Decorative interior painting techniques. Learn to stencil, sponge or rag paint your walls and add instant impact to your home.
Painting is one of the least expensive ways to add style to your home, and decorative painting is something that you can easily do yourself. The most important step in any painting project is preparation. You should plan to spend about twice as much time on preparation as you do on actually painting. This, however, is time well spent, as work that is done properly the first time will last much longer and looks much more professional. This article will discuss three different methods of decorative painting, stenciling, ragging, and sponging. Whichever method you use, the preparation is the same.
Begin by thoroughly cleaning the room, wiping down the walls, woodwork and windowsills. This will keep any loose dust out of your paint. If the area you are painting has been previously painted you will probably want to put a little TSP in your water when you wash down those areas, as this will help to strip the paint a little and provides a good work surface. Once the area is clean and dry you should tape off all of the trim with painter's tape. This allows you to move quicker without worrying about drips. Cover the floor with drop cloths, and you are ready to get started.
Stenciling is a wonderful way to add some visual impact to a room without painting the entire room. You can find stencils at craft stores, super stores and home improvement centers. Decide on your stencil pattern, which can be a border around the room or just an accent here and there, and pick out the colors that you plan on using. The small pots of paint that are sold alongside the stencils are really the easiest way to go. Get a stenciling brush, which is fatter than a typical paintbrush and you are ready to go.
Decide where you want your stencil. If you are going to use it as a border, you may want to go around the room with a level and a pencil, making light marks every six inches or so. This way you can make sure that you do not end up with a border that runs up or down hill. Hold the stencil firmly against the wall, dip the brush lightly into the paint, and then pat the brush into the opening of the stencil. If you are using more than one color for your stencil, you should do all of one color, waiting until that color completely dries before moving onto the next color. If you are doing a border, simply do all of one color, and when you are ready for the next color, carefully line the stencil up, and start from there. By allowing the paint to dry thoroughly before introducing another color, you minimize the risk of smudges. Another thing to keep in mind is that when you move the stencil you should pick directly up and place it directly down against the wall, if you slide it at all, you will more than likely end up with smudges.
Sponging is the process of going over the base coat of paint that you already have with another, usually darker shade. This creates a rich look that adds instant elegance to a room. After you have prepared your wall for painting, you are ready to pick out a color. Although this process usually looks best when done with a darker color, that doesn't mean that it has to be a dark color, even one shade darker or brighter than your currant wall can make a world of difference. Pour your paint into a roller tray and lightly dip the surface of your sponge in. A natural sea sponge has the best texture for this job, and is available at most home improvement stores. Dab the sponge lightly onto the clean part of the roller tray to remove excess paint and then gently roll the sponge against the wall, starting at the top and working your way down. You may want to practice this technique on a piece of plywood before you start on the walls to see approximately how much pressure you should apply to get the coverage that you desire. Take your time and remember you can make more than one application. The more layers of sponging that you apply, however, the less contrast or depth their will be on the wall.
Ragging is actually very similar to sponging, with the exception being that you leave a more pronounced texture on the walls when you use a rag. You can use any type of clean rag; a kitchen hand towel is about the right size. With both ragging and toweling, you can apply more than one color for an interesting effect. For example if your walls are plain white and you want to add a cozy feeling to the room, rag over the walls with a very light taupe color. After that dries, do a very light application with a mocha color. Take that same room with white walls and give it an elegant look by sponging over the walls with a medium gold tone, leaving all the trim white. There are so many variations that the only limit is your imagination. If you are unsure of how something will look, try it first on a piece of plywood, and set it in the room you are going to paint. After it dries see how it looks in the morning and evening light and under the artificial lights in your home.
