As you can see here, we are gonna take this down Modern Avenue.  It feels very man cave-ish, in a swanky way–which I adore.

First I started with a blank canvas.

I taped out the wall and then rolled Black SetCoat®.  Simple Enough.

You could get real fancy and use Deep Blue SetCoat®, but it won’t matter in the final layer.  Just use a dark color of SetCoat®.  Why SetCoat®  you ask?  BECAUSE.  That’s why.  No, really, it’s actually important to use it and here’s why: Faux Effects® made this basecoat for a reason.  Especially when you are painting over new drywall–which I am, or a wall that has “questionable” material on it.  It’s imperative you have a foundation with good bonding with your basecoat.  If you didn’t prep it, you have no idea what you’re working with.  And that right there could affect the performance of your finish.  Don’t take the chance, just use the good stuff and you won’t lose any sleep on it.  Besides, it doesn’t get any easier than rolling on a couple coats of paint.

Then I used Inkwell Blue LusterStone® straight out of the bucket and troweled it on and ‘chiseled’ the plaster in a rocking motion to give it a linear feeling.

I trowel-blended two colors together, which is a technique I LOVE to do.  It makes for such a nice organic pattern.  I like to let the finish guide me and by trowel-blending I get out of my own way so I don’t set up patterns.  To me, it’s been good practice for the times I want to “love the wall to death”; I got that one from Mike Hoppe. 🙂 There’s only so many passes you can do on a section before you make mud!

But I digress.  I trowel-blended Inkwell Blue LusterStone and Silver StucoLux™  over the surface and blended till I got the look I wanted.  This finish takes some arm strength to pull the LusterStone tight, so if you try this at home, be prepared for a fantastic arm workout!

The space is still being finished, so I don’t have a final picture with everything in place, if I get one, I will update the blog.   Shoot us a comment below and let us know if there are certain projects you would like to see us do–we are open for special requests.  If you want more details on this finish or any other finish, contact us toll free: 888.977.FAUX for a private lesson, where we can show you how step-by-step and provide you with a recipe to walk you through the process and product info.  Stay on the lookout for more projects from Faux Masters Studio–I promise they are coming!  Ciao for now!