How to Color Wash Walls & Cabinets

Mask off any areas you don't want painted by covering them with drop cloths and masking tape. Put on rubber gloves to protect your hands from the color before you prepare your color wash.

Pour colored glaze into a light-colored mixing container and stir it well. Rub some of the glaze onto the side of the container to see how translucent it is. If you can't see the container color clearly through the glaze, stir in clear acrylic medium, a little at a time, until the glaze rubbed on the side of the container is highly translucent. Mix enough to cover your entire wall and cabinet area.

Fill a bucket with plain water.

Dampen a sea sponge or rag with the water and squeeze it out. Rub the sponge over the area of the wall where you want to start your glaze, preferably the upper corner of one wall.

Dampen another sea sponge or rag with water, and then squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Use a heavily textured rag, such as terrycloth, if you are not using a sponge.

Dip an edge of the nearly dry sponge or rag into your glaze color and smear it on the wall over the damp area. Continue rubbing in a variety of directions, much like a child's scribbling. Rub the color outward from your starting point, making sure that there is no regular pattern to the streaks as you coat the wall with a thin glaze.

Dampen the next area and dip the glazing sponge into the glaze again. Continue to rub in random directions over the newly dampened area without overlapping the first.

Use a third sponge dipped in the clear acrylic only to blend the edges of each section together.

Keep moving as you wash, and step back and look at your work occasionally to ensure that you are not creating a regular pattern. A common error in color washing is to stand in one spot for each section, creating a series of discernable overlapping areas that are the radius of your arm's length.

Apply the glaze via this process, without allowing any edges of the paint to dry as you work, until the entire wall is covered. Use your water-only sponge to keep the glaze's edges moist until you finish each wall.

Allow the wall(s) to dry.

Remove the cabinet doors from their facings by unscrewing the hinges with a screwdriver.

Glaze the cabinet facing with same technique you used on the walls.

Replace the cabinet doors once the facing is dry. Glaze them in place so you can see how the glaze coordinates with the wash on the facing. Support the back of the door with your opposite hand while you rub paint onto the front. Wrap the rag or sponge around your fingertip to reach into cabinet molding with the color.

Allow the cabinets to dry and enjoy your new decor.