Avoiding le Faux Pas on le Faux Finish

As resolved, last night I prepped a sample board with streaky, pad-applied dark green paint, and late this afternoon, I applied some of the dark rose glaze to see if the walls would need a second coat of the green. Let it dry . . . yep. No escaping it. The streaks showed through.

So back to the army, sergeant! Three and a half more hours this evening up and down the ladder, this time using a roller.

All right, the dark green base is relaid, and it's too bad I can't just use it as my wall color. No go, since the dark wall paper is still going on the bottom under the new chair rail and it'd be too somber and gloomy in my stairhall.

Besides (and it gives me no pleasure to mention this), that Behr brand flat paint chalks. Fine for a base coat for a faux finish, not so great for the wearing surface.

Next thing (after the green dries for twenty-four hours) is for me to avoid mucking up the faux effect again. More experimenting on the sample board . . . Think I need to lay on the dark rose color a little more sparingly, so more of the green shows through. And something in the faux finish brochure tells me I will get a better effect if I do a lighter application but layer as I go. (First time around, the rose blended in with the green and I was disgusted to have to do a second complete go-round with it.)

Still not totally satisfied with the size of my sponge. Too big doesn't work, as I found out last time, but the little one I used on this board makes the texture look a little mimsey.

Looks awfully pink, I know, but judging from what happened last time, I'm pretty sure that'll tone down once it's on the walls.