Progress - Faux Painting projects, contd.

French doors with faux wood finish 

Faux Wood DVD 

A got a request to faux paint another double garage door and a set of french doors. It couldn't have come at a better time since I am working on the Faux Wood DVD that I pray, by the grace of God, will be available this year.  As with any job, there are always new challenges.  I had never did a faux wood finish on french doors with oval glass fixtures in them.  I am so glad that I have not limited myself to using the wood graining tools that you have to rock to get the grain. With the limitation of space, I would never have been able to get the tool to work.  

Working in the sun was not too bad at this time of year, early February.  The last time I faux painted doors like wood, it was in the late summer and it was a killer.  I realized while doing that job that using the flat brushes to get the grain was not working either. The main reason being that the sun was drying out the glaze about 2 minutes after applying it!  There was zilch open time. I was getting a blotchy look, too. Although real wood has a variety of darks and lights, the rich look of mahogany or beech wood was being lost.  I admit that I was overwhelmed with the predicament to finish the job with excellence, yet not take days to fix the problem of the blotchiness. So as usual, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, I prayed and asked for wisdom and HELP.  God is so good...He answered as usual.  

To my amazement and delight, I achieved the faux wood finish using just the Multi Color Faux Palette and Poofy Pad; hitting the edges with a chip brush.  I even added the grain and knots with the Poofy Pad.  God does work all things for good to those who love Him, even non-calculated decorative painting problems....lol.  

So with this last job, I finished in record time.  Both the double doors and double french doors were done in one day.  Of course I am referring to the time spent with the faux finishing technique, not including the additional time to base coat paint the surfaces with environmental friendly paint.  

Unfortunately, with this great discovery, I have to add an additional video section to the DVD that shows how to faux paint doors in the sun as opposed to what I have filmed for painting cabinets or inside doors.  In addition, since some people like a lot of heavy looking grains or knots in their faux wood, I am praying about a new tool that the Lord gave me, to achieve this without the difficulty of using the wood graining tool that exists....even if it does rock...lol

What's in store for 2011 with faux painting?

With 2011 around the corner, I am excited about the new faux finishing DVDs that should be available to my customers.  I apologize for the long wait.  Since I like trying out a technique myself on real walls before I create a step by step instructional on it, it does take time.  Once I see a difficulty, whether it be with open time, getting into tight spaces or doing the corners, I set out to find the solution.  Those who have read some of my other articles or read about Murals and Faux Painting, realize the importance I put on making it easy for everyone to DIY.  I want others to learn from a faux painting professional that has "been there, done that"in order to save them the trouble I went thru when I started out.

Faux Wood DVD

Garage door faux painted like wood

Using faux painting to make surfaces look like wood has always been popular.  I hope to have a DVD that will teach a simple faux finishing technique I have developed, again by the help of Almighty God, to achieve a faux wood look.  Using the same tools of the patented (7472450) Triple S Faux System, like the Poofy Pad and Multi Color Faux Palette, I was able to simplify the way I have faux painted garage doors to look like real wood in the past.  What had kept me from producing the instructional DVD for it was that I wanted to be able to recommend a good top coat varnish or sealer to add to the finish.  With certain products not available in the stores, I wanted to use a product that any of my customers can order online from another company or thru my website.  I think I have narrowed down the choices to two products.

Faux Texture DVD

 Texture was added and faux finished for back splash 

Another popular faux finishing technique is adding texture to surfaces before faux painting them.  There are a few methods out in the market but they tend to use only specific products that usually require having to take a class in order to be able to purchase them.  In addition, some require the usage of bulky equipment.  I love simplicity and less mess and some methods of adding texture with a spray gun require having to cover all the furniture because of the over spray.

Right before Christmas, I was able to add a back splash using a new technique that is similar to skip troweling but without the trowel.  Most of the techniques use the Tuck and Gather Tool which is one of the tools in the system I have developed.

Faux Granite DVD

Window sill with faux granite finish

And lastly, I have faux painted counter tops to look like faux granite.  The techniques I have used are simple ones and I am still in the process of playing with new tools I would like to produce to make it even easier to get a real granite look. I have used glitter and mica flakes to create gorgeous faux finishes but again, I am still working on the step by step instructions that will be easy to follow.

So if you happen to be a prayer warrior, please pray that I will be led by the Spirit when and how to produce these highly requested DVDs. I don't want to miss what I should be doing as far as serving the Lord goes and discerning how to manage my time has always been a challenge for me.  If you have any comments, please leave them or contact Murals and Faux Painting and drop me a line.

