Recently my husband and I remodeled our bathroom. We were operating on a tight budget so we were unable to replace all of the bathroom fixtures. This meant that I had a new tub and toilet, but an old sink. When I say old, I’m not speaking of a fancy pedestal sink, no I’m talking old and for the lack of a better word – cheap. It was your basic white vanity (faux wood) and sink (faux marble).
Because the home was quite old, we decided to use crown molding because with the installation of a new ceiling, things were a little, well let’s say, “crooked”. Crown molding seemed to solve the problem. My contractor suggested painting the crown molding instead of staining it because again, the ceiling and walls were not perfectly level. He thought that staining it would more show the flaws. My husband and I agreed with this thought; however, the idea of painting the crown molding was just not as appealing as staining.
In the midst of the blizzard of 2007 and almost a foot of snow, we braved it out to Lowe’s to try and find paint for the crown molding and purchase more tiles for the floor. Back and forth I went, choosing a color and running to the tile aisle to show my husband. I was becoming a little frustrated when I noticed the Signature Colors : Faux Collection. I’d purchased paint from this line before and my husband and I were very pleased with it. We’d used the granite faux finish in our dining room as well as in our upstairs foyer. It is a beautiful textured paint with a slight shimmer that glistens in certain lighting and/or sunlight.
What caught my eye this time was the brilliant metal finish. This product came in 2-3 different hues in each metal family – silvers, coppers, bronzes and golds. Although I really liked the look, I couldn’t help but wonder if the crown molding would look kind of gaudy in this finish. Nevertheless, my husband and I decided we wanted to give it a try. We chose the shimmering bronze because it was not too light and not too dark, it was also very complimentary to our light fixtures as well as our tub faucet. In the end we were extremely pleased with the outcome. It is unique, beautiful and very classy – not gaudy at all. We liked it so much that we decided to update/add a little pizazz to our vanity by painting it also. With just one quart, we were able to paint the crown molding, vanity and a small storage cabinet. Although it goes a long way, this paint is quite expensive – $17/quart ($34 total for the base & glaze).
This product is wonderful for “sprucing up” or making something look new again. It can also add real flair to a room if you’re brave enough to paint an entire room in this finish. First off, the application is a two step process. First you apply a base coat (close to the finish color) and secondly a pearl/metallic glaze, again close to the color of your finish. To get started –
1. Prepare your surface. Fill cracks and apply primer if needed. If applying to a wood or faux wood surface, be sure to sand the area well to ensure that the paint will adhere to the surface. Also be sure that the surface is clean and dry before applying the base coat, and be sure to tape off areas you don’t want painted to make sure that you do a neat/clean job.
2. Begin by applying the base coat. If painting walls, be sure to block in or create a border around the ceiling, floors, corners and trim. After that you can simply use a roller to fill in the remainder using long strokes. This will make for faster work. If painting wood or faux wood, be sure to follow the grain of the wood.
3. After 3 or more hours, determine whether you want to apply another coat. Remember that the glaze also has color to it, so you may not need to apply a second coat before glazing. This is especially true if painting wood as you might want to keep some of the “natural” look as we did with the crown molding.
4. Reapply the base coat, or apply the glaze. Be sure to follow the same painting pattern you used in the application of the base coat.
5. Apply the glaze, or apply a second coat of the glaze if needed.
6. After a few hours, step back and admire your work. You won’t get the true look for a few hours so give it a chance to dry before you decide whether you like it or not.
Happy painting!
