Remember when textured walls were so very popular? There were lots of techniques out there that could be used to give what was thought of as a plain, boring wall a new textured look. Feathers, sponges, rags, and stuccoing were common ways to give a wall some texture. You can even buy paint that was designed to give the walls a textured look. When we purchased our home in 2004, I jumped on the textured wall trend. I painted two of our upstairs rooms using a combination of sponges and rags. One room got a paint makeover a few years ago, but my craft space / home office has been lagging behind the times. I could not be happier with the color palette I used and the new look walls help to make the room brighter.
To show you what I was working with, I’ll share a few photos of the textured walls before I got started on the new paint job.
When I first painted the walls, I wasn’t using this space for crafting. It was our home office and I thought a Tuscan look would be a nice look for it. I didn’t anticipate that the room would be quite so dark though. Even with a large window, the space was never a favorite spot to work in.
You can see that when using a sponge or rag to apply paint, you’ll get lots of texture with random patterns.
I will say that using a textured paint technique is an easy way to paint a room. There aren’t many mistakes that can be made. But when it’s time to remove the texture, you’ll have a lot more work ahead of you than you would when repainting a smooth wall.
The first thing that has to be done is to smooth out the texture. In the photo below, the wall has been sanded with my palm sander using medium grit sand paper. Using the palm sander for this is a little tricky. You have to make sure that you use a light touch to avoid gouging the wall. This was by far the most time consuming part of this room makeover.
Once I was satisfied with the smoothness of the walls, I used TSP to clean away the dust and debris from sanding. Next, I used painter’s tape around the windows, doors, and molding. I needed a color that would be complementary to the peacock color palette that I’m using for the room. A couple of years ago, my son painted his sport’s room using Behr Cosmic Quest. I love the color and I’m planning on using it for our sport’s room, too. After thinking about it for a while, I decided that it would be a great color to go with the peacock accents in this room. I love using Behr paint and have always found it to go on smoothly and evenly. This is not a sponsored post, I’m just sharing my thoughts on a product that I think is great!
After the first coat, I knew I had made a good decision.
This paint dries quickly and it was ready for its second coat before my tired body was ready to get started. I gave the walls one coat one day and got started on the second coat the next day. The second coat went on even easier than the first. In about two hours, I was ready to start putting the furniture back in place and adding some art to the walls.
I still had a lot of work to do on the organization aspects of the room, but all of the hard work was over once I completed the walls.
Tips for Painting Over Textured Walls
- If you don’t already have a small hand sander, invest in one. I purchased mine a few years ago at Lowe’s.
- Use medium grit sand paper for sander.
- Use a light touch with the sander to avoid gouging the walls.
- Work slowly in sections to get a consistent look.
- Use TSP to clean up the dust left behind after sanding.
- Use a thick, deep-pile roller for applying new paint. It holds more paint and will cover any spots that might feel rough after sanding.
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Tips for Repainting Textured Walls
We’ll be sharing at lots of these great parties!
Sharon says
Great tips. I wish the guy that painted one of my rooms that had a painted on NURSERY scene had followed your tips. He sanded just the textured parts of the scene so it left the walls with areas gouged. The whole room needs to be sanded and repainted. I will be following your tips.
Beverly says
That’s terrible that the painter did such a poor job! It was time consuming to sand all of the wall space, but definitely worth it.
Debrashoppeno5 says
Wonderful tips. I have been meaning to repaint 2 rooms and will have to refer to this post. When I get real ambitious.
Beverly says
Thanks, Debra. It’s time consuming, but definitely doable.
Carrie @ Carrie's Home Cooking says
Thanks so much for sharing your post with us on Whisk It Wednesday this week. Hope you have a great week and come back soon! Carrie
Beverly says
Thanks for the party, Carrie! Hope you’re having a wonderful week.
Laurie says
Beverly, All I can say is Wow! The room looks so much brighter. I can only imagine the amount of work it took to smooth those walls! What a great space this has turned out for your craft space. No doubt you will enjoy working on projects there! Thanks for sharing your tips! Pinned and shared.
Beverly says
Thanks! I’m really happy with how it all came together. It was a lot of work to smooth out the walls, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks so much for sharