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How to Paint Over Faux Finish: Sunroom Renovation

Do you love a good before and after? Wait until you see my sunroom makeover where I’m sharing how to paint over faux finish walls.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

It’s amazing what a can of paint can do to a room!

After giving you guys the new home tour, you were amazed at all of the faux finishes here at the house.

And to be honest, I’m pretty amazed too!

The craftsmanship and artistry are really incredible.

I feel a little bad painting over some of it, but the finishes are a little outdated and are weighing the rooms down.

While I’m waiting for some professional help to repair the badly damaged walls in my dining room, I decided to paint over the faux finish in the sunroom.

And let me tell you, it was no easy task!

There are a lot of windows and there was no surface that was untouched by a faux finish.

Painting over faux finish is a little more involved than just painting over a color you don’t like on the wall.

Wait until you see how good the sunroom looks now after painting it!

We can actually see the gardens now!

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sunroom in my vintage farmhouse

How to Paint Over Faux Finish Walls – Before the Sunroom Renovation

From the french doors to the interior of the sunroom, there was a heavy faux finish of ivy, flowers, with lots of greens and yellows.

There is a whole lot of detail and hard work that went into this room.

It’s really unbelievable that someone hand-painted it all.

Faux finish design in the sunroom before the renovation

But it’s so dark.

The green clashes with the gray in the adjacent library.

The colors in the sunroom don’t coordinate with the beautiful travertine tile.

And it drove me nuts that your eye stops at the windows instead of seeing those gorgeous gardens outside.

sunroom in my vintage farmhouse

I’m planning to start my cut flower garden seeds in here pretty soon, so I decided to give it a makeover beforehand.

And what a difference a few cans of paint make!

I can’t wait for you to see how good it looks now.

Can You Paint Over a Faux Finish?

YES!

But surface preparation is the key to success.

Sanding, cleaning and priming are essential to covering up a faux finish.

And it can be a bit laborious, but well worth the extra elbow grease.

Before painting over faux finish on the walls and trim in the sunroom renovation

How Do You Remove Faux Paint from Walls?

Removing faux finish paint from walls is similar to any other surface.

It’s all about the preparation.

Invest your time preparing the walls and the faux paint will disappear.

  • Sand it well.
  • Clean all of the dust and dirt off really well.
  • Prime the surface.
  • Then paint!
Before preparing the walls - how to paint over faux finish in the sunroom

Supplies Needed to Paint Over a Faux Finish

If you need to paint over a faux finish or textured walls, you’ll need the following supplies.

Sanding the faux finish on the trim in the sunroom

Directions on How to Paint Over a Faux Finish

Here’s how I painted over the faux finish in the sunroom.

  • Lay a drop cloth on the floor and cover any furniture you need to protect. Tape off the room.
  • Lightly sand down textured design, unless you don’t mind seeing it through the paint.
Wait until you see how to paint over faux finish in the sunroom before
  • Prep the walls and room by wiping everything down to remove the dust and dirt. Clean the walls.
  • Apply a good coat of primer to the trim, walls and window panes.
  • If necessary, sand down any texture you don’t want to see.
  • Apply second coat of primer if the faux finish needs it. I did a second coat over the heavy art in the sunroom.
  • Then paint the trim, walls and window panes with paint that has a primer base in it to insure good coverage.
After sanding the faux finish on the trim in the sunroom
What the ivy design looked like after sanding.

From start to finish, painting the sunroom took me a week to prepare and paint.

But I really love the result.

So the amount of time spent was totally worth it.

Sanding and Cleaning

After sanding the designs down with a 100 grit sandpaper, I felt each design to see if it felt smooth.

Any areas that were not smooth, I sanded again.

Once all of the designs were sanded, I wiped down all of the walls and trim with a shop towel and vacuumed up any residual dust before painting.

Priming the trim in the sunroom renovation - how to paint over faux finish
What the ivy looked like after one coat of primer.

Preparing to Prime and Paint

I finished taping off the room and did some test areas of primer to see how good the coverage would be.

Before priming the whole room, I decided to do two coats of primer on the darker, heavier designs to insure good coverage.

I did not remove the outlet or switch plates because we will replace them.

Since they were all covered in faux finish, I decided to hit them with primer and paint until we change them out.

How to paint over faux finish walls in the sunroom renovation - priming the trim

Priming and Painting

The faux finish was really heavy in some areas and lighter in others.

