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To add detail to the wall, Howard dipped plastic grapes and leaves into a watered-down Mediterranean-finish and adhered them directly to the wall. "What's great is with the Mediterranean-finish you have the ability to artistically place your vines and grapes. By thinning down the product it allows you to hand place your design without worrying about it adhering to the wall or sliding down," Howard says.

Once dry, she stained the wall tans and browns using a sprayer, chip brushes and a combination of mineral- and water-based stains. Howard used artist brushes to stain and detail the grapes and leaves. A water-based Architectural Enhancements' sealer finished the Italian villa walls.

To add more detail to the outdoor kitchen, Howard added vertically stamped concrete bricks to the lower portion of the structural columns in the kitchen. She used a process similar to the one she used on the walls, starting with a clear coat of polymer followed by an "aggressive scratch coat" of Tru-finish. "The aggressive scratch coat has deeper indents for a better hold," Howard says.

After another layer of polymer, Howard applied a thick layer of Architectural Enhancements' Vertex, which is a vertically stamped texture concrete mix designed for faux looks such as brick. After letting the Vertex set for only a short time, she used texture tools to create and sculpt the bricks. Using the sprayer and chip brushes she stained the bricks with six different colors, including white and black for an aged look. She finished with the same water-based sealer. "The key is to not put all the accent colors on too heavy and too even. Having the variety in colors with no definite pattern is what makes the wall and bricks look so realistic," Howard says.

"This was definitely a project for two people," she says. "It would have been difficult to do by yourself because the concrete needs to be mixed constantly." Howard had one person on site mixing the concrete while she applied, sculpted and stained.