Decorative Painting

I learnt how to do manipulated paint finishes in their heyday in the 1980's, a
time when "paint effects" were all the rage and every available interior
surface could be (and often was) stencilled, ragged, marbled, colour-washed
etc.

I have had therefore some experience in most of these types of finish. Including.....

• Graining

  This once popular art simulates wood by manipulating paint with brushes and
  combs. It was commonly used in the past to make 'cheap' timber like pine look
  like a more expensive wood like oak or mahogany.
  

• Marbling

  Painted in places where real marble might be used (not windows!), a skillful
  craftsman can re-create the best marbles and stones with a painted simulation
  that is hard to tell from the real thing. Most modern ragged and distressed
  finishes have their origin in the art of marbling.
  

• Stone-Blocking

  An effective broad-wall treatment. Drawing the shape of blocks on the walls,
  painting the 'blocks' to look like stone, and completing the mortar lines to
  give the effect of masonry walls - better than it sounds.
  

• Textured Surfaces

  The addition of fillers to thicken the paints which are then textured, followed
  by colour-washes. Think Italian villa, not bungalow ceiling.
  

• Antiquing

  Pale earth-colours brushed on and wiped off to simulate the patina of antiques,
  the use of crackle-glazes to suggest aged paint, and other techniques to create
  an aged surface.
  

• Colour-washing

  Thin 'washes' of colours to give a fairly subtle distressed look to large
  area's like walls or ceilings.
  

• Ragged, Dragged, etc.

  A lot of the techniques used in graining and marbling can be used on their own
  to create 'movement' or textures on otherwise flat painted surfaces.