Bob: Decorative painting is a fun, easy way to make wood beautiful. By simply adding patterns over a previously painted or stained surface, by distressing and antiquing, or by creating a faux finish - like leather, marble, tile, or tortoise - you customers can turn almost any piece of furniture into a work of art.
Minwax has created a new line of decorative paints, glazes, specialty finishes, and accessories that do virtually any kind of decorating technique. In this segment, I'm going to describe some of the many different decorative painting techniques and give you some tips.
Before beginning any decorative painting project, the piece must be properly prepared. All hardware should be removed and the surface sanded and cleaned. While wearing a dust mask, sand the wood's surface, going with the direction of the grain, until it's smooth. When working on wood that has been previously finished, be sure to sand off any chipped or loose paint. After sanding, the piece should be cleaned with denatured alcohol in order to remove any dust, wax, or remaining finish. Before applying any paint, the piece must dry for at least one hour.
After sanding, the next step in most decorative painting techniques is to apply a base coat. You can use either Minwax Home Decor Design Colours or Faux Finish Colours. Apply the first coat using smooth, even strokes - then let it dry for 6 hours. Apply the second coat then let it dry for 24 hours.
For most decorative painting, you will need to create a glaze mixture. Glazes give a more translucent appearance than regular paint and, after mixing the glaze with paint, makes the paint easier to work with. When mixing the glaze with paint, Minwax recommends 1 part glaze effects to 1 part design color or faux finish colors. Adding more glaze mixture makes the paint even more translucent and gives a thinner consistency.