Leather look
In our urban Victorian townhouse there’s a small room with just enough space for two comfy chairs in front of the fireplace and a table behind the chairs. Our tiny music center is set up on one wall. It was decorated as a cozy den for one of my TV shows on The Painted House, and also appears in my book Debbie Travis Decorating Solutions, published by Clarkson Potter. This is my husband’s retreat. The walls are a deep and luscious shade of russet red. What makes them even more special is the faux leather finish. This is not a simple do-it-yourself project, but if you have the time and patience, you will be delighted with the outcome. Here’s how.
You will need primer tinted a light brown, Venetian plaster tinted brown, enough cheesecloth to cover the walls, sand paper, and a coloured glaze made up with 2 parts dark russet paint to 1 part glazing liquid. I generally use waterbased products. Prime the walls and let dry. Apply a skim coat of plaster to a horizontal strip down the wall a little larger than the width of the cheese cloth. Cut the cheese cloth into manageable strips. While the plaster is still wet take a strip of cheesecloth and press it onto the plaster from the top to the bottom of the wall. Continue with another strip of plaster and then cheesecloth until the wall is covered. Then apply another thinner skim coat of plaster over the cheese cloth. Keep working along the wall with the second skim coat and when this coat is almost dry, peel off the cheese cloth, leaving the imprint of the cheese cloth behind on the wall. When all the cheese cloth is removed and the wall is dry, sand lightly to get rid of any big bumps. Then apply the russet glaze coat. To achieve the feel as well as the look of leather, apply a coat of beeswax and buff.
Dear Debbie:
I saw you do a treatment on a wall and it looked just like leather, using craft paper which was torn and scrunched and dipped in a glue mixture. Can you refresh my memory? Thanks
- Regina
Dear Regina;
There are many ways to create the creases and tiny bumps associated with the look and feel of leather. In the technique you are remembering we took pieces of brown craft paper ripped to about the size of two hands. You need enough to cover the wall.
Prime the wall, let dry, then apply a coat of full strength wallpaper glue to the wall. Mix glue and water about 2 to 1 in a large bowl or pail. Scrunch a piece of the paper, then flatten it out and dip it into the watered down glue and spread it onto the wall, pressing it out with your hands so you get creases and bumps that look like natural lines you would find in leather.
Repeat until the wall is covered. Let dry. To finish, you can use either paint or a coloured glaze, 2 parts glaze to 1 part paint. Apply over the dry papered wall. Choose a colour that suits the leather look, tan, green, or red look great.