Using faux finishes on your walls can give your rooms an original and professionally designed look. Faux finishes can simulate the look of wood, marble, clay, brick or even leather, adding style and texture to your walls with regular paint.

Of the several different faux finish techniques for you to consider, texture is the easiest finish for a beginner. Adding texture to your plain painted walls adds a subtle, sophisticated dimension to your room and can also aid in hiding minor flaws.

One type of texture is sand painting which will simulate the look and feel of sand, to give your walls a subtle stone-like finish. Another option is a Venetian plaster texture which produces a three-dimensional marble-like appearance.

Glazing, another faux technique, creates decorative illusions by layering colors on top of each other, adding depth and dimension. These subtle shades of colors make ideal backdrops for antiques and other older pieces.

Glazing is achieved through the use of additives, which is applying one or more glaze coats in different shades over your dry base coat. Subtractive means rolling a glaze onto the dry base coat, then removing it with a sponge, rag, stippling brush, comb or other tools.

Sponging is a technique used to add or remove glaze with a water-dampened sea sponge. Using a sponge, you gently dab the glaze color onto your base color. Another way to sponge is to paint the wall a solid base color, followed by a glaze coat, and then dab off portions of the glaze to create the faux appearance.

Ragging can be used in the same way as sponging, except using a rag. You can work the rag to create whatever design you desire in the glaze.

Colorwashing uses three colors to create a semi-translucent blend of colors to create a subtle illusion of texture.

Fronttage is the process of pressing squares of plastic against wet paint to simulate the warm look of antique leather.

Dragging is a process of dragging a dry brush vertically down still-wet glaze color to give a softly textured look to walls or woodwork.

Crackle, or Crackle Glaze replicates the look of fine paint or varnish cracking sometimes seen on old, painted or varnished surfaces. Crackle is a special product that is applied over a base coat of paint to add interest to trim, molding, baseboards, cabinets, furniture, mirrors and picture frames.

Incorporating faux techniques into your painting projects can add unique and captivating style to your walls without a lot of time or expense.