Textured Walls | Painting Techniques

See, I told you my next post will be about interior design!

When I was younger (like high school), my family and I decided to repaint my two younger sisters' rooms. Instead of just doing one color of paint, they wanted to use two. And instead of just painting the walls in any normal fashion, they wanted to put "texture" on their walls by using a sponge.

It would look a little something like this

These days, you can use just about anything to texturize your walls – a sponge, a paintbrush, bubble wrap, a rag, and even a plastic grocery bag! Each of these seemingly simple and easy-to-find objects can be used as different techniques to create greater dimension and movement to your walls without the hassle of wallpaper. Below are some pictures of different techniques to add some interest to your bedroom, bathroom, or hallway!

Cleaning brush to create a linear texture

Paper towel or rag (known as "ragging")

Faux Wood technique.. it's not real wood!

If you are interested in doing this yourself, there are plenty of videos online. While at Home Depot for my Materials & Resources class last week, we had a chance to test this decorative painting toolkit which not only shows you different techniques, but also gives you the tools and step-by-step instructions to create different patterns. It doesn't take much, but you can get professional looking results in just a weekend!

I think that I am going to give this basket weave technique a try in our master bathroom, which my husband has been trying to get me to improve for months, but I hadn't yet found inspiration.

Basket Weave Technique in the Martha Stewart Kit

I'll report back about how it goes!

TTFN,

{Rashida}

Please note: Most of the times, examples shown in magazines or demonstration booklets are done on smooth walls like dry wall. In California, our walls are already textured to prevent the appearances of jarring cracks in the walls from earthquakes. Thus different decorative techniques may not always look like the pictures. My advice — test it out first in an inconspicuous area first.