Tuscan kitchen walls reflect the rich natural colors of farm produce.
Tuscany, with its Mediterranean and Renaissance influences, vineyards, farms and rustic style, is a rich source of inspiration for warm, earthy and colorful home design. A kitchen, dining room or family room in Tuscan colors can be the welcoming heart of a home. Paint color and texture are keys to achieving a Tuscan look, and you don't need expensive plaster techniques to age your walls. Just choose classic Tuscan shades, collect a few sea sponges, and create Old World charm with faux-finish paint.
Instructions
1. Select your colors by evaluating the kitchen appliances or other fixed elements of the room. Terra cotta floors have a Tuscan feel, but you can cover unsuitable vinyl flooring with rush mats in a pinch. Balance wall colors with appliance colors and furniture finishes so nothing clashes. Choose from classic Tuscan colors like warm golds, oranges, terra cotta reds and slightly olive greens. Test some bronze, copper and brown tones on the wall to see what shades of multilayered paint finish will work with the available light. Pull together magazine photos and other images of Tuscan decor that show faux-finished walls to help with color choices.
2. Lay down drop cloths and patch and prime the walls. Mark off areas for installing new tile backsplashes or wallpaper murals. Paint the ceiling first, if the ceiling is scheduled for a new coat of paint. Tape edges of the walls by the ceiling and any baseboards, as well as window and door frames.
3. Paint the walls a base color, using brushes to cut in along edges and trim and a roller for large expanses of wall. Skip the taped areas where you will apply tile back splashes or murals later. Use a light base color like ivory for a lighter-color topcoat or a deeper shade like fawn, maize or pumpkin for more vivid finishes. Let the base color dry.
4. Sponge one faux-finish color over the walls, using a sea sponge and pressing it lightly to the wall. Avoid overloading the sponge or sponging so heavily that the wall becomes opaque. Aim for coverage that shows the base color through the sponged coat. For example, sponge over a maize base with a deeper gold with some orange in it. Let this coat dry.
5. Apply another color as a third layer to contrast with the first two colors. Sponge the third coat on sparingly, partly covering some open base-color areas and some of the areas sponged with the second coat. Stand back occasionally to make sure the wall is acquiring the look of aged plaster. Several layers of paint should show through, and no one area should be primarily one color. You can always add more color, so use a light hand at this point and experiment until you get the look you want.
6. Sponge a final, very spare and random metallic color at a few points over the paint, if you want shiny highlights in bronze or copper. This step is optional but can add depth and luster to the aged finish. Protect the faux-finished walls with a clear coat of lacquer when the paint is dry.
7. Paint any trim that is not stained wood with a solid color to contrast with or complement the wall color. To age the trim, brush crackle glaze over the wood in a few spots between the first and final coats and apply the final coat just as the glaze gets tacky.
