Faux Finishing Leather Disaster HELP!

[Kathryn]

I recently painted my office walls a dark red and wanted to do a leather faux finish to give it some depth and interest. I used the technique of mixing 1 part paint to 4 parts glaze, and put plastic over and peeled it off. Once it had dried I couldn't see really the technique, is there any way to bring out the finish without having to redo it? The walls have a bit of a texture to them, so could I somehow pick up on that?

[Annette]

you painted the walls a base color of dark red. then you mixed 1 part OF WHAT PAINT to 4 parts glaze??? if you used the same dark red paint, then you just put the same paint - diluted - over the same paint! of course it won't show up. you should've used a much darker color. try it again with an even deeper shade of red, if not a totally different color, like a dark brown, mixed with the glaze

[kimeyers]

Anette is right, assuming you used the same color. I would recommend a brown over the red, although I can't ever recall having seen an honest red colored leather. The plastic method can create great results, but I would recommend trying out the technique and colors on a sample board before making another time consuming mistake. Why not try a dark brown or black. The mixture of paint to glaze is more dependent on the brand of glaze than what you are doing. This is probably easily salvagable, but you may require a new coat of paint. remember, leather darkens toward the edges, so put a heavier coat of glaxe toward the sides.

[WALLS&PAINT]

As others have mentioned , try using a darker brown such as a burnt umber, vandyke brown, or you could even try some different colors of tans and deeper browns mixed together. You also mentioned your walls have a "slight texture" already. Not for sure what you mean by this , but another method if you do have textured walls, trying rolling on the glaze in manageable working areas and taking a stippling brush, neon leon brush, work and blend on your base coated walls, letting some of the glaze mixture rest in the crevices of your texture for added interest.

Another thing to use is try adding some "stain & seal" mixed with glaze for the leather look. Use a stippling brush or some cheesecloth to manipulate the glaze around.

One more thing you mentioned you used plastic sheeting, try using plastic bags(turned inside out if there is lettering), or use crumpled plastic to manipulate the glaze mixture.

Most importantly, if you are unsure of the finish you want or the exact technique to use, by all means do a practice run on test boards first.
good luck. :)