NEW! Send questions about your faux finishing project

We get calls with questions concerning particular faux finishing topics like what faux painting techniques are best to use on certain walls, what colors should be used, etc.  So I decided to add a section on my website where customers can submit their questions.  I really do like taking the time to answer as many questions as possible.  I appreciate all my customers and have a sincere desire to see them succeed in their decorative painting projects or careers.

I realize that getting quick answers is critical these days with lives being so busy.  Patience is not a virtue that many seek, either.  So I apologize if my website has many pages and is in any way difficult to navigate.  Constructive criticism is always welcomed. If you feel I can make the site easier, please feel free to give me your suggestions.  Especially if you find any broken links or 404 Not Found pages, too.

So go to this page where you can click on a link to send me a letter with your questions or comments. 

Send questions about faux finishing 

If I decide to post the question, I will not include any personal information and you can always leave off your last name, too.

Although I cannot promise to answer immediately, I will make time to do so within a few days.  If you want to send me a letter, please know that I value your privacy and will never sell your email address to anyone.  You can read our privacy letter by clicking here: 

Murals and Faux Painting Privacy Statement

I have tons of information about many different aspects of faux painting on my website and on this blog. In addition, you can find more areas of discussion on my Facebook page, too.  

I have also made a video answering the 3 most popular questions about faux painting that I get.

Should you start your own faux painting business?

I recently gave a class to a gentleman that was looking to not only learning the art of faux painting but also wanted to know how he could start his own decorative painting business.  Since he was totally new to this market, I gave him as much advice as I could.  In deciding what to blog about next, I thought it would be a good idea to submit an article I have written for some ezine publications as well as a new Google Knol I wrote.  The article is similar to the one I have on my website, too.  I look to adding to this post in the future with additional information and tips.  I welcome any other advice from professional faux finishers that can help newbies get started with their own faux painting business.


How much money can one expect to earn?
Just to give you an idea of how much you can earn starting your own business, I charge $2.25 - $8.00 per square feet. With the patented (7472450) Triple S Faux System that the Lord gave me,  I can faux paint a wall that measures 10 ft. high X 10 ft. long (100 square feet) in about 2 hours.  You can do the math.  Most faux painting professionals are charging an average of $3.00 per square feet for simple faux painting finishes.  They charge about double of that for adding a texture to the wall or for sophisticated plaster finishes.  If you are starting out, I would suggest charging about $1.50 a square foot so you can land some jobs (beat out competitors) and then once you gain popularity or word of mouth reputation, up your price.


What tools should you use?
The wonderful thing about embarking on your own journey into the beautiful art of decorative painting today is that there are a lot more faux painting tools, faux finishing classes, and books available than there was when I started out ten years ago.  My suggestion is to start out with the simple faux finishes such as sponging and color blending.  There are many textured faux finishes that you can learn but they are time consuming and the materials can be quite expensive.  After faux painting literally hundreds of walls, I can tell you honestly that 90% of my clients still choose “color blending” or “color washing”, including the “Old World Parchment” look.  Why, because some of the textured faux finishes are too “busy looking” and the cost for faux painting with texture is nearly double than what it is for non-textured faux finishes.  Besides, once you get your foot into the door, then you can offer them.


How I started my faux painting business
I never dreamed that I would be in the business of Faux Painting or Decorative, considering I was a graphic artist by trade. The thought never crossed my mind. I was unaware of how popular this beautiful form of art was becoming, though.  Back in 1996,  there was only limited information on the various faux painting techniques.  Most referred to faux finishing as “sponging” or “glazing”.  In essence, the term was misused and for the most part, still is.  I am referring to the fact that “FAUX” means “FAKE”, therefore, to faux paint a wall means to paint it in a way that makes the wall resemble a specific surface other than just a plain wall, such as “marble”, “wood”, etc.  The sponges or glazes are just tools to achieve a certain effect on the wall.  I’ve read comments on faux painting message boards indicating the perturbation of professional faux finishers when uninformed clients refer to any type of decorative painting (besides murals) as “fauxing”. It used to bother me, too, yet through the years I’ve learned to accept the fact that those unfamiliar with the details of faux painting could care less about the terminology and more about the beauty of decorative painting instead.  So although you have not been professionally faux painting walls, if you learn how to achieve a few easy faux finishing techniques, you can offer your services to friends and family and they won’t care if you’re uninformed with the terms.  As long as you can make their walls look beautiful, you can make some extra income on the side.  Who knows - maybe you’ll end up with your own faux painting business like I did. Start off by painting your own walls, then invite others to see your work.  If they ask how much would you charge to faux paint their walls, give them a relatively low price since you are just starting out and use it as practice.  If you ever plan to start your own faux painting business, you can get quite a few “practices” in and you can begin gathering photos for your portfolio. That’s how my journey began. 

