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Give Walls a Fresh Look with Sponged on Texture

Sponge Painting by author Meghan Carter

  • Materials you'll need.
  • Step-by-step sponge painting instructions.
  • Tips for getting a flawless finish.
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    Sponge painting by far is one of the easiest faux painting techniques. All you need is a little paint and a sponge, and you're set to start dabbing that sponge across the wall. When you're finished, the results are absolutely amazing. The texture of the sponge is transferred onto the wall leaving a beautiful, messy pattern.

Sponge Painting Materials

  • Two different colors of paint
  • Glazing Liquid
  • Paint brush or roller
  • A Sea sponge
  • Lots of Paper Towels

Sponge Painting Color Selection

    When sponge painting, the safest choice is to use the same color in different tones. Using the different tones will give a subtle texture rather than a jarring pattern. It will be a very beautiful effect. But if you like the texture of the sponge, opt for colors with a bigger contrast. Use color combinations such as a light blue over a tan, green over yellow or red over orange. The mixture of two different colors will give a fun, energetic feeling to the walls. To make you're walls look aged and interesting, use multiple colors. After painting your base coat, layer numerous coats of sponge painting one on top of the other. The end effect will be an array of colors that seem to meld into each other.

How to Sponge Paint

  1. Before you start sponge painting, paint your walls the color you want to use as the base coat. Let the base coat completely dry.
  2. Then mix the color you would like to sponge paint with the glazing liquid. I use two parts glazing liquid to one part paint. If you want the paint to look darker, use less glaze and more paint. For a more translucent look, use more glaze.
  3. Once you've made the glaze, lay out numerous paper towels. Make sure you layer three or four paper towels on top of each other. You want the paper towels to be extra thick and absorbant. If you have a few extra paper plates, it can help to put on underneath the paper towels.
  4. Dip your sponge into water and ring it out completely. Then dip your sponge into the glazing liquid making sure the flat part of the sponge is the part covered in paint.
  5. Wipe the excess paint off on the side of the paint can or tray. Then dab the sponge onto the paper towels once to get off any extra paint.
  6. Start sponge painting in the corner of the room that is least seen. You want to start in the least seen corner because your technique when you start sponging might slightly vary from your technique when you finish sponge painting.
  7. To sponge paint, lightly dab your sponge on the wall. Then rotate the sponge a bit and lightly dab the wall again making sure that your new dab lightly touches your last dab. Rotating your sponge will ensure that your pattern is varied and slightly overlapping your dabs will give an even coverage on the wall.
  8. Continue that process until you have covered the wall with dabs.
  9. For the corners, cut off a small piece of your sponge with scissors. Then dip the sponge piece in water to get it wet, and ring it out completely. Dip the sponge piece in the paint mixture, wipe it off and then dab it onto the paper towels. Start dabbing the sponge piece in corner rotating it as you would when sponge painting the other parts of the wall.
  10. If you find that your first coat looks to light, repeat the sponge painting process again using light dabs and continually rotating the sponge. When you do the second coat, you can try using a different color for variation.



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