Some of it was textured and there were a lot of window panes to cut around.

While masking paint can save some time, because I needed to cover a lot of green near the glass it wasn’t worth using it on this project.

Because I would have had to have been careful either way.

I also noticed a film on the windows that was coming off in some places, so I decided using a razor to get extra paint off wasn’t a good idea either.

Priming the trim - how to paint over faux finish in the sunroom renovation

So for my sunroom, I used a small brush to cut around each window pane.

It was very tedious but insured I covered the green.

And let me tell you, there was a lot.

Every surface in the sunroom had a faux finish on it so I had to ensure it was all covered.

Priming the walls

After priming and painting, the walls had better coverage than the trim.

And when I paint over faux finish the next time around (because in this house there will be another time), I would do two coats of primer on any trim work before using trim paint.

The darker green faux finish still bled through one coat of primer and 2 coats of trim paint.

So I needed to hit the trim again with a third coat in here!

One coat of primer - the faux finish is gone from the sunroom
It looks better already and this is only one coat of primer.

After Removing the Faux Finish

Can you even believe this is the same room???

It’s so bright in here now.

The gorgeous travertine floors really pop.

After painting over the faux finish in the sunroom

You can see the gardens from inside the room now.

And my houseplants look so much better in here, right?

I may or may not keep it this bright white long-term.

But for now, it looks So. Much. Better.

After - how to paint over faux finish in the sunroom renovation
sunroom renovation my houseplants are super happy now

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Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

Stacy Ling

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30 Comments

    1. I am. I really love how it turned out and the gardens have been brought indoors. Can’t wait to decorate in here and start my seeds for the cottage garden!

  1. I have to admit I skipped to the end, the suspense of seeing what the room looks like painted was to much for me! It did not disappoint. So calming…I could sit and stare out those windows for hours. Don’t you wish you could have cut out one of those hand painted flower arrangements on the walls and framed it ?

    1. I really did Cindi! I considered painting around one of them too! The finish behind it was too heavy to keep but I’m with you! The details were extraordinary! But I’m glad its white now. I enjoy seeing the gardens and cant wait to start my seeds in here!

  2. I am impressed! That was a lot of work to undo a very outdated paint job…..you won’t regret doing it one bit! The house can breathe, plants and the view can be the stars of the show and that floor is stunning. I am afraid primer is going to be your best friend until you get all that faux paint covered! We’ll enjoy to before and the after!

  3. Stacy – You have the patience of Job. Wow, what a project and you tackled it like a woman with determination.
    Think you should sell “Stacy go to pills” as all of us would love to have your energy.
    I’m so excited to see what you continue to do in your home and in your gardens.
    So grateful to have found you. You keep us all inspired.

    1. You are the best Diana Thank you! It’s so fun having something new and fresh to work on. I appreciate your kindness so much. xo

  4. It looks beautiful… the gardens outside are the focal point. A lot of hard work but certainly worth it. Stacy..try BOSS Primer from Dixie Belle Paint. It takes care of those pesky bleed throughs..it really does work. You put it on your piece , then wait overnight then paint with your paint. Your home is going to be a show stopper when you are finished !!!

  5. The “before” picture does look a little busy, but as a mural painter, it was such a shame to paint over all the flowers and ivy that was there. Was the painting signed? If it was, it would have been interesting to research the artist. But, the after picture is beautiful, too.

    1. None of the faux painting is signed here that I can see. It was done really well and the artistry was really good – so I appreciate the amount of work that went into it. If I could have cut out the faux flowers and used them some other way, I would have – I thought about it. That said, the gardens are so gorgeous here and were unnoticeable in this room. It’s so nice having them brought indoors now. I can’t wait to see it all blooming! Thank you so much!

  6. Oh my gosh. It looks so good. And you’re right, now your eye is drawn to the windows and garden beyond. Great job.

    1. Thank you! I can’t wait to have more plants and flowers out there. I love that I can see the garden more now. Too pretty not to enjoy from inside the house!

  7. Great job on another beautiful renovation. The white looks so clean and fresh and makes the plants and floor pop. Love it!!!

  8. So much better! I don’t know that I would have the patience (or physical stamina, lol) to tackle that! The floor really does pop now and I know the view out those windows will be amazing with the beautiful gardens outside this spring and summer. Thanks for sharing!

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  10. What an am amazing transformation! Painting the room white makes such a huge difference! Perfect room for plants and people! Really beautiful, Stacy!