Sponge painting walls - who's done this?

[minniecarousel]

OK - I admit, I watch too much Trading Spaces! We have new bedroom linens and curtains. With white walls EVERYWHERE in this house, I want to sponge paint at least one wall in the berdoom, picking two of the colors in the new comforter. I would start with one wall, see how we like it and then do the remaining walls. Anyone done sponge-painting? Did you find it difficult? Is there some technique that especially helped you? Is there a good web-site with instructions? Thanks for any help.

 

[Lucky4me]

Yes, almost every room in my house has some kind of texturing technique. I get carried away sometimes...lol

Some tips that made mine look really great:

Pick out your paints. I suggest the darker color as base and the lighter for the sponging. If you are doing three colors put the darkest as the base, then the next darkest sponged and the lightest sponged last.

Get two sea sponges-they sell them at Home depot for about 9 dollars a piece.

Paint walls with the base color. let dry.

Pour the sponge color in a paint pan. Get a small stack of paper plates to blot the sponges.

Wet both sponges and wring them well. They should just be damp, not dripping.

dip one sponge in paint and blot on paper plate. press sponge on wall in a random pattern. take the other sponge and blot paint on wall until it looks like you want it. Don't worry about messing up-it all looks like a mistake at first but the overall effect is wonderful.

Wait until paint dries and repeat for the third color if neccesary.

I hope these hints were clear enough, sometimes it's easier to show someone than write how to do it. I've taught a few friends and family members but I had to show them. Good luck Minnie!!

 

[mum4jenn]

I have done it. When we moved into our new house we had the walls painted a lite grey. I sponged it with silver!!!.It looks really good and we have gotten alot of compliments on it. I used a sea sponge and before I started I tested on a lorge piece of paper to practice my technique. It did not take long at all to do this. I did get some brochures from Lowes to decide what way I wanted to do it. I would like to try the method where you put plastic on the wall after painting it but I have never gotten the nerve!!

 

[brerrabbit]

My wife did the dining room. She stripped the walls and did two different colors as a base and did the bottom below a chair rail solid. She then proceeded to sponge the walls eight times. It was only supposed to be three for the three colors but she did'nt like the results and continued to twwek the look till she got it right. To this day everyone that sees it for the first time says " I love your wallpaper" She did a great job.

 

[mrsv98]

I have done this a bunch. Just a couple of things to add:

1. I use a glazing compound with the coat to be sponged on. You mix one part paint to four parts glaze, so on qt. of paint to a gallon of glaze. The glaze doesn't add any color, rather it gives you a much longer working time before the paint starts to dry. I have used it for sponging and ragging and it really helps.

2. I would take the two colors that you like and play around a bit. In my kitchen/family room, I used the lighter color for the base and the darker for the top. I used two colors of goldish yellow and created a very "Tuscun" look.

3. There are two different ways to sponge or rag. One is sponge/rag on and the other is sponge/rag off.

to sponge on, you apply the base and then add color with the sponge a little at a time.

to sponge off, you apply the base and then on a small area of the wall at a time, you brush on the top coat and then immediately start blotting it off. I would definitely use glaze with this method or the paint dries too fast.

4. have only one person do the sponging and use as little paint as possible. if more than one person is putting on the top coat, sometime you can see the different "styles" of the people. One may have a heavier hand or whatnot. You can always add more, but it is a pain to paint a section out and start again.

I think above all, you should spend a little time experimenting. It can be a lot of fun and look great. I love our kitchen. The walls were in really bad shape so ragging over them used the texture from the walls to an advantage.

Have fun!

 

[minniecarousel]

Thanks for the ideas - now I just have to get brave enough to do it!

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by mrsv98
The walls were in really bad shape so ragging over them used the texture from the walls to an advantage.

I'm not familiar with this as much as sponging, mrsv. Is this something you could do after removing wallpaper, which leaves 'stuff' on the walls?

My kitchen and bathroom are papered and, as much as I want to take it all down, I fear the work that lies ahead (and underneath). This 'ragging' sounds interesting.

My SIL has done sponging and, I've always loved her 'wallpaper'!! LOL

 

[ChiTownZee]

I agree to use the glaze, I've sponged with out it, and sponged with the glaze (and rag-rolled) and the results were a lot better using the glaze.

 

[Blondie]

Want to try something easier than sponge painting, and has a nice effect as well?

Use a rag roller! You can get other textures as well.

Our family room came out beautifully, and we always have people asking us how we achieved the look, and where can they get one too!

We bought ours at Lowe's, but I'm sure they sell them at places like Home Depot too.

If I had a scanner, I'd show you!

 

[snoopy]

I like the efffect from the rag roller as well, Blondie.

One time I used a feather duster to paint a clients home. It turned out so cool - really subtle.

 

[mrsv98]

Kim,

Whoever wallpapered our walls did not prep them correctly so taking off the paper has been a nightmare. Our house is about 30 years old and I think this may be original paper. Everywhere we took the paper off, the walls were rough and uneven. We had very few options, a) repaper, didn't want to; b) have the walls plastered or rewall-boarded, too expensive; or this, ragging. Since I liked the Italian country look, the roughness of the walls actually helped the effect. Also, because ragging tends to add more of a layer than sponging, it did cover a bit more. Before I worked on the walls, I took a big piece of white cardboard and played around with the color combinations and with the level of paint I wanted for the top coat. This really saved time when I was working on the actual walls. One big tip with ragging is to wear gloves because the paint gets everywher.

If you have any other questions let me know. Good luck!

 

[Kermit]

We've sponged on and ragged off. Both are very nice. I especially like the fact that you don't have to be as careful about streaks on the first layer. You end up saving time.

Definitely add the glaze. It makes it so much easier, especially if you want to correct the paint in an area. Also consider taking off the paint with a sponge/cheesecloth/paper sack/etc. instead of putting it on that way. It seems to be a lot faster. One person rolls on paint like normal, and the other follows behind and removes it. It's not nearly as difficult as dipping the material into the paint and dabbing it on, and you're less likely to dribble paint on the floor.

 

[klombar]

I've painted walls!

 

[Jeafl]

Definitely use the glaze. It's so much easier.

Also, another technique which I think is the easiest of all is to use scrunched up plastic bags (like Walmart, or grocery store bags). Paint your walls your base color and let dry. Then get 2 disposable pie plates and put some base color in one and your accent color in the other. Scrunch up 2 bags, dip lightly in the accent paint, blot a little on some paper towels, then dab at the walls. If you find you have too much in one spot you can scrunch over part of it with the base color right away. This also gives it a lot of depth. The most important thing to remember is to always overlap a little. Nothing looks worse than a polka-dotted effect!

 

[A kid at heart]

LOL Klombar!
they also have a pattern sponge to do the sponging on walls, I have one thats a paisley pattern and one thats a scroll pattern, and each one came with a very small one with it to do the trimming and corners. This last time in my diningroom, I painted the walls a light tan color and did the pattern sponging over it with hunter green, then dabbed here and tehre with gold, it turned out pretty darn nice, if I do say so myself! I did the ceiling in the plain tan and one other wall is the plain hunter green and the other wall is a burgundyish color. Its a great combo once painted!