The term “Faux Finishing” refers these days to any kind of decorative finish given to walls, flooring or furniture. Methods such as stenciling, antiquing or lacquering can create all sorts of new looks in any property, and improve the chances of its sale.

There are a large number of different techniques that can be applied in order to improve the interior and exterior of a piece of real estate, to maximizing its sale potential. Coupling Faux Finishing with other concepts such as home staging will be instrumental in attracting prospective buyers into giving your property serious consideration.

Where you once had a troublesome crack in a plaster wall, employ a technique such as Venetian Plastering. This is a three-coat plastering technique, which employs a thin layer of Venetian plaster which is allowed to dry completely, followed by a thicker layer applied in a criss-cross manner. Once fully dried, a third thinner layer is applied, dried and sanded; and you have a brand new wall.

There are many instruction manuals and websites that fully illustrate the benefits of faux finishing, not just to enhance your real estate for a sale but to improve your home interior for your own domestic purposes.

A bland kitchen surface can be given a new lease of life with a marbling effect. This technique utilizes three shades of green paint, a natural sponge and high-gloss polyurethane to give the surface a marble-like shine.

Alternatively, you might want to give items in your property an old-time rustic look. This is where the extremely popular method of crackling would be used. Crackling is the practice of giving wooden furniture an “aged” look by replicating the crackled finish that occurs over time. Special paints can be purchased to apply this effect, and it is quite striking; some have even speculated that the crackled effect is better than the time-worn original.

On the subject of time-worn originals, this effect can be simulated in other ways, such as the distressing technique, which involves removing stain on doors and chairs with #180 to #220 grit sandpaper. It’s a great technique that works wonders!

Remember, there are many more techniques which can be employed to enhance the interior of your real estate in preparation for a sale. You can find many more ideas on the web or in a library or book shop, as well as keeping an eye on the DIY shows on television.

The rooms of your house are like the clothes on your body. Everyone has to look at them, so if the colors don’t match you are going to look ridiculous. There are, of course, rules to follow when it comes to coordinating colors for any purpose.

Color is possibly the most important aspect of interior design, and sets the tone for your room. Appropriate color schemes affect the overall look of the room and contribute hugely to the finished décor. We are not just talking walls, but carpets and furniture too – sky blue walls with yellow chairs just wouldn’t look right!

The first thing to do is to decide whether your color scheme matches your furniture, or whether you’re buying furniture to match your color scheme. Existing fittings and fixtures should also be considered and serious thought given to how they might fit in to the mix. Curtains, drapes and blinds should also be considered – they’re part of the room “package” too! In extreme cases you should consider how home entertainment systems will fit in. Warm reds and oranges won’t look good with metallic-finish widescreen televisions and stereo systems.

And colors like reds and oranges should be kept together. You should consider the “color wheel,” easily acquired in DIY and décor emporiums or even on the Web – and examine what colors actually match. Colors that are opposites; red and green, purple and amber, blue and orange, would be considered “complementary,” and should only be used under the correct lighting.

Groups of similar colors are popular, as are “triplets” of color, groups of three colors with the same “hue,” such as an Autumnal yellow, ochre and brown. Alternatively, you might link two vivid colors with a lighter “interim” color, such as purple, powder blue and blue.

Ornaments, soft furnishings and tables can be given the “interim” color, while floors and walls should be given the vivid choices. You will no doubt find your own ideas are enhanced by the use of color-coordination as you redecorate your real estate to suit your style and find that you truly are living in your dream home.