Painting Wood Walls to Look Distressed

Spread dropcloths over the flooring and large pieces of furniture in the room.

Distress the walls so they look rustic when you paint them. Do this in a variety of different ways, such as hitting the walls lightly with a hammer to create indentations, hitting the walls with a screwdriver to make a randomly shaped dents or striking the walls with a chain. Be careful when you do this because you don't want to damage the walls structurally; you simply want to alter their appearance.

Prime the walls with acrylic primer to ready the wooden walls to accept paint. Use a roller and paintbrush to apply the primer and allow it to dry completely.

Mix 1 gallon of acrylic paint with 1 pint of mineral water. Water thins the paint a bit, helping it to appear more like a glaze and accenting the distressed wood effects even more.

Apply a coat of paint to the walls, using rollers and paintbrushes and allow the walls to dry completely. Apply a second coat and allow it to dry completely.

Rub sandpaper onto the walls in various spots to remove some of the paint and help the walls look even more distressed.