Wall Painting Techniques

In wall painting techniques, most important is the right color and tonality (lightness or darkness). The brushing doesn't have to be refined - you look at your walls from a little distance. But: walls are big visual surfaces, and the key is to get some life in them. When your walls are covered with wallpaper, that might be an issue - but in most cases, wallpaper can be painted over (and look good). Click here for more on painting over wallpaper

Click here for
more on color washing

Choosing wall paint colors

In choosing paint colors it's important to see (before the actual paintjob...) how your wall colors wil look together with other colors in your room. You can do that by making an interior painting design. If you have trouble envisioning the impact of different color walls, consider using house paint software, that will enable you to color your own pictures with existing interior paint colors. It will give you a realisic impression of the outcome.

Sometimes you need to do a primer, to get the right underpainting color that will make the color of your choice come out on its best. This can also be a technique to make that big colorfield more lively.

Tips on one-coat wall painting techniques:

A shortlist of other wall painting techniques

Hiding paint jobs with blending techniques or added decorations (using stencils)
faux finishing: two or more layers
Color washing or glazing: several thin layers
You also might consider doing faux painting techniques:
- Try painting faux brick
- Do some faux marble painting
- Make wood imitations
- Experiment with faux painted metal,
- Have a fake window or landscape. Click here for some examples of faux painting

If you're moving out soon, consider removable wallpaper. You can take it off without leaving traces, and put it on again in your new home. On some websites you can design it yourself. It's good for kid's rooms too (their taste changes with their age...)

Masking Tape

Whatever techniques you’ll use – this tip applies to all wall painting techniques: the “look” of a wall depend on its edges. If you paint the edges of your walls very straight and neat, your paintjob will have a clean and finished look, even when you see brushstrokes. It may even be OK not to have a complete hide. If you have the right colors for over- and underpainting layer, it'll be like a faux finishing effect.

You get straight edges by using paper masking tape. Time spent on putting on masking tape is well spent. A steady hand CAN replace masking tape. But when you’re not a trained painter, use the tape. But be careful, if the tape gets stuck too well, it might do damage when you take it off. And, you probably heard it before: the result of your painting job depends on your preparations.

Masking tape for wall painting techniques

Choosing paint colors

In choosing your paint colors, take the special feature of your room into account (is it big or small, light or dark etc.). Also take the existing visual elements into account: the color of your floors, furniture, a favorite painting or rug. Arrange everything into one interior painting design. Wall painting techniques usually are about creating a background that makes your things look really nice. Walls are big surfaces, and a change of color changes the whole room. House paint software will enable you to have a solid beforehand impression, before you start on the job.
When you do the kitchen, the kitchen cabinets will define a great deal of the visual surface. Consider giving them a coat as well.

one-coat-wall painting techniques

If the conditions are favorable, you can do a wall in one single coat. With favorable I mean: the wall has the right shade, as an underpainting for the color you want, the wall is not damaged, and not painted with oil based paint. No matter what color you choose: it can be adjusted to your available light. Windows on the north give cold, bluish light and windows facing the south give warm, orangish light. Old paintmakers used to add a little extra color to balance out this effect. It hardly changes the paint color, but it does boost them with an extra pleasing "ooze".

For one-coat wall painting techniques, I advise some investment in the right paint. Good paint gives a better hide, and has well-toned colors that will last to satisfy you. Take your time to choose your paint colors. Once you chose, first order sample-jars and try the color out.

The influence of underlying paint colors is an issue in wall painting techniques. A good paint gives a reasonable hide, but hardly ever for a full 100%. And there is a catch: the colors you paint over each other, effect each others look. Painting dark, warm colors over white or colder ones however, always looks good. If you do that with blue, it easily looks smudgy. Blue works the other way around. Click here for blue paint colors, click here for red paint colors.

But, when you make sure you have neat and straight edges, it's likely to look good, even if the cover of the paint isn’t 100%, and you see “artistic brushwork” shining through. I’ve seen walls like that, done by two 13-year old girls, that looked really nice.

2 or 3 layers: Faux finishing techniques

In faux finishing, you take two or three layers to create a lively color or structure. It’s also a great way to try out the strenght of your colors. You don’t put have to put in on at full strenght at once, and after each layer you let it rest a while, to see what it does to your room and mood.

Faux finishing techniques are fun. It's a wall painting technique that can be learned easily, and it creates great satisfaction. You can do it in latex as well as acrylic paint. Want to imitate wood, brick, stone, metal or marble? click them. Want to create an indoor beach, forest or just an extra window? click here for more on faux painting techniques.

3 or more layers: color-washing or glazing on walls

This technique takes some time, but the results can be truely amazing (click here for examples). It's the most elaborate and refined of all wall painting techniques. When you glaze a wall, you put on very thin color-washes of paint, until you reach the hue and the saturation you want. Which doesn’t have to be the same on every spot of the wall. You can adjust the color to the available light, and create amazing atmospheric effects. If done well, the room will move and breathe, and the walls will feel like transparant spheres of color. This technique is very suitable for bedrooms, the nursery, bathrooms, meditation rooms. Click here for wall painting glazing techniques.

decorations

One-coat-jobs can be enlivened by panelling, stencilling patterns, or stripes. These are wall painting techniques that look great and are relatively simple. To check the effect, look at it from a distance. Seeing brush strokes is OK, it gives your wall an authentic look-and-feel

If you bought more than one color for your paintjob, use them in stencilling patterns. If you don’t, take colors for decoration out of a painting, a carpet, or a quilt in your room. A sample jar will be enough.

Do make a plan before you start, and keep your design as simple and logical as possible. If you’re not sure, make a design on an office printing a4. Use the paint you’ll put on the wall. The important thing to find out is: proportions, the size of the colourfields compared to each other. If you never worked with stencils, it’s a good idea to practice for a bit (a carton box will do). On that, you can also try out extra colors, if you like.

If you want to take away the attention from the floor, use the panelling effect. Just give the wall a different color, up from the floor, for about 1 to 1.20 metres (depening on your own length).

If you want some personal advise on painting your walls, don't hesitate to contact me.