19 Faux Painting Techniques for your home that don’t suck. In fact, these faux paint styles are stunning…and timeless.
When you hear “faux painting techniques” does a picture of someone with big 1980’s bangs wearing acid washed jeans taking a sponge to a wall suddenly emerge in your head? If that was your first thought, you’re not alone.
Faux painting techniques, with good reason, have gotten kind of a bad rep over the years. The faux painting of years past didn’t really leave us with much desire to see more of it in our present or future.
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But the reality is that phenomenal faux finish paint techniques do exist! In fact, there are many of them. So if you’re scratching your head right now wondering what could they possibly be, you’re in for a treat!
You’re about to see 19 faux finish paint jobs that you’ll love. And probably more than one that you can not only see in your home but will want to have in your home on the double.
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19 Faux Painting Techniques You’ll Love:
1. Denim Grasscloth Wall | Heathered Nest
Fads come. Fads go. But one style that lives forever is DENIM. It’s true in fashion, and true in home decor. Our denim-painted wall tutorial has always been one of the most popular posts on our blog. And for good reason! This style is timeless, and it’s an inexpensive way for you to get the look of pricey grasscloth for much, much less!
Denim faux finish tutorial
2. Ombre Wall | Pretty Handy Girl
Ombre is everywhere right now, so why not put it on your walls? Brittany shows you step-by-step how to create this moody look in your own home. And no need to go with gray. You can choose any color you’d like!
3. Faux Concrete | @nienke_lemmens_schilderwerken
Concrete is having a moment. Actually, it has been popular in home decor for quite some time. Concrete fireplaces, concrete countertops, concrete floors. And now, thanks to the power of paint, you can have faux concrete walls!
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4. Faux Zinc Wall | Porters Paints (Image) & Freckled Laundry (tutorial)
Balancing wood and metal elements in your home decor is an important thing to do. Any room will look best when there are both metal and wood items present. This tutorial by Freckled Laundry will show you how to use some special paint (like that available via Porter Paints, whose image this one is) and a special faux paint technique to get a metallic zinc wall finish.
5. Salt Wash (Type of Paint) | @ilovesaltwash
The look of age and weathering is one of those things that you can either wait 50 years to achieve naturally or use the right type of paint to steal the look now. Salt wash is another special type of paint that allows you to weather doors, furniture and more. I haven’t seen this used on a whole wall, but doors are also part of the “wall landscape,” and it sure looks great on the one below, right?
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6. Bronze Patina | The Rozy Home
Jill took a builder-grade range hood and elevated it with paint into a bronzed beauty. She’ll show you how to get the look. And feel free to try this bronze look out on a wall!
7. Linen Grasscloth | Heathered Nest
This linen grasscloth faux painting technique gives a beautiful, subtle texture when you see it in a space. It honestly doesn’t translate in the pic below, but the look is gorgeous and rich. People who visit our home will 100% of the time put their hand on the wall and ask if it’s wallpaper. Nope, just inexpensive paint! This look is achieved with exactly the same technique as is used for the denim wall treatment. The only difference is the colors you will choose!
People who visit our home will 100% of the time put their hand on the wall and ask if it’s wallpaper. Nope, just inexpensive paint! This look is achieved with exactly the same technique as is used for the denim wall treatment. The only difference is the colors you will choose!
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8. DIY Concrete Wall | Apartment Therapy
Here’s another great concrete look tutorial for a wall.
9. Faux Marble Painted Wall | The Woolie Company
Love marble, but not the price point? Try your hand at painting a marble look onto a wall! DIY marbling is something that is popping up more and more these days, especially when it comes to desktops, tabletops, and countertops.
10. Drybrushing | Cottonwood Shanty
Isn’t this wall that Alyssa created gorgeous?? And the technique is much easier than you may think!! Check out her tutorial at Cottonwood Shanty.
11. Stamp of Approval | Country Living
For more of a wallpaper look, consider a stamper! Yep. You can buy a large-scale wall stamp that you’ll dip in latex paint, then apply to a wall. And the look can be beautiful. There are even pattern rollers that you dip in paint then roll a pattern onto the wall.
12. Faux Brick Stucco Wall | Do It Yourself Design
Love those exposed brick walls but there’s not a brick to be seen anywhere in your own pad? No problem. This tutorial over on Do It Yourself Design will show you how to create your own brick wall with a faux paint finish using stucco!
13. Venetian Plaster | Coco Kelley
What makes that breathtaking pink wall so beautiful? It’s the fact that it’s not perfectly uniform and flat, the way a regular old paint job would be. It’s got some depth and texture and interest via Venetian plaster. Now, I’m not sure if this particular wall is actual plaster or one achieved via paint, but this tutorial by Behr will show you how to achieve a faux finish paint job that gives the look of Venetian plaster.
14. Faux Bois (Wood-Look) | Country Living
“Faux Bois” is a French term meaning “fake wood.” Sounds better in French, right? Well, no matter what you call it, this paint technique is pretty awesome. Seen below in an aqua, it doesn’t give a super realistic impression of wood but done in other shades, it can be quite realistic.
15. DIY Gingham – Buffalo Check Painted Walls | Dimples and Tangles
The ultimate prep faux finish paint job has got to be this large-scale buffalo-check print. Looks like wallpaper, but it’s not. Jennifer at Dimples & Tangles created this stunner in her powder room, and people have been raving about it ever since. She’ll walk you through how to create this fantastic gingham look in your own home.
16. Small-Scale Gingham Check | BHG
Same idea as above on a much different scale. This DIY idea uses a squeegee with sections of the sponge cut out (so smart!) to create a smaller checkered pattern on your wall.
17. Strie Technique | BHG
The strie technique, or dragging technique, is really just a portion of the denim and linen techniques shared earlier in this post. It uses the same materials and techniques, minus the horizontal swipes. So the look of strie is more of just a simple stripe, but less defined and geometric.
18. How to Color Wash a Wall | Sunset
Think of it as watercolor painting your wall. You’ll apply a paint/glaze/water mixture to a dampened wall in a very non-uniform manner. Some spots you’ll see a heavier amount of paint, to create a slightly darker area in the wall, while others will have a more watered down, lighter appearance. Sounds hard, but it’s not. Check out the video below and/or this step-by-step tutorial on DIY Network.
19. Chalkboard Paint | Heathered Nest
There are lots of specialty paints out there that will create unique faux finishes on your walls. Magnetic and glow-in-the-dark are two examples (though I have heard mixed reviews on both of those types). One faux finish specialty paint we love and have used over and over again is chalkboard paint.
If you have kids and haven’t given chalkboard faux finish paint a try, you should seriously consider it! What kid wouldn’t love the opportunity to color on the walls without getting in trouble for it?!
Bonus…it’s great for building upper extremity strength and stability (putting my physical therapy hat back on for a moment there). You can get it in any color you want, including clear!
And that wraps it up! 19 un-faux-gettable faux paint finishes that actually don’t suck. No more gaudy sponge painting of years gone by. Nope. These faux painting techniques are lovely and timeless. Not only that, it shows how versatile paint can be. Painting is a simple DIY project, and an inexpensive one, too. But the power of paint has almost no bounds.
I sure hope you’ve found this post helpful! If you’ve found a project you want to try, then Pin this post for later! And if you try one of these faux painting techniques leave a comment (or better yet, a photo) on the pin! That helps others know whether they want to try one of these paint projects, too!
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