How to Paint a Smooth Matching Wall With a Nap

Place a drop cloth onto the floor beneath both matching walls. Mask off any areas of the wall you wish unpainted with masking tape.

Paint the first wall normally, creating the smooth paint covering that you desire in the color you want.

Cut in the paint on the edges of the second wall using a paintbrush. Paint the wall perimeter with a strip of paint extending about 4 inches in width toward the wall’s interior. This stripe will ensure that you get the edges of the wall covered without needing to apply a heavy layer of paint with the paint roller to do so.

Fill a bucket with paint and place a bucket screen into the bucket to help you remove excess paint from the roller by rolling over it. Choose a 1/2-inch nap paint roller consisting of a poly/wool blend for smooth coverage. Cover the paint roller in masking tape and remove the tape along with any loose wool strands that could leave imperfections in the paint job.

Dip the paint roller into the bucket of paint, submerging the roller about 1/2 inch and pulling it out by rolling it along the bucket screen to remove extraneous paint. Repeat the process five times for the first loading of the roller with paint. Pull the roller from the bucket to paint with while it’s still wet but no longer dripping paint.

Press the loaded 1/2-inch nap roller onto the wall about one 1-foot from the wall base, and 6-inches from the corner of the wall. Roll the paint from the roller to the wall using an upwards stroke of the roller, lightly applying the paint in a single line that extends to the painted strip near the ceiling. Reverse direction and roll downwards towards the corner to the stripe along the wall bottom, then up again. Repeat the motion as you overlap the paint rows by about 3-inches. Continue onwards until you reach the corner and the stripe left by the paintbrush.

Reload the paint roller and repeat the process, working in lines across the wall until you cover the entire surface.

Run the roller along the edge of the wall beneath the ceiling in a single horizontal stroke without loading the roller with paint first. This will smooth the paint along the ceiling and blend the paintbrush strokes in with the rest of the roller-covered surface.

Backroll the rest of the wall surface, running the roller horizontally across the paint to smooth out any lines created when you applied the paint. As with the horizontal stroke near the ceiling, use an unloaded roller. If you notice any lumps in the paint from debris, remove the lump then roll over the area to smooth the paint in with the surrounding surface. Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours and then remove any adjacent masking tape.