FEE, FI, FAUX FUN

Al Carrell: Welcome to Your New House!

Michael Holigan: Ask any interior designer and they'll tell you that faux or imitation finishes are the hottest trend in decorating today.

A.C.: We're going to show you three finishes that are going to be terrific and fun weekend projects. As you'll see though, it can get a little bit messy, so be prepared.

M.H.: And the fantastic results, though, are worth the effort. So let's get started having Fee, Fi, Faux Fun! This faux finish can bring the look of natural stone to almost anything in the house, and you'll be impressed with how real it looks when you're finished. What comes first? What is this?

Heather Mason: This is our base coat paint. It's got a sealer in it and I'm just going to pour you some so we can just brush it out.

M.H.: It's okay to go ahead and put it on this painted surface?

H.M.: Sure. It's a matte surface. If it were a shiny surface I'd say you'd probably want to sand it down, but since it's a matte base of paint we can go ahead and use it as is.

M.H.: Looks really dark to be green.

H.M.: Well, this is just your base coat for the black to come through the green. You won't hardly see any black in the end result.

M.H.: Heather, what's the paper bag for?

H.M.: Well, we're going to buff a couple of the spots down instead of sanding them and pulling up the paint. You can use just a regular brown paper bag and just knock off some of these high spots. It just gives you a much smoother finish.

M.H.: It's best to buy a marbleizing kit from a craft store that has two colors of marble paint, some white paint, veining color, an extender and a thickener. Be sure and shake up all the paints very well. Then just spiral the marble paints onto a paper plate or an artists palette. You want to make sure you do this in the order your kit specifies. Next, You'll drop in a couple of dots of white and then the extender, so the acrylic paint won't dry out too fast. And finally, add the thickener to keep the paints from blending together too much.

H.M.: Next, we're going to take the sponge that comes in the kit, and it's just a regular household sponge, but it has got this rectangular shape, and we need to make it a more natural look, so we're just going to tear off the edges.

M.H.: Once your base coat is dry, blot your sponge in the marble paint mixture and you're ready to apply it next. Now Heather, what's this for?

H.M.: Okay, the duck feather is for the veining. It's our last step besides the varnish. And you us a duck feather because it's water resistant and it easily washed up. You will want to wash it though, right after you're done using it so the doesn't stick.

M.H.: You'll want to put some more white paint on your palette along with some extender and thickener.

H.M.: And you take your feather, run it up through the white paint and onto the plate to pull off the excess. You want to start at an edge possibly, and just move it, and like I say, it's real shaky, onto the side, and move up to the tip for a fine line. When you come over to the edge, you also want to make sure that it goes to the diagonal. You can put as many veins or as little veins as you want. If you don't like it, you can just take your sponge and blot right back over it.

M.H.: After the veining is dry it's time to add several coats of varnish. Acrylic paint has a matte finish and a marble has a glossy finish. Next, we're going to add two different faux finishes to plaster of Paris pedestals you can use for plant stands or just decorative tables.

H.M.: The paints were $1.99 a bottle and we're going to use two bottles.

M.H.: Okay, so well below $20 on this project. How come these sponge brushes instead of a normal paint brush?

H.M.: I think they're just easier to get the...this paint's a really runny paint and it sucks it up a little bit more and you need to push it down into these little crevices a little bit better than a bristle brush.

M.H.: What kind of paint is it?

H.M.: It's called Heavenly Hues. It's just a brush on and wipe off paint. The advantage is that, you know, you can just paint as much as you want, wipe it off, but if you decided you didn't like it you could actually wipe all the paint off.

M.H.: How long do we wait before we start wiping the paint off?

H.M.: It really should be completely dry.

M.H.: With this pedestal, we're looking to achieve a general patina look using patina green paint rather than copper or bronze colored paint.

H.M.: We're going to go in and we just brush once with the sponge and you pull off as much as you want. Basically the kind of antique look here, just your old and new paint.

M.H.: Make it look like the paint just wore off?

H.M.: Right.

M.H.: Now it's time to cover the entire pedestal with gold and repeat the wiping off process. With both colors of paint, you want to leave behind the most paint in the deepest areas. Finally, apply a brush on or spray sealant, depending on whether you want a shiny or a matte finish. A quick way to get a faux finish is with some Fleckstone. There's only two steps, you spray it on and then you spray on a sealant. You've got that marbleized, textured look. Make sure though that you do it in a well ventilated area. After they're dry, you're ready to find a perfect spot and begin admiring your brand new "old" pedestals.

Episode 35 1996 - 97 Season

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