Picasso Painting and Remodeling — Finding the Perfect Wall Texture
Picasso Painting and Remodeling
You can create a variety of wall texture styles using drywall joint compound and a variety of tools, but joint compound isn’t the only material you can use to texture your walls. Faux finishing may not create a tactile texture, but it can create an appearance of texture that can be dramatic; plus, it only requires paint. If you want to be able to actually feel the texture you create, add texturizing agents to the paint.
A Smooth Wall
Drywall is the smooth, paper-covered pressed gypsum wallboard that covers most interior walls in the United States. In drywall, you may naturally think of a smooth wall with an absence of texturing, but that isn’t necessarily true. In many cases, omitting texturing leaves visible seams and nail or screw holes. To achieve a truly smooth finish on drywall, you have to spread drywall joint compound over the whole wall in a process called skim coating. This is actually one of the more difficult texturing procedures to master; easier methods hide seams just as well.
Texturing With Joint Compound
Texturing with drywall joint compound can be an adventure, because so many styles are possible. You can spread the joint compound with a roller to get a mottled surface that resembles an orange peel. If you prefer more drama, you can spatter on the compound with a slap brush, pattern it with a drywall knife, or create lines in the product with a comb. Another common way to texture with joint compound is to spray it on the wall with a special manual spray gun and flatten the resulting blotches with a drywall knife. All of these procedures produce texture patterns that you can feel.
Faux Finishing
Faux-finishing techniques give your walls visual depth without adding bulk. Sponge painting is an especially DIY-friendly type of faux finishing that involves a few different colors of latex paint, a sponge and some wall varnish to fix the finish. You can also use a cloth and a variety of earth-tone paints to give your interior walls a Mediterranean feel. Some designers add tactile quality by incorporating tissue or other types of paper into the finish, but you can also do it by using texturizing paint, which has more body than regular wall paint, for the base coat.
Texturing With Paint
You don’t have to do a faux finish to benefit from texturizing paint; it’s a product that allows you to cover and texture the walls at the same time. You apply this type of paint with a texturizing roller, which has a network of interwoven fibers that spread a thick, irregular coat of paint. Another way to texture with paint is to use clay paint, which gives your walls a flat, adobe-like finish. Combining clay paint with a subtle drywall texture produced by skim-coating and then selectively dabbing parts of the wall with a trowel further enhances the impression of adobe.
Distressed or Dressed-Up Finishes
Distressed or fancy finishes can give a room personality. Leather and crackled leather looks (paint and crackle glaze) work well in libraries and dens. Gemstone finishes are created with layers of jewel-tone paints, glazes and metallic paints that shimmer through each other in the light and work well in formal rooms or master bedrooms. A marble look, in a variety of colors and veining patterns, can be faux-painted to resemble tile or solid sheets of stone.
Knock Down is a method of applying uneven texture that can give walls a period look or international design flair, mimicking stucco styles from tropical and desert cultures. Metallic textures, used with restraint, are showstoppers in an entry hall, dressing room or formal dining room or salon. A gold leaf finish can either be the real thing, which is expensive and should therefore be professionally applied, or faked with a tissue-paper base and careful applications of paint and metallic glazes.
Before taking a decision on what wall texture you want make sure to do your homework and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at Picasso.co.com
