Decorative Wall Painting Techniques

If you are tired of plain, boring white or beige walls consider one of the dozens of decorative wall painting techniques to liven up your rooms. From simple to complex, the diverse range of decorative painting ideas is vast and includes techniques such as sponging, stenciling, stamping or ragging. With these and dozens of other styles you are certain to find one that will suit your style and the design of your rooms.

Some of these are more difficult than others, so before you decide to embrace a particular technique make certain you have the time and skill to execute it properly. That said, with a little patience and willingness, you can really punch up the design of your rooms on a small budget.

Here are a few classic decorative wall painting techniques. This list is by no means exhaustive, so feel free to explore this genre to the fullest extent through the wide variety of books available online.

Some key tools to have on hand:

• Water container
• Gloves
• Large plastic plates for the paint colors
• Paper towels

Sponging is one of the simplest techniques to try and it produces a very pretty, distinctive look, adding texture and depth to your walls. You must have at least two colors (or more if you wish). For a subtle effect, choose colors that are close in hue, for a more dramatic look, pick colors that are more opposite.

The first, and most important color, is your base coat, which is applied using traditional paint techniques, such as with a brush and roller. Let this coat dry well before applying the sponge coat.

To begin sponging, wet the sponge with water and wring it well. Dip the side of the sponge into the chosen color of paint. Don’t soak it, because you don't want to end up with drips. Blot off the excess paint onto a paper towel and then pad the sponge onto the wall a couple of times. After you run out of paint, dip the sponge in again and repeat until the entire area you want to sponge is covered in the second color.

Ragging is a very similar technique to sponging, only you dip a rag in paint rather than a sponge. Depending on how textured you want your decorative wall painting technique to look, you can fold your rag into many accordion folds, or simply use it as a flat surface. Ragging is much more versatile than sponging, as you don’t get the mottled effect of the sponge.

Learning how to stencil or stamp is a bit more difficult that the previous two techniques, and you will need a few more tools and a lot more patience to. It can be as easy as stamping or stenciling a simple and beautiful design onto your walls to create an effect similar to wallpaper.

Here are a few basic steps to follow to begin stenciling or stamping.

1. Paint your wall a main base coat color. Usually a neutral works best to ensure that your stencil or stamp pops off the wall
2. Depending on what type of stencil you are using, either clear acetate or oiled stencil cards, you can use either rapidgraph to trace the acetate image or carbon paper and a pencil to trace the oiled stencil image
3. Using an X-acto Knife, cut the stencil out, making certain that you are careful to not cut through the stencil
4. Use spray adhesive to apply the stencil to the wall
5. Next place all of the colors you want to use on a palette. artistic acrylic paint is best because it dries rapidly and is easily applied
6. If you are using more than one color for a pattern make sure you paint beginning in the center and move outward so the colors don’t bleed together.
7. Finally after the paint has dried apply a clear coat of protective varnish

Remember, if you don't like the way that your faux painting looks, feel free to repaint over it and start again. If you want, try a few different techniques on the same wall and see which one you like the most, then paint over the wall and start over again with the one that you think looks best.

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