By Sandra Silva
`As a graphic artist by trade, I never dreamed that I would be in the business of Faux Painting or Decorative Art.
The thought never crossed my mind, partly because I was unaware of how popular this beautiful form of art was becoming. Fifteen years ago there was only limited information on the various faux painting techniques.
Years ago, most referred to faux finishing as sponging or glazing. In essence, the term was misused and for the most part, still is. I am referring to the fact that FAUX means FAKE, therefore, to faux paint a wall means to paint it in a way that makes the wall resemble a specific surface other than just a plain wall, such as marble, wood, etc. The sponges or glazes are just tools to achieve a certain effect on the wall. I've read comments on faux painting message boards indicating the perturbation of professional faux finishers when uninformed clients refer to any type of decorative painting as fauxing. It used to bother me, too, yet through the years I've learned to accept the fact that those unfamiliar with the details of faux painting could care less about the terminology and more about the beauty of decorative painting instead.
Although you have not been professionally faux painting walls, if you learn how to achieve a few easy faux finishing techniques, you can offer your services to friends and family and they won't care if you're uninformed with the terms. As long as you can make their walls look beautiful, you can make some extra income on the side. Who knows - maybe you'll end up with your own faux painting business like I did. Start off by painting your own walls, then invite others to see your work. If they ask how much would you charge to faux paint their walls, give them a relatively low price since you are just starting out and use it as practice. If you ever plan to start your own faux painting business, you can get quite a few practices in and you can begin gathering photos for your portfolio. That's how my journey began.
Just to give you an idea of how much you can earn starting your own business, I charge $2.25 - $8.00 per square feet, depending on the type of faux finish. Since the Triple S Faux System is so fast, I can faux paint a wall that measures 10 ft. high X 10 ft. long (100 square feet) in less than 2 hours. Most faux painting professionals are charging an average of $3.00 per square feet for simple faux painting finishes.You can do the math. What are you waiting for? Buy your Decorative Painting E-book and faux painting kit today!
The wonderful thing about embarking on your own journey into the beautiful art of decorative painting today is that there are a lot more faux painting tools, classes, and books available than there was when I started out fifteen years ago. My suggestion is to start out with the simple faux finishes such as sponging and color washing. There are many textured faux finishes that you can learn but they are time consuming and the materials can be quite expensive. After faux painting literally hundreds of walls, I can tell you honestly that 90% of my clients still choose color blending or color washing, including the Old World Parchment look. Why, because some of the textured finishes are too busy looking and the cost for faux painting with texture is nearly double than what it is for non-textured faux finishes. Besides, once you get your foot into the door, then you can offer them.
A great tool that you can use to start your own faux painting business is an online tutorial on the SBA (Small Business Administration) website. There are various ones that can help you in the important areas of starting a business.
Of course, another great tool is our Patented (7472450) Triple S Faux Painting System. With the Basic Faux Painting Kit you can learn up to 10 different faux finishes right in your own home. We have many different combo kits, also, which can save you time in purchasing additional supplies that you will need.
We'll also send you a link via email for your FREE Color Suggestions and Idea E-book, too. This is the perfect tool for choosing your faux painting colors.
I called the help line, listed on the SSS web site, and was quite shocked when the phone was actually answered by Sandy who is the owner and the person on the instructional videos. Sandy spoke to me for nearly 20 minutes, asking me several questions about my attempt from start to finish. She also asked me to send her a photo so she could get a better idea of the issues I was experiencing. Not only did I get a quick response from Sandy, she also called a coupe days later to see if I had made a second attempt with the wall. I let her know I had make another attempt but still wasn't happy with the outcome. Again, Sandy gave me some helpful tips but even more, gave me words of encouragement. Being persistence, along with Sandy's professional guidance, I'm very happy with the final outcome and the customer service was amazing.
Thank you, Randy L.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Includes Basic DVD kit
