How to Make Decorative Textured Surfaces

Sand Textured

• 1

  Prepare your walls for painting. Prime the walls with a latex primer and let them dry.

• 2

  Mix in silica or perlite texture additive of your choice into your paint. Mix it according to the manufacturer’s directions. Additives are available at hardware stores and home improvement stores, and they come in fine, medium and rough texture options.

• 3

  Paint the walls with the textured paint using a roller or brush.

Orange Peel Texture

• 4

  Prepare your walls for painting and prime them with a latex primer. Let the primer dry.

• 5

  Mix drywall mud with water to the consistency of pancake batter. Apply it with an air-power spray texture gun with a hopper, which many home improvement stores have available for rent if you don’t own one.

• 6

  Read the manufacturer’s instructions to set up your texture gun and compressed air. Set it on low pressure and add the mud to the hopper.

• 7

  Stand about 18-inches from the wall and spray the drywall mud at the wall. Start at the top of the wall and sweep the sprayer back and forth in a slow but steady motion as you work your way down. Continue adding mud until you reach the desired texture.

• 8

  Move over to the next section and continue until you’ve finished the wall.

• 9

  Allow the texture to dry thoroughly. Prime over it with white-tinted shellac and paint it with satin finish paint in your preferred color to complete the orange peel look.

• 10

  Prepare and prime your walls. Scoop some joint compound onto a large trowel, which you’ll hold in your less dominant hand. This trowel is not for application. Like an artist’s palette, it serves to hold the compound you’ll be using.

• 11

  Use a putty or compound knife to smear joint compound onto the wall in random crisscross stokes. This method creates a ridged, medium texture plaster-like look. Alternatively, use another trowel to smear a thin layer of compound on the wall. Press the trowel to the compound and lift it straight out, away from the wall. This creates raised bumps and peaks for a stucco look.

• 12

  Work on the walls in 3-by-3 foot sections. Once you are satisfied with a section, move on to an adjoining section.

• 13

  Let the walls dry thoroughly, then prime and paint them to finish.