Home decorators looking for something a little different are often faced with expensive products and time consuming solutions, making many of us opt for more everyday options like wallpaper and basic paint finishes. However one lasting favorite offers an inexpensive solution that can be used almost anywhere and mimics that most ancient and noble of finishes - marble.
With the right approach, and a little patience, you can recreate marble on almost any surface using basic paints and glaze.
Tools For The Job
For a pale marbling effect you will need:
1) Undercoat or eggshell paint for the background (dependent on surface) 2) Artists oil paints in umber and varying shades of grey (for the veins seen in marble) 3) Translucent glaze to create a natural sheen for the finish 4) Brushes - household paint brushes, a soft flat artists brush, soft makeup brush, natural sponge, lint free rags 5) Glass paper and white spirit
Mixing The Paint
The marble effect is created by applying layers of tinted glaze, veins and mottling over a white or pale basecoat. You then work in gradual variations of tone to the background color by dabbing on artist 's oil paint or tinted eggshell paint. Use the brushes and natural sponge to break up the color of the basecoat.
You need to mix the paint in the appropriate ratios. For an opaque glaze, good proportions to work with are:
- Three parts oil based scumble - Five parts of white eggshell - Two parts white spirit.
Mix the paint with the glaze then add the white spirit to give a creamy consistency. You can create a more translucent glaze by tinting it with stainers or oil paints and then add equal amounts of white spirit.
Six Easy Steps
1) Rub down the surface to be decorated and apply undercoat (on wood or metal) or eggshell (on walls) in a suitable color. A well-prepared surface will be free of splinters or flaking paint. The paint effect will look better if you take care over this stage.
2) If necessary, apply a further coat to act as a base coat for the decorative finish. Tint it slightly with grey oil paint and use a sponge to create lightly mottled areas.
3) Using artists' oil and an artists brush start to create a random trellis of diagonal veins across the surface. Traditional colors to use are burnt sienna and dark grey on pale marble and whites and greens on black backgrounds.
4) Strengthen some of the veins with darker colors, and then soften the effect by brushing over the surface with a soft feather or soft brush.
5) Use a natural sponge to create variations in tone, lifting off color or applying more color where needed.
6) To create the natural luster of marble apply a translucent glaze, with a light umber tint. In some patches, add extra coats of glaze for a natural effect. Finish by applying a coat of clear gloss varnish followed by a coat of satin varnish to give the surface added sheen and greater depth.
Luxurious And Opulent
Creating your own marble effect is as easy as following the directions above. The cost of the paint is minimal but creates an expensive looking effect. Marble has long been used as a luxurious and opulent building material, leaving a unique finish that can be easily mimicked with a little effort.
The real beauty of this technique is that because the materials are inexpensive it allows you to try different colors and finishes to match your decor. Experiment with different shades and tones and try varying the depth of the veins to really bring the work alive. With a little practice, and some patience, you might be amazed at the results.
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DIY Conservatories Uk Conservatories for DIY Projects - P Shaped Conservatories , T shaped Victorian Conservatories. DIY Conservatories believe that having your own conservatories should not cost the world.
Your wife sweetly asks if you think you could hang a few rolls of wallpaper next weekend. You look away from the Saturday afternoon football game long enough to say "Sure Hon". A week later as you're about to leave the house to play 18 holes on the most gorgeous day of the year, she reminds you of your promise to hang wall paper in the master bedroom.
You quietly die inside because you know that this would be no quick job. Even 9 holes are out of the question. Seeing the determined look on her face quickly derails any argument you may have had about postponing this job until next weekend. She emphasizes the point by retrieving from the hall closet a large plastic bag containing multiple rolls of wallpaper. There is no way to get out of this one!If you really have to do the job you might as well get started. Here is the simple way that I hang wallpaper:
First Step: Believe you can do it! For some reason the prospect of hanging wallpaper scares most of the male population. No one really knows why; maybe it 's all those Three Stooges reruns we watched as a kid.
Second Step: Move the furniture away from the walls and patch any holes you might find. Use spackling paste if you're in a hurry. Use only a small amount on each hole and scraped most of it off with putty knife. Pull nails or picture hangers out of the wall, making sure you don't make a bigger mess by making larger holes. If you want to hang pictures back in the same place, don't fill the holes. After the spackling dries, sand it of with medium grade sandpaper.
Brush any dirt or cob webs you see off the walls. If the area you're going to paper is unusually dirty, wash it down before hanging the paper. Wallpaper hung over dirt and grime will pull loose after it dries.
Measure the length of the walls, add two inches for the top and bottom of the sheet, and then cut the first sheet. Example: Wall is 92 inches from ceiling to baseboard. Add 4 Inches and your wall paper would be 96 inches long. Lay your first sheet face up on the floor. Lay your next sheet next to it, matching the pattern. Cut the second sheet even with the first sheet. See how easy that is!
Fourth Step: Assuming that the wallpaper is pre-pasted, with your water tray filled with water, you're ready to dunk the first sheet. Read the instructions that come with the wallpaper to see how long you should leave the paper submerged; usually 15 -30 seconds. Take the paper out of the water and fold the glue sides together and let it set for 3-4 minutes.
While you're waiting for the paper and glue to cure, set your plumb line. If the paper is 22 inches wide, measure 21 and a half inches from the end of the wall, and make a mark with a pencil. Now with a level on your mark, draw a straight line down the wall. This is your straight line from which you will begin.
