Create a Faux Carrara Marble Finish

May 06 2020, by Gene Howard, 4 min reading time

With the right tools and expert guidance, you can easily create a faux Carrara marble finish to improve almost any part of your home.

This faux marble finish can be achieved with Amy Howard products on practically every type of surface - floors, walls, drawers, and many others.

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to achieve a great Carrara marble look, specifically, for a beautiful kitchen countertop!

Step 1: Choose Your Colors

First, choose the One-Step Paint colors you want to work with.

For this project, Amy chose One-Step Paint in Ballet White for the base coat. Luxe Grey and Graphite were for the scumble and the base. You can add another complementary color like Good Man is Hard to Find for added detail.

Step 2: Put Your Base Paint On

Using a foam roller, evenly cover your entire countertop with your chosen base paint color. Two coats should be good enough.

This is the only time you’ll be using your paint as is. For the rest of the project, you’ll have to apply each of your chosen colors as a glaze.

Step 3: Scumbling

Your next layer of paint will be applied via scumbling, covering most of your countertop surface.

Create a scumbling glaze by mixing one part paint, one part Glazed Over, and three parts water. Using a sea wool sponge, apply the glaze over your countertop. Do so following a 45-degree angle, going from the upper-left to the lower-right sections.

Step 4: Smooth Your Scumble

Using a packed and flattened lint-free towel, soften your second layer further and allow the paint to blend into the negative spaces. Allow some areas to be darker than others.

Let your countertop dry.

Step 5: Veining

Using the same One-Step Paint color as your scumble, make a veining glaze with a mixture of paint, Glazed Over, and water. The objective is to create thin veins as well as thick veins.

Soften a turkey feather in water and use it to apply your second glaze. Do so by lifting your feather up and laying it down, repeatedly, aiming to have different size and color veins on about 60% of your countertop.

Step 6: Secondary Veins

Create a second veining glaze with another color like Graphite One-Step Paint and aim to cover about 20% of your countertop with darker, even thicker veins.

Step 7: Soften Your Veins

With a chip brush and in a pouncing motion, soften the veins you created and allow them to blend into your first two paint layers.

Be careful not to drag your brush. You can also use a packed, lint-free rag to help soften the veins even further.

Step 8: Glaze with Your Base

Using one part of your base coat paint, one part Glazed Over, and two to three parts water, mix a thin top glaze to apply all over your countertop. Use a foam roller to cover the entire surface.

Step 9: Set Everything Back

Soften and set all your paint layers back with the use of a clean lint-free rag. As though repeatedly patting your countertop dry, continually move your rag around, following the same direction along a 45-degree angle on your countertop.

Let everything dry.

Step 10: Seal Your Countertop

With a foam roller, apply a coat of the Amy Howard Matte Sealer. This will keep your countertop protected and help keep its finish looking great for a long time.

Create a Faux Carrara Marble Finish

Step 1: Choose Your Colors

Step 2: Put Your Base Paint On

Step 3: Scumbling

Step 4: Smooth Your Scumble

Step 5: Veining

Step 6: Secondary Veins

Step 7: Soften Your Veins

Step 8: Glaze with Your Base

Step 9: Set Everything Back

Step 10: Seal Your Countertop

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