Faux Finishes Finally ‘Fordable for the Frugal

You’re tired of wallpaper and eggshell enamel, and fabric walls are out of your price range.

Sponge painting and rag painting have lost their cachet, and stencils are just too cute.

Consider, then, a high-end designer look for the home decorator. From fake marble to distressed wood, faux finishes have trickled down to the masses after a decade in vogue but out of reach for most of us. Some of them even camouflage imperfections in the plaster.

Ralph Lauren, who put denim on the bed and suede on the sofa, has entered the market through a licensing agreement with Sherwin-Williams. Together they have created paints that look like denim and suede. And chambray, leather and silk charmeuse.

“Ralph thought it would be glamorous to paint a dining room ceiling in gold or silver charmeuse,” says Nancy Vignola, senior vice president of the Lauren Home Collection in New York, “and since he is the one who put denim on beds, denim paint is a natural for us.”

The genesis of the new finishes is the fabric that is to be emulated. The assignment of the Sherwin-Williams technicians was to create a wall finish as close as possible to the real thing.

The results are base coats, tinting glazes and one or more special applicators, some with evocative names such as a denim check roller and denim and chambray weavers, which create the impression of warp and weft. Other tools include natural sea sponges, stipplers and a stencil kit that simulates the look of top-stitching.

Besides cloth textures, the paints, glazes and applicators can be used for special effects such as a sun-faded look.

Lauren is also marketing regular paints keyed to colors featured in the company’s various lifestyle collections.

The textured paints are about $20 a gallon. The applicators, with instruction video and booklet, vary from $90 for leather and chambray to $120 for denim. Video instructions are for walls only, but the paints can be used on floors, with a polyurethane overcoat, and on furniture and accessories.

“The finishes have been formulated for do-it-yourselfers and were tested by nonprofessionals on real walls before they were released,” Vignola says.

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Making faux finishes user-friendly seems to be the goal of manufacturers after years of applications by professional painters for high-end clients.

Benjamin Moore & Co. developed instructional videos for basic paint techniques in “Fantasy Finishes” and “Faux Finesse.”

Now, Leslie Harrington, corporate interior designer at company headquarters in Montvale, N.J., is working on a video that should simplify techniques such as gilding and marbleizing and creating faux tortoise shell and onyx finishes.

These finishes take more time and courage and are not necessarily foolproof.

The easiest faux finishes to create, Harrington says, are those that require sponging and negative ragging. In each case, a second coat, usually a glaze, is applied and then partially removed with a sponge or rag.

Harrington suggests testing the desired finish on small items such as a clay pot, lamp base or coffee table top before tackling walls. Furniture with decorative relief or other detail is a good candidate for faux finishes because it requires less expertise than a plain surface.

Ralph Lauren paint and applicator kits are available in some Home Depot stores and specialty paint stores. For customer service: (800) 379-7656.

Benjamin Moore videos, each with illustrated manual, are $19.95. Information: (800) 826-2623.