Are you tired of solid coloured walls? Are you looking for some visual interest without completely changing the room colour? The following paint effects allow you to add depth and interest without making any radical changes to your colour scheme. These techniques also deliver decorating panache at very little cost. If you can afford a few cans of paint and a few days, you can update the look of any room.
1. Sponge and Rag Techniques
Using sponges and rags to apply paint creates a rough "textured" wall finish. This effect can transform a plain solid-coloured wall into a focal point. To achieve an elegant effect, choose colours that are similar and complementary.
These techniques typically use two colours: one colour is the basecoat and a second colour is applied overtop with a sponge or a rag. The uneven surface of these painting tools allows the basecoat paint to show through, creating the illusion of texture. Achieving this effect can be relatively simple if you keep the following tips in mind:
Paint the wall with a basecoat and allow it to dry completely. The basecoat is typically the darker of the two colours.
Use glaze or thin the paint you will be using as a topcoat (use water for latex paint or thinner for oil paint). Thinned paint will allow more of the basecoat to show through.
Paint a small section of the wall with the topcoat colour. Immediately dap or lightly rub off some paint with the sponge or rag.
Be consistent with your tools and strokes. If you choose to use a rag at the beginning, continue using it for the entire project. If you start with angled strokes using a sponge, stick with that method. There is no right or wrong but consistency in whichever technique you choose is important.
Catch paint drips immediately because they will show as lines on the finished work.
For best results, rag or sponge a room as one continuous process from start to finish. Do not rework part of a wall, because the new work will stand out as different from the rest. Repainting the entire wall is the only way to achieve a satisfactory result, if you aren't satisfied with the first effort.
2. Blocks of Texture
A modern variation of the sponge and rag technique is to combine it with straight edges. Imagine a wall painted with large interlocking rectangles of varying sizes. Now imagine the rectangles filled with paint applied by a sponge or a rag. Each rectangle will be slightly different - one will reveal more of the basecoat, another may have a slightly darker topcoat. The result can be quite striking. The straight edges of the rectangles visually break up the wall but the effect is subtle enough that it will not overpower a room.
For this project you will paint the entire wall with a basecoat. Once the basecoat is dry, block off rectangular sections of your wall with painter's tape. Take a moment to consider the size of the rectangles. For a large room, you may want to use rectangles that are at least one or 1.5 metres in length. Use a sponge or rag to fill in the blocked off sections. Vary the colour within the blocks slightly by using more or less of the topcoat or slightly changing the topcoat colour by adding a third colour. Test out this paint effect on a scrap piece of wood or drywall before you start work on your walls.
3. Diamonds
Marilyn was right - diamonds are a girl's best friend. A Harlequin diamond pattern (diamonds that look like they've been stretched at the top and bottom) can be an elegant touch in a bedroom or a powder room.
Two different paint colours are used to create the effect: one colour becomes the basecoat and the other is painted in the shape of diamonds. To avoid overpowering a room with this effect, choose similar colours in muted tones (e.g. pale cream and darker cream). For more contrast, choose one colour in a glossy finish and the other in a matte finish.
This project may seem difficult but even beginners can complete this project with a calculator, a pencil, a paintbrush or sponge. Simplify your job by applying a basecoat first and using it as one colour of your diamond pattern. After the basecoat dries, lay out the grid.
Measure the height and width of each wall then use a calculator to determine the diamond size. One method is to create diamonds that are twice as tall as they are wide. For example, if the wall measures 2.5m high, you could plan five horizontal rows of diamonds, each measuring 0.5m high. The width of each diamond would be 0.25m. Draw a stencil to your required size on poster board and cut out carefully.
- Across each wall, measure and create a grid. Using the example above, you would have a grid line every 0.5m horizontally and every 0.25m vertically. Lightly mark the lines in pencil.
- Next, position the stencil within the marks you've created and lightly pencil in the diamond outline. (You can also simply draw in the diagonal lines from one grid line to another.) Use the carpenter's level to check your work. The diamonds should be perfectly horizontal otherwise your wall effect will look off kilter!
- If you want the diamonds to have precise, clean edges, outline the penciled shapes with painter's tape before applying paint. Fill in the diamonds with the topcoat colour.
- If you come to a corner simply bend the flexible stencil. Getting a helper can make this task easier!
All of these effects rely on creativity (and patience) rather than a large budget to add style to your space. Another nice thing about decorating with paint is that if you make a mistake you can always paint over them and start again! [Return to Homeowners Guide]
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