Faux Paint Tub as Marble Stone

Well, praise God, the tub I faux painted as Marble Stone passed the test!
I painted this tub that was in bad shape 2 years ago and although it held up, since I painted it a solid beige, it looked boring. Since it started to chip around the drain, I decided to add some texture to it and faux paint it to look like a honed marble stone tub. I let it cure for a month and yesterday my family was down for Christmas and used it. That was going to be the test, to see if it held up to 15 people using it! Well, it did! I am so blessed cause it looks great and is functional, too. My family really liked it, too.

I will be adding a page to my website that will include a new Faux Painting DVD that I want to produce, Faux Painting Texture. I need to get the video done and ask that any believers in Jesus out there, will pray for wisdom from the Lord to produce it in a way that as always, will make it easy to learn faux painting.

Merry Christmas to all who are reading this post!

Faux Painting Tile Project

With a faux painting web site to keep up with, I don't have much time to do as many projects as before. Don't get me wrong, I still continue to actually faux paint for profit, but when I refer to projects, I mean my own where I do it for loved ones or for fun. Recently, my mom changed her toilet and now she didn't want the green faux finish I had done many years ago. So I wanted to bless her by taking my time to do a "trompe l'oeil" effect. That's fancy french which means, "trick of the eye". I love the look of tile in a bath but installing real ones is not only expensive, but the mess it creates is not pleasant. I have been in homes where there is tile being installed and the owners can't wait to get the job done. There's a lot of dust from the concrete in the air where they mix the powder they need. Anyway, I figured painting the tile would eliminate the mess and in the future, if my mom wants to change the look, she doesn't have to mess up the walls to take out the old tile. In addition, we could still use the bathroom while I was working, plus, she saved so much money and time, looking for the perfect color in tile.

Well, here's a picture of what I did. And yes, I used the Triple S Faux Painting System that God gave me. I cannot faux paint without this patented system, myself. I do plan to make a video of the steps I took and all the faux finishing techniques I used to achieve this beautiful look. I sent this picture out to my friends and asked them what they thought of my tile work and none of them thought it was paint; they all thought the tiles were real. So I guess I passed the test. Thank you Lord for my first "trompe l'oeil" attempt being a success. At least I think so. What do you think? I would love comments.

Example of faux painting by done by a customer

Well, gotta be quick cause I gotta get to bed. Not late at all but I need to get back into the habit of spending some quiet time with the Lord and more time reading the bible. God's been too good to me to stray from seeking Him.

Anyway, tonight I was blessed to see that I got a lot of visits to my website and was particularly curious about a referred site I didn't recognize. So I went to visit it and I was pleasantly surprised to see that a customer had posted some pictures of her faux painting project on her site. I needed to put her pictures on my testimonies' page but haven't the chance yet. I was working on new tools and new faux painting techniques most of the day in addition to giving a quote for a big job.

So I decided to quickly post my customer's picture on this blog so that I can get others to see it. Her walls came out gorgeous and especially the ones I am including on this post. I am including a bit of her letter, too. It's customers like Amanda that make it all worth while and the Lord uses people like her to encourage me to keep going. He knows I would rather be sharing a bible study or visiting orphans and widows but for now, until the time is right, I will stay with the talent He has blessed me with. I love art and I love seeing others succeed in their quest to learn how to faux finish. I hope you like the pictures of Amanda's faux painted walls. Here's a few words she wrote me:

Hi! I emailed you way back about those annoying knockdown walls that are all through my house, and I subsequently bought rather a lot of faux painting supplies from you to take care of that little problem. I thought I would show you that I've been putting them to great use! It's been slow but sure progress, and it's turned out beautifully. I still have three rooms left to do, but I can't wait to show you any longer.

Just today I finished my studio. It's my favorite so far and I HAD to email you and show you that I really have the hang of it now. I know there are a lot of pictures, but I think you'll agree it looks lovely.

If you want to put any of these up on your site, please, feel free! I AM an artist, but I'll tell you that the only time my artistic talent ever came into play was in choosing colors. That was the hardest part. Everything else was so EASY. I think most anyone could pick up the knockdown technique in about twenty minutes. Even painting the ferns was simple. (I did that with a brush, but I gently went over them with a small poofy pad to blur them and break up darker blobs of paint. Not a perfect job, because I was learning as I went, but let me tell you, you step back three feet and any "mistakes" do not show at all.)

