more difficult to sand. Let's make it as easy as possible!
Paint the wall first with the darker of the two colors you have chosen. Allow to dry completely. Paint the second color right over the top of it. Allow to dry. Once dry, using a light weight sandpaper, begin lightly sanding the surface in random streaks until you begin to see the darker color show through. Do not sand the light color completely off. You want only bits of the darker color to appear. Be careful not to sand too deep as you could sand right through the dark color.
Randomly sand the wall to expose the darker color, occasionally stepping back to view your artistry. Sand either in one direction or choose to "cross hatch" your design by sanding first one way, (vertically) then sanding the other way (horizontally) over the top of it. Do not do circular sanding since this will not achieve the proper look. Continue random sanding until you have reached your desired exposure and visual texture of the underlying color.
There is no need to do anything further to the wall but if you would like to add further depth, mix a very small amount of the dark color you used with translucent wall glaze then work in 3x3 foot section, wiping the wall with the glaze and then blotting it off with a dry rag.
The look is incredible and will give a more "antiqued" look to your walls.
Create fabulous furniture finishes with the same technique. Seal with a matt or semi-gloss clear sealer to protect the finish once it is dry.
Related Tags: home decor, interior decorating, painting, diy, faux finish, stencil, wall ideas, italian wall finishes
© Victoria Larsen 2007 Victoria Larsen is a professional wall stencil designer and interior specialist. Her products and ideas have been featured in Better Homes and Gardens, Women's Day, Craft Trends, Creating Keepsakes, Rubber Stampin Retailer and Memory Maker magazines and The Wall Street Journal. Visit Victoria on line at http://www.victorialarsen.com Blog: http://victorialarsen.typepad.com
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