What Is the Meaning of Neutral Glaze?

Colors

• Many homeowners choose a neutral glaze color because it is easy to match with most paint palettes. Typical colors include beiges, taupes, yellows and off-white hues. The colors may lean to the warm or cool end of the color wheel. Because faux painting is expensive, many homeowners may choose these colors because they accent almost any color palette and style of decorating. These colors are seen in contemporary to shabby chic decor.

Glaze Ratio

• When mixing neutral glaze, most faux painters will use 1 quart of latex paint and 1 gallon of glaze, or a one-part paint to four-parts glaze ratio. For a darker coloration, use more paint. However, this causes the glaze to dry quickly, not giving you more working time to manipulate the glaze. Some paint products sell paint extenders. Always stir your glaze and paint together to ensure even mixture. Write down the exact paint color and ratio of glaze to paint used.

Application

• Glaze is applied over neutral painted walls using a variety of different paint methods. The walls must be painted in an eggshell or higher-sheen paint. Using a flat sheen paint will cause the mixed glaze to be quickly absorbed, and you will not be able to manipulate the product on the wall.

  Options for applying glaze include rolling the glaze on and then pouncing or stippling with a sea sponge, trash bag or even paper towels. Other methods include brushing on the glaze, in all different directions, and then softening with a terry towel. The different methods to apply glaze are only up to your imagination.

Practice

• When glazing and using new color combinations, it is critical to test your neutral colors first. Sometimes, colors that seem to work together, do not. Choose a few different base coat colors in neutral tones. Practice your glaze color combinations and techniques over these samples boards, before glazing directly on the wall.