close

Leather look

3 min read
1 / 3

Polished faux-leather walls, full-length velvet drapes and comfy leather chairs produce an irresistible den or study.

2 / 3

This leather effect is produced with strips of cheesecloth pressed into Venetian plaster.

3 / 3

Cheesecloth is sandwiched between two skim coats of plaster, then removed, leaving behind the leather look.

In our urban Victorian townhouse there’s a small room with just enough space for two comfy chairs in front of the fireplace and a table behind the chairs. Our tiny music center is set up on one wall. It was decorated as a cozy den for one of my TV shows on “The Painted House,” and also appears in my book “Debbie Travis Decorating Solutions,” published by Clarkson Potter. This is my husband’s retreat.

The walls are a deep and luscious shade of russet red. What makes them even more special is the faux-leather finish. This is not a simple do-it-yourself project, but if you have the time and patience, you will be delighted with the outcome. Here’s how:

You will need primer tinted a light brown, Venetian plaster tinted brown, enough cheesecloth to cover the walls, sand paper and a colored glaze made up with two parts dark russet paint to one part glazing liquid. I generally use water-based products.

Prime the walls and let dry. Apply a skim coat of plaster to a horizontal strip down the wall a little larger than the width of the cheesecloth. Cut the cheesecloth into manageable strips. While the plaster is still wet, take a strip of cheesecloth and press it onto the plaster from the top to the bottom of the wall.

Continue with another strip of plaster and then cheesecloth until the wall is covered. Then apply another thinner skim coat of plaster over the cheesecloth. Keep working along the wall with the second skim coat, and when this coat is almost dry, peel off the cheesecloth, leaving the imprint of the cheesecloth behind on the wall.

When all the cheesecloth is removed and the wall is dry, sand lightly to get rid of any big bumps. Then apply the russet glaze coat. To achieve the feel as well as the look of leather, apply a coat of beeswax and buff.

Q. I saw you do a treatment on a wall, and it looked just like leather, using craft paper, which was torn and scrunched and dipped in a glue mixture. Can you refresh my memory? Thanks. – Regina

A. There are many ways to create the creases and tiny bumps associated with the look and feel of leather. In the technique you are remembering, we took pieces of brown craft paper ripped to about the size of two hands.

You need enough to cover the wall. Prime the wall, let dry, then apply a coat of full-strength wallpaper glue to the wall.

Mix glue and water about 2 to 1 in a large bowl or pail. Scrunch a piece of the paper, then flatten it out and dip it into the watered-down glue and spread it onto the wall, pressing it out with your hands so you get creases and bumps that look like natural lines you would find in leather.

Repeat until the wall is covered. Let dry. To finish, you can use either paint or a colored glaze, two parts glaze to one part paint.

Apply over the dry papered wall.

Choose a color that suits the leather look. Tan, green or red look great.

Email your questions to house2home@debbietravis.com.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today