I am so happy, and so grateful for your wonderful inventions. This would not have been possible without them, and without you. Everyone who sees what I have done asks how I did it, and everyone who asks gets pointed straight at your site. It's the least I can do.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Best always,

-- Amanda Gannon

Changes to shipping on faux painting tools

Well here I am again. Finally! I admit I am not too good at posting blogs. Partly cause I don't know if people really read them. Being busy with a website, teaching faux painting classes, answering calls from customers, faux painting homes and experimenting with new ideas for faux painting tools, I rarely have time to post anything. The first few months of this year have already been interesting. It's amazing how the Lord guides me thru the comments made by my customers or visitors to the faux painting website I have. There's tons of them out there by the way. I'm sure if you happen to be reading this post, you know. I recently got a few comments on how my videos say "free shipping" and now I am charging for ground shipping. My response is that I did say "for a limited time" and the first faux painting videos I posted are almost 2 years old. I think 2 years is enough time to be considered "limited", don't you. The U.S. Post office just went up on shipping charges but I am only charging $3.00 for ground for up to 1 pound. I am charged average $6.50, so you figure I am paying for half. Well enough of trying to defend my prices for shipping. lol With a lot of people out of work, I would like to write and produce a "start a faux painting business" E-Book myself. I have sold one as an affiliate but I had one customer tell me she wasn't pleased with it. Things have changed and I would like to include how to start your own website in your city, too. If it were not for the internet, I would have no sales. Praise God, I finally got the patent to the Triple S Faux Painting system! Now I have been getting so many letters from companies wanted to help me market the system or manufacture them. I already have them manufactured, I just need to let the masses know. I believe in the system myself. I have told many, "I can't faux paint without my tools myself." I mean that, too. Every time I teach a faux painting class to a student and see how well their boards come out, I am convinced so much more that the Holy Spirit really gave me the idea for the tools. I am aware of one thing, though. You still have to practice with the different tools to get the system down pat. It's like playing a piano. It's easy to hit the keys with your fingers. Anyone can do that. But to make it sound good, you have to practice and learn a few things. So if you're reading this blog (please let me know, too) then you don't have anything to lose by trying it out. Right now I have a sale on a Faux Painting Combo which includes the new Faux Marble DVD that I produced. That includes a Free Faux Painting Color Suggestions and Idea E-book, too. One day faux painting will be just like regular painting in the sense that millions will know how to do it. My aim is to see the prices for the labor go down and see many companies offer it so that all homes can have the beauty of faux painted walls in them. God bless!

Faux Painting glazes

I would like to discuss the multitude of faux painting glazes on the market. After 10 years of literally painting hundreds of walls, I am convinced that water based(acrylic) glazes are the best. The oil based ones have a strong odor. I personally use paint conditioner mixed with acrylic paints and make my own glazes. I have read message boards that say the finish is not durable but I beg to differ. In ten years, I have never had any of my past customers complain about that. Even when I have made a mistake (dark lap lines or missed feathering out section) and I want to take off the glaze, it's not easy. I usually have to use some kind of paint thinner and lots of elbow grease. I am talking about just an hour or so when the glaze has dried. So try mixing your own glazes. Read some faux painting articles concerning how to choose your colors for your faux painting projects before you start. Planning is very important before starting anything.

Progress - Faux Painting projects

Well I can't believe it's the middle of April and I have been swamped with projects. Since I still do faux paint, I have a big job coming up and it required a little playing with my own faux painting tools! They want a simple sponging technique but the walls are flat and they want a metallic in there. Thank God I was able to finally come up with a board they liked. I'm so used to having clients want a color wash or Old World look. But I'm glad they decided on the sponging because the walls are flat which meant either having to repaint the walls in a satin finish or using tons of glycerin and elbow grease...if you know what I mean.

I faux painted a marble finish on a formica countertop and a faux granite finish on another. They came out great. Sure would love to see a paint product that sticks to formica without so much curing time. I have used Plaid's enamels, but they only come in small bottles at the store and they have to cure 21 days before you can top coat with a varnish. So I just sanded and used Bulls Eye low odor water based primer and a satin basecoat. Here are a few pics. I plan to incorporate the steps and faux finishes on a new Marble/granite DVD I am currently filming and editing. You can see more pictures for the faux finishes that will be included on Murals and Faux Painting site. Click on the videos button and then click on faux painting marble video.