How to Paint Interior Walls With a Sponge or Feather

Sponge Technique

• 1

  Choose a base color for your walls and two colors that will be sponged on top to provide contrast. Unless you want a bold, dramatic look, pick three colors that are fairly close in value. For example, a wheat-colored base with soft gold and pale apricot sponged for texture.

• 2

  Paint your walls with the base color, following standard painting technique. Use a brush or roller and cover evenly, running all strokes in the same direction.

• 3

  Mix one of the highlight colors with latex glazing liquid. Follow the instructions on the package for mixing directions. Pour a small amount of the mixture into a painting tray.

• 4

  Dab a sea sponge into the paint, lightly coating it with paint without saturating the sponge. Dab the sponge on the wall, starting near the ceiling and working across and down. Keep the dabs fairly evenly spaced but do not strive for perfection and do not create a neat, straight row of dots.

• 5

  Dip the sponge into the paint often enough to maintain the same coverage as you continue texturing the wall. As one area of the sponge becomes too saturated, turn it around in your hand to use a new area.

• 6

  Let the paint dry one to two hours once you have dabbed the entire surface. Mix the second highlight color with glazing liquid and use a clean sponge to gently dab, following the technique in Steps 4 and 5. Dip the second color between the first color's dabs and gently overlap some areas. Remember to keep the effect random without creating straight lines or angles.

Feather Technique

• 7

  Choose a base color for the walls and one or two highlight colors.

• 8

  Paint the wall with base color, following standard painting techniques.

• 9

  Pour a little of the first highlight color into a paint pan. Dip the tips of a feather duster into the paint and lightly dab on a paper bag to remove excess paint.

• 10

  Dab the feathers onto the wall, starting near the ceiling and working across and down. Apply even pressure to keep the coverage smooth but do not try to be perfect.

• 11

  Replace feather dusters as they become too saturated with paint to maintain an airy, textured look. Continue to dab on the paint until you have textured the whole wall. Repeat with a clean feather duster and the second color of paint, if desired.