Interior Sheen Painting and Shadow Stripes are a wonderful way to add depth and interest to your room.

They are also a very popular way of making a wall more beautiful without adding an accent color or expensive wallpaper.  By just adding a second Higher-Gloss paint sheen on top of your Flat/Matte base coat you can create a whole new look!

This example of a Sheen Painting Technique looks wonderful in your living room, dining room, kitchen, bath…basically, anywhere.

Sheen painting technique used on this Blue/Green wall

Materials:

• High quality brush or roller
• Matte/Flat Sheen and High Gloss or Gloss paint of your chosen color
• Plastic sheeting or tarps to protect your flooring

Basic directions:

Base coat of Flat/Matte Sheen

• Cover flooring where you will be painting.
• Prep wall as needed and protect ceiling by taping edges above the wall you will be painting.
• Paint your entire wall with the Flat/Matte sheen (2 coats) and allow it to fully dry for 2-3 days.

High Sheen Application:  Decide on wall design, copy onto transparency and project onto wall and trace.  We have found that old school projectors can be found at Secondhand stores and on Craigslist.

Project your design on the wall and trace it with the same colored pencil.  This allows the pencil to blend in and not need to be carefully covered up afterwards.

Once you are completed with tracing, apply a Higher Sheen/same color paint on top of your design.

It is important to have good lighting that reflects off the high sheen paint.  In other words, the sheen cannot be seen in a dark room.

Click here to view “Shadow Stripe Effects” on our next post.

Two Sheens just may be better than One!