Paint effects can be used in many ways to enhance a room or piece of furniture.

Ragging and rag rolling is one of the most varied and dramatic effects in the field of broken colour. It is the foundation of all marbling techniques and is best done in pastel colours as its startling pattern can otherwise dominate its surroundings.

The fibreglass fireplace surround in (fig1) shows the finished effect of marbling. A thin glaze is dabbed on with a creased newspaper, the surface is then softened with a dry brush, veins are applied using an artist’s brush, these are softened and smudged again with a cloth. The whole effect is crossed again with a dry brush, to produce a delicate, misty result.

 Two tone colour (fig2) is also a very effective way of enhancing a room or piece of furniture, painting one wall a different colour to change the feel of a room, or as in this example using a darker background colour to highlight a detail.

This technique (fig1 & 3) can also be used to pick out heightened details on cornices or embossed surfaces giving them a three dimensional effect.

Hand painted furniture can bring a durable, modern look to a new or old kitchen (fig5) and give an old piece of furniture a new lease of life. The tallboy in (fig4) originally had a mahogany finish.