How to Paint a Bedroom With French Decor
Paint is often one of the most inexpensive and simple ways to enhance any style of decor. By incorporating a color wash faux finish to a country French-inspired bedroom, it gives the entire room a feeling of both visual depth and weathered elegance. Specialty faux wall treatments are an artistic way to complement a French decor. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Drop cloths
- Painter's tape
- Semi-gloss interior paint
- Paint can opener
- Paintbrushes
- Paint roller pans
- Paint rollers
- Ladder
- Faux finish glaze
- Paintbrush with 3-inch bristles
- Water-based, flat-finish varnish
Instructions
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Use a warm color palette. Add visual warmth and a feeling of coziness to the French bedroom decor by using hues, such as sunflower gold, creamy tan, terracotta orange or cranberry red. Choose a color that is either the top or second value on a paint-store color strip, as this often lends itself to the most weathered final result when it combines with the faux wall treatment glaze in the subsequent layers.
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Prepare the area. French faux finishes are often messy, so it is important to line the floor with a plastic drop cloth. Using easy-to-remove painter's tape, apply it to areas around the doors, windows and moldings to keep the edges of the paint technique crisp and clean. This will give the finish a professional appearance.
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Paint a base coat. Using a light color from the paint strip, apply a coat of paint as a starting step for the French faux finish. Using a roller, apply the paint in a sweeping "V" pattern until the walls are complete. Fill in the areas near the ceiling, windows and baseboard with a paintbrush, and allow the paint to dry thoroughly.
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Use a paintbrush to apply glaze. Choose a glaze color that coordinates with the base coat, and apply with a 3-inch paintbrush. Dip the brush into the faux wall treatment glaze, and add texture and dimension to the painted wall by adding paint strokes in an "X" pattern, working in a 4-foot area at a time. Using a brush instead of a roller gives the wall added depth, which is the hallmark of a French faux finish technique.
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Apply a sealer coat. To protect the faux finish and make it durable, apply a coat of water-based, flat-finish varnish to the finished French bedroom walls. Apply with a roller in a "V" pattern until the walls are complete for a long-lasting, protective finish.
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Tips & Warnings
Practice the color wash technique on a piece of poster board before applying to the walls to ensure a desirable finished effect.
When adding the glaze medium, work with 4-foot areas and in a diagonal fashion for best visual results.
Faux finish glazes usually have at least 30 minutes of open time before the medium dries.
Use a damp, soft cloth to soften the look of glaze, if desired.
Allow small portions of the base wall color to show through to give the walls dimension and depth.
Work in a well-ventilated area to reduce the harmful effects of paint fumes.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit Medioimages/Photodisc/Photodisc/Getty Images
