Do your walls seem dull and uninviting? Do you long for
a cozy, welcoming room? Consider decorative wall
painting techniques, such as sponging, ragging,
stenciling or stamping. Even if you have no experience,
you can brighten even the dullest room quickly and
cheaply with one of these easy decorative wall painting
techniques.
Before painting your room, pick out a color scheme for
your walls. When you chose your paint, remember that
many painting techniques use two shades of one color. If
you are using one of the techniques that does use two
shades of color, you can pick a darker color than you
normally would chose for your base color, since the
lighter top color will make the final result much
lighter.
To sponge or rag a wall, paint on your base color and
let it dry thoroughly. Then, dip your sponge or rag into
the lighter paint color and sponge or drag the lighter
color over the base coat until you are satisfied with
the effect. If you are unhappy with your final result,
you can repaint any areas that you don’t like with the
base coat. Once the repainted area is dry, repeat the
faux painting technique.
If you are considering using a decorative painting
technique such as stenciling or stamping, you may just
want to create a wallpaper effect by stamping or
stenciling a simple design over your base coat. However,
you may want to go a step further with your project and
use stencils or stamps to create a faux brick or stone
wall. You don’t need to be an artist to create one of
these faux finishes. Just follow these simple steps.
First, paint the walls with the color you chose for the
mortar between the bricks or stones. Once the base coat
is dry, stamp or stencil your bricks or stones over the
base coat. Once the brick or stonework is dry, spatter a
bit of the darker color over your faux art to give it
depth and make it appear more realistic.
Creating faux effects such as making your walls look
like they are made of plaster or suede can also really
make your room stand out. You can easily learn how to
create these seemingly difficult finishes at your local
paint store. Paint bases that automatically give a suede
or textured effect to the walls are a shortcut that even
artists use to create fun finishes.
