The natural beauty of wood is all too often hidden under a thick layer of paint. Colourwashing, on the other hand, allows these qualities to show while still adding colour to a room. It's a very simple technique to use on bare wood and you can vary the density of colour as you wish simply by adding more, or less, water to the paint mix. Bare wooden floors can be transformed by colourwashing them in thin transparent layers of diluted emulsion paint, which is absorbed into the wood. While there are ready-made colourwashes available, there are numerous advantages to using diluted emulsion: it dries quickly, there are thousands of colours, tones and shades to choose from, and emulsions are cheaper. You can also use any number of colours to create patterns simply by masking off areas and colourwashing them in different tones. The diluted emulsion, once soaked into the wood, will look less intense in colour, so it's a good idea to experiment first so you can see how many layers you'll need to build up the colour to the level you want. Because diluted emulsion dries very quickly, this won't take as long as you might think. If colourwashed objects have to be tough and durable, you will need to finish them with a long-wearing, protective topcoat of acrylic varnish.
Previous
