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How to Faux Paint a Room in Leather


A Great Custom Wall Painting Technique for Decor Focused on a Southwestern, Country, or Texan Style

© 2010 by Jessica Cortez; All rights reserved; content may not be copied, rewritten, or republished without written permission.

Faux leather wall painting Alifarid, photo courtesy of Alifarid


Interior painting itself is an easy enough DIY project, but if you want to create a unique and special space in your home, you may want to consider using a leather faux paint finish.

While leather faux glazes come in a variety of colors, the look of traditional brown leather works especially well for a room you plan to deck out in a southwestern, country, or Texan style, as it suggests the color of saddles and boots.

Faux glazes tend to be pricier than your average interior paint, so saving money by painting on your own, rather than hiring the work out, is definitely a good idea.

Working with leather faux glaze is not necessarily difficult, but it is certainly time-consuming. Just remember: Once you begin working with the glaze, you will need to work quickly or the glaze will dry before you can work your faux leather technique magic with it.

Tools and Materials for Faux Painting

Be sure to have on hand all the tools you’ll need for the job, including:

  • Plastic or canvas drop cloth to protect your floor
  • Blue or green painter’s tape (not duct tape)
  • Ladder
  • Paint roller frames and covers
  • Roller tray
  • 2-in. angled brush for cutting in
  • Stippling brush
  • Stippling tool for corners
  • Lint free rags
  • Latex semi-gloss paint (base coat)
  • Faux leather technique glaze (Ralph Lauren makes a good leather faux glaze and base coat, if you are looking for ideas)

The First Step is to Prepare the Walls

The initial thing you’ll need to do is empty the room of furniture and wall decor and prepare the walls for painting.

First, wash the walls one section at a time with a simple solution of dish soap and warm water using a gentle sponge or even a sponge mop top to clear the walls of dust and buildup.

Alternatively, if the room has been used by smokers, you might want to consider using TSP to remove the oily residue. Be sure to use gloves to protect your hands.

When you finish, use a sponge and water alone to rinse off any soap residue. Allow the walls to dry. Once the walls are dry, you’ll need to fill in any nail holes with spackling using a spackling knife.

Make sure to sand the spackling even with the wall surface. Allow the spackling to dry. Prime the walls only if painting over a new wall, or a dark, bright, or glossy paint.

Prep and Apply the Base Coat, then the Faux Glaze

After using painter’s tape to tape off the ceiling, windows, doors and trim, use the angled brush to carefully cut in around the taped off areas using your base coat.

When you finish cutting in, load up your roller with your base coat and paint the remainder of your wall surface. Allow to dry for 4-6 hours and then paint a second coat over the first. Allow the second coat to dry a full day before you begin with the faux glaze.

When you begin with the faux glaze, thoroughly drench your roller in the glaze and work it over the walls starting in a top corner and working in 2-foot sections, give or take.

Get as close as you can to the edges. You will need to work as fast as you can, as glaze dries much faster than a regular base coat.

Once you finish a wall, use your small corner stippling tool to dab glaze near the corners and ceiling areas that can’t be reached with a roller. Because of how quickly the glaze dries, you will need to work one wall at a time.

Stippling Brush Mottle Step

This is not the time to take a break! You’ll need to get cracking on using the larger stippling brush to mottle up the freshly-painted glaze by pressing the brush firmly on the surface of the glaze over and over in sections.

Twist your wrist around at different angles so that you create different effects. Just take care not to twist the stippling brush while it’s pressed to the wall.

When you have done this about 20 times, wipe the bristles of the stippling brush with your rag. Make sure the bristles don’t start bunching together; separate them if you notice this happening.

Once you finish the wall, use the corner stippling tool to do the same thing to the areas near the ceilings and baseboards, taking care to match the technique used for the larger wall area.

Once you have glazed and stippled all of your walls, carefully remove your painter’s tape while the glaze is still wet. Allow to dry, and there you have it. Beautiful faux leather walls!

If you have any tips or tricks that you would like to add, please do so in the comment section below!

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About the author:


This guest post is contributed by Jessica Cortez, who writes on the topics of online degree programs. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: cortez.jessi23@gmail.com.

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