The elements of faux painting aren't difficult but there's always room for error here and there. Keep these important tips in mind and you're half way there.

1. Your end result is only going to be as good as your materials. That applies to paint and brush quality but above all to your surface. Think of it as your canvas. You're about as likely to achieve your aims on a surface coated with flat paint as you would be painting on tissue paper.

Low gloss paints will give you a brighter finish than flat paint, which has a dulling effect on subsequent layers. The best base coat is satin or eggshell paint that dries slowly, giving you time to attend to any problems.

2. You may be tempted by artist's palettes and specially designed sponges and applicators. Save your money for good paints and brushes. Gadgets and special tools aren't necessary. A soft sponge sold for household cleaning will do for applying color washes and an ice cube tray doubles as a practical paint palette.

You can save yourself heaps by using common sense. Dishwashing liquid cuts grease and will even clean some oil-based paints (such as cream stencils), not only water-based paints. Leftover paint can be frozen rather than being left to dry out and hence wasted.

3. Proper surface preparation is a priority. That means more than just filling holes and cracks. If you don't want an uneven finish you will need to seal the patches with a water-based sealer before applying further layers. Otherwise your finish will be blotchy. You can mix acrylic paint with the sealer if you don't have the original paint - you do need to match the original paint color if you don't want to spoil your finish.

4. Remember the old adage: oil and water don't go together. It's easy to skip reading the labels on the tin in your eagerness to get going but it can be a costly error. Know which of your paints are water-based and which are oil paints. Remember that latex paints contain water.

5. Clean conditions help create a neat finish. This applies especially to your brushes, which need to be thoroughly cleaned. If you don't clean them properly you may end up with streaky paint and strange colors. You don't need specialist cleaners but just running brushes under the tap is not enough. Cleaning pads for children's art brushes are available for much less than the professional version.

6. Mess has a way of multiplying. Splashes and streaks are bad enough in your own home but they are unacceptable if you are working for someone else. If you do splash on carpets, don't use water or chemicals to try to remove it. It could make matters worse. For small splashes, trim the ends of the soiled threads with a pair of small scissors when the paint has dried. If the patch is too large, a product called Goof Off may do the trick.

6. When using glazes, wet is the watchword! You need to finish in one seamless session. That means no bathroom breaks (so go before you start!) or refreshment interludes. Wet and dry edges won't mix, the dry glaze won't spread and it will show. Work fast, especially in hot dry climates.

7. What's your painting style? Style is a product of the way a person habitually applies paint and painting a wall or floor is no exception. If two people paint adjacent areas of the same wall, the difference is likely to be quite obvious. The same applies to a single person's work at different stages of the process. If your faux painting project is a collaborative effort, assign different people to different walls, or at least alternate layers. Plan to complete sections that need to look uniform in one go.