Textured walls are nothing new, people have been doing it for years, it seems like just now, though, they are really getting noticed. When you texturize a wall you essentially do two things. First off, you make a boring wall have personality. And second off if you have a wall with imperfections, you hide those imperfections and make it look like a piece of art when really it was done just to save yourself from a dozen repairs! Texturing a wall is very easy and there are all sorts of types of textures. One of the most popular and the easiest types though is a stucco look. Actually if you hire a top interior house painter in NJ this is the design he or she will recommend the most. It looks the best, hides the most, is the most versatile i.e.; you can do it by hand or by machine and it’s the cheapest. Below, we will be going over ways to create this type of wall and a few other options you have available to you.
Joint Taping Compound
This is one of the more traditional ways of going about this. It’s quite popular and easy to do, but it’s all about technique. So you could do it on one wall and someone else could do it on another wall and it could look extremely different. You can apply joint taping compound to the wall. This can be done using a trowel or a compound knife. Then you would use a sponge (this is also where the technique comes in) to dab into the compound pressing it against the sponge for a texture. Technique and type of sponge comes into play because there are all sorts of different thicknesses of sponges, designs, etc. Then you would let it dry and paint it. Joint taping compound can be bought at any home improvement store. This technique is good for DIY people because it’s simply and really hard to mess up. Don’t like the way it looks? Clean it away before it dries and start over again.
Notched Trowels
You can also use a joint compound with a notched trowel to create a cool look. In this technique, you would take a squeegee and cut indentations into the rubber part of the brush. Then you can make either crosshatched patterns or whatever other designs in the wall. Up close and far away, this type of pattern is made to look like a woven fabric. Again, wait for it to dry, then paint it. Simple. You can try other objects too.
The Knock down Method
This uses compound and a sea sponge roller. You can roll the sponge through a watery compound mixture and roll it onto the wall. It’s a messy job, but fun as heck and the results are fantastic. After the mixture dries you can then paint it. This creates a really textured look and it’s pretty easy to do. This technique comes from the skip trowel technique – which is very difficult to do. In fact, if you like this look and really want it, hire an interior house painter in NJ because chances are you will get frustrated and overwhelmed if it doesn’t come out right the first time.
Other Objects
Not only can different sponges be used but other objects as well. You can use old rags, paper bags, plastic bags, and even deep nap rollers. All of these options result in different looks. you can find a lot of the results on sites like YouTube for before and after photos to see the difference that each object actually makes to get a better idea if this is the object you would like to use or not. Just remember that compound, in any instance, takes a while to dry – usually 24 hours and it has to dry completely before you paint it.
Paint Textures
Believe it or not, companies are now making paint textures. These are usually going to have two different coats. The first coat is the texture and the second coat is the paint. A lot of these paints though, will call for a paint machine, so it’s a good idea to rent one when possible or else it might not turn out right. Paint machines aren’t too hard to come by, most improvement stores have the ones you can rent or buy. If you think you would get your money out of it, buy one, because these can be used again and again. Another option is to buy a paint sprayer. These sprayers work really well because they have different nozzles on them, they use different compounds and thicknesses or thinness and they use different paints. If you do use a sprayer of any sort, be sure to cover everything in tarps because I can guarantee you this will spray on everything else, including the walls!