Texture Walls

Retexturing walls is a great way to add personality to home décor. Once the domain of professional home painters, now there are a number of tools available at home improvement stores that make retexturing walls a feasible project for any home. You can also use objects like whisk brooms, combs and sponges to refinish walls. This article will teach you how to retexture walls in the finish of your choice.

Steps

Texturing Using Joint Compound

  1. Lay drop cloths around the floor of the room. Place drop cloths on windows, affixing them with stickpins to hold them in place. Cover any places that you do not want to get dirty. Retexturing walls is a messy process, so make sure all plastic drop cloths overlap.
  2. Paint a 1/8 inch (0.3 cm) thick coat of drywall joint compound on to your walls. Drywall joint compound is a common contractor's tool. It is used to create the smooth finish on top of drywall. It is also a good canvas for retexturing walls. You will retexture immediately after you apply the drywall joint compound, so if you are working alone, work on 1 wall at a time.
    • Understand that some of the joint compound will be wiped off during the texturing process. Put on more joint compound than you expect to have on the final product.
  3. Choose your retexturing instrument listed below. How you retexture your wall may largely depend on what instruments you use.
    • Use a small whisk broom to create the look of grass cloth on a wall. Grass cloth is a cloth that is woven from plant fibers. It resembles linen and is commonly used as wallpaper. By taking the whisk broom and gently gliding it vertically down the wall to the bottom, and then starting again at the top, you can create this cloth-like texture on your wall.
    • Drag a thick hair comb or paint comb vertically down the wall to create a texture of thick and even vertical lines. You can also comb in an overlapping "S" curve with the paint comb, to create a curvy, textured line.
    • Use a thick-bristled brush to create circles. Leaving the brush in the same position, simply turn it around in one revolution. This should create the look of a circle. Wipe the joint compound off the brush before the next revolution.
    • To create vertical beading on your walls, take a window squeegee and cut grooves in it that are a few inches (cm) apart, depending upon how close you would like your beads to be. Start at the top and move the squeegee vertically down the wall. Use a straight motion and a steady hand to create long straight beads, or move back and forth to create a squiggled bead.
    • To create a woven look, take the squeegee and draw vertical lines, then drag it horizontally to create boxes that resemble woven fabric.
    • To create longer textured curves, use a process called skip troweling. Take a trowel and lightly brush the wet drywall joint compound at 3 to 6 inch (8 to 15 cm) intervals. Let the compound dry and then lightly sand the next day to remove bumps.
  4. Use other inventive surfaces to achieve an even but textured layer. Apart from brushes, combs, squeegees, trowels, you can also use the following items to create a beautifully textured look:
    • Sponge: Blot the porous side of a sponge onto newly-applied joint compound and let the pores of the sponge create a wonderful texture.
    • Old rag: Blot the flat surface of an old rag against the joint compound for a similar, if less uniform, effect.
    • Tissue paper: Lay the tissue paper over the joint compound and depress into the compound using a clean, dry roller.
  5. Allow the joint compound to dry before painting. It should take several hours for the drywall joint compound to dry. Afterwards, hit the compound with one, perhaps two, coats of paint using a coarse roller.

Texturing Using Wallpaper

  1. Purchase textured wallpaper. Textured wallpaper comes in either rolls or uniform tiles that you hinge, connect, or stick onto your wall. Search for "textured wallpaper" in order to generate a list of retail textured wallpaper providers.
  2. Apply the textured wallpaper to your wall. Textured wallpaper comes in several different forms, each of which may have different directions. In order to apply rolls of textured wallpaper, probably the most common kind, simply measure the wall, measure your wallpaper to fit, cut out pieces of wallpaper, and apply them to the wall with a strong adhesive.

Retexturing Using Textured Paint

  1. Pour either sand-textured or popcorn-textured paint into a paint tray. (Most popular paint brands make paint in these textures.) Apply it directly to the wall with a paint roller. Apply 1 to 2 coats and let dry. This is perhaps the quickest way to retexture your walls.
  2. Apply Venetian plaster paint to a large steel spatula. Venetian plaster paint is a 2-tone paint made by popular paint brands to create the look of marble and stone on your walls. Work in a 3 by 3 foot (1 by 1 m) area and apply a small amount of paint in an overlapping, random motion until you have a thin coat on most of the surface. Allow some areas of the original wall to show through. Dry for 1 to 4 hours until it is a lighter color and matte finish.
    • Apply a small amount of the Venetian plaster paint to the spatula and skim the surface at a 90-degree angle to even out the surface colors. Let dry as before and repeat until you have achieved your desired texture. Using light grit sandpaper, polish the surface in circular patterns.

Retexturing with Specialty Paint Tools

  1. Use a double roller to retexture a wall with 2 colors of paint. Place 2 complimentary colors of paint in your paint tray. Work in curves going right and left to mix the paint thoroughly on your walls. This method has largely replaced the use of sponges to apply different colors; it is a very efficient method.
  2. Create the look of wood using latex paint and a wood grain tool. Paint a neutral color of latex paint on your wall. Roll a wood grain tool in a tray of paint, and then roll it vertically down your wall, alternating with both sides of the tool to produce the uneven look of wooden boards.

Tips

  • Experiment with your finish on a piece of poster board. You can try out a number of different finishes before starting the process of retexturing your wall.

Things You'll Need

  • Plastic drop cloths
  • Stickpins
  • Drywall joint compound
  • Texture paint in sand, popcorn or Venetian plaster consistencies
  • Small whisk broom
  • Hair comb
  • Window squeegee
  • Trowel
  • Paint roller or double paint roller
  • Metal spatula
  • Wood grain tool

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Sources and Citations

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