Besides buying a oak bed for your bedroom or elegant wood file cabinets for your home office, a homeowner can also add quick style to any room by using one of several different painting techniques. By using these techniques, you can easily make a DIY paint job look professional.

There are certain things you need to do before you can start any type of painting on your walls. The walls need to be prepped by filling in any cracks or holes and taping off the trim and windows with blue painter’s tape, and you need to gather all your supplies together. You will also need to pick up the special tools you will need for these techniques.

Rag Painting Technique
With this technique, no paint brushes or rollers are used. Paint is applied to the wall using simple cotton rags, such as an old graphic tee. The result is a marbled effect on your walls.

To rag paint:

First dip your rag into the paint, shaking off the excess.

Carefully dab the rag onto the wall, applying the paint in whatever pattern you choose. Be careful not to spread out the pattern too much, though.

Next, dab the rag onto the wall, carefully applying the paint in whatever pattern you’ve selected. Do be sure not to spread out the pattern too much, though.

For a creative twist to this technique, try applying a darker base color first and then rag on the lighter paint color.

Sponge Painting Technique

It’s easy to give a wall both depth and interest using this particular painting technique. Before you begin, you will need to apply a base color to the wall.

To sponge paint:

First dip a regular sponge or sea sponge into the paint or glaze you’ve selected.

Dab the sponge in a random pattern, working your way from the outside of the wall in.

Complete all the walls in the room in this way. Or, if you choose, you can only apply this technique to a single wall.

Color Washing Technique

This painting technique adds a subtle finish to your walls that gives the appearance of floating color. This is a good technique for those walls with flaws that you want to cover up. This can be a little more time consuming than other techniques, however, as you must build up layers to get the full effect.

To color wash:

Start by painting the wall the color you want to be your base color. You then need to wait for it to dry completely.

Using a slightly different color or a complementary color, then come back and paint another layer once it’s dry.

When painting this next layer, only use a paint brush. Apply the paint in all different directions, going over your strokes. In this way, the base color will show through in random areas.

You can do more than one layer using this technique if your choose, depending on if you want another color to show on the walls.

These painting techniques work wonderfully in any room, from the kitchen to the bedroom. Not only do they instantly add style, but they are a great way to perk up any room.

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