Now place the sheet of wet wall paper on the corner side of the pencil mark leaving an inch to two inches extra at the top to trim off. Set the wallpaper along the penciled line from top to bottom. Then with a wallpaper brush or sponge, smooth out the paper all the way to the corner with about a quarter inch lapping over to the other wall. When you start working on the other wall, make your pencil mark 22 inches from the wall.
After you have finished that sheet of wallpaper, start working the others in the same way. One important note! Leave the bubbles alone after you have left that sheet. The bubbles will dry out over night. If you keep trying to remove all the little air pockets trapped behind the wall paper, you will stretch the paper and cause all sorts of problems. Remember, paper hanging is easy, don't make it difficult!
Remember to strike your plumb line when you go around corners and when you paper around doors or windows and you will have half of the battle won! After you have hung each strip, trim it out, both top and bottom. Clean off excess paste with a sponge.
That 's it! This is my way of hanging wall paper and it works. It also saves a lot of time and money. Almost everyone already has the tools to hang wallpaper. You don't even have to buy a water tray. Use the bathtub the way I do. A box cutter, level, putty knife and spackling paste is all you need to complete the job.
You may not get to play golf this weekend, but chances are you will have done the paper job in one day so you'll have next Saturday free. It'll probably rain!
Wallpaper removal is easy. Well, maybe it’s not really easy, but I have good news for you. Yes, stripping wallpaper is messy and it is time consuming. You would rather do almost anything else. As a professional, my clients have often told me that if not for the wallpaper removal, they would have decorated the room themselves. It is such a deterrent.
While it is a hassle to remove, most people’s real fears center around damaging the wall while stripping the paper. It’s true. You can. I’ve spent as much time repairing that damage. There is no reason that it has to happen, though. Once you understand what is really happening below the surface, wallpaper removal becomes quite simple. Let me talk you through it.
First, KNOW that this is going to be a messy job. There is no way around that. Bits and pieces of wet paper, covered in adhesive, will end up stuck to everything that’s not covered. Fortunately, it cleans up easily with some soap and water.
We can minimize the extent of the mess, though, by taking the time to place an inexpensive plastic drop cloth over the furniture. Lay a rubber backed runner along the wall. Remove everything hanging on the wall and make sure that the furniture has been moved back from the wall by at least three feet.
Okay, now that we have prepped our work area, what’s next? We need to discover what “group” we’re in. To do this, start by finding an edge and attempt to peel the paper off. Here’s where we either sink or swim. Some of the heavy vinyl and fabric wall coverings will just peel right off.
Others will split, leaving a layer of plain paper on the wall. What happens then is that when you try to tear off that layer, it comes off in small pieces. A lot of specialty papers and papers that have been painted over fall into this group. There is a third group that we’ll talk about in a few minutes.
If your wallpaper is in the first group, the wall coverings that just peel right off, enjoy the rest of your day. You got lucky. There are different strategies we can use for the other two groups that will save you both time and money.
Now, for the other 99% of us, there are a number of different products on the market that we could use to remove the wallpaper. I have tried them all. Save your money. All we really need is warm water.
Start by peeling off that top layer of paper. What’s left on the wall will be a layer of plain paper and adhesive. Apply the water to the paper with a sponge, squirt bottle, garden sprayer or whatever you have handy that will accomplish the job. Use just enough to saturate the paper without water running down the wall and making a mess.
Now for the really big secret to wallpaper removal: WAIT. That’s right, wait. Moisten the area again and wait some more. It normally takes about 20 to 30 minutes for the saturated paper to completely soften the adhesive beneath.
Next, use a 6” broad knife to remove the paper from the wall. It should come off easily and in long strips. If it does not, remoisten the paper and wait a few more minutes. Let the water do all the hard work! By wetting the wall ahead of where you are working, it is possible to move steadily around the room once you get started.
Now, about that last group. You’ve watered and waited and watered and waited. Frankly, this just isn’t working and you’re becoming impatient. The problem is getting enough water to penetrate the surface and completely saturate the core of the wallpaper. There is a solution. We need to break up the water resistant surface coating of the wallpaper without harming the wall.
Now you might be tempted to start gouging at the wallpaper or scraping it roughly. This is not a good idea. This is how you damage the wall. Then you have to spend more money because you have to call a contractor. You are also on his time schedule now.
There are special tools made should you run into this problem. I normally use a 36 grit sanding disc to abrade the surface by hand. NOTE: Using a disc this coarse with a power tool will destroy your wall. Make sure to use it manually only!
Rent a commercial wallpaper steamer. Steam passes through the perforations made by the sanding disc. It is absorbed by the paper and adhesive much quicker than water. Make repeated passes over an area with the steamer until the core of the paper becomes saturated and the adhesive softens. If an area is being particularly stubborn, try going over it again with the 36 grit disc to allow additional steam to penetrate the paper.
Don’t waste your time scraping at areas where the adhesive has not yet softened. I cannot stress enough that this is how walls get damaged. Steam the paper until the adhesive softens. Remove the paper with your 6” broad knife. You should see good results with the steamer.
So wallpaper removal is not always easy, but nobody said that it has to be a painful experience either. Have a wallpaper removal party and invite all your friends. Treat them to dinner afterwards and make it a girls’ day. Or how about a contest with the kids. Always keep a picture in your mind (or on the fridge) of how beautiful the job will turn out. Be proud! Life is too short, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Now, let’s get going!
Patricia Tomaskovic is the President of http://www.goceilingmedallion.com Copyright 2006. Visit us soon and let us help you decorate with style. We look forward to serving you.
We are an on-line store offering home decorating products, specializing in ceiling medallions and crown molding, as well as numerous other decorative ceiling items, including tools and supplies for creating your own custom ceilings.
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