The trick to re-creating this gingham pattern is to pull a potter's rib (into which teeth have been cut) through yellow glazes, first vertically and then horizontally.

An embossed-paint rocker and a combing tool, dragged through a green glaze, leave a faux-bois (wood-grain) imprint.

Get the look with the Martha Stewart Living Decorative Painting Tool Kit at the Home Depot. 

Order the Decorative Painting Tool Kit

The sharp bristles of a horsehair flogger, drawn through a tinted glaze, create the illusion of fine linen.

It may shine like raw silk, but this soft-blue wall with subtle stripes is produced by a pad of steel wool drawn through an iridescent glaze.

Made by passing the teeth of a craft tool through a coat of tinted glaze, combed tiles give dimension to a home-office wall. Alternating the directions of the lines creates a sense of movement. The squares can be any size.

Get the look with the Martha Stewart Living Decorative Painting Tool Kit at the Home Depot. 

Order the Decorative Painting Tool Kit

The faux marble tabletop was fashioned from three glazes applied with a cotton rag.

A midcentury-modern icon has a brush with tradition in this homage to herringbone, applied by dragging a combing tool across the chair diagonally -- first in one direction, then the other.

This Swedish-style bureau is painted in colors inspired by the Gustavian period. A glaze was rubbed with steel wool to enhance the overall patina of the piece.

Creating the look of raw linen on a wooden headboard requires nothing more than a paintbrush and tinted glaze. Oil paint was used to tint the glaze, creating an especially rich, deep shade of blue.

A home office is the ideal spot for a family planner. Six weeks' worth of squares in a variety of shades can accommodate several schedules. The entire wall is also coated with chalkboard paint for more memos.

Although this mural looks complex, the techniques are both easy to master and forgiving. Painting is done with a single color diluted to various concentrations and applied in layers. Highlights are created through reduction: painting, then wiping some color away.

Mask run-of-the-mill storage with a little trompe l'oeil magic. We transformed a boxy, unfinished dresser into a dressier rococo masterpiece by painting it and decoupaging the front with blown-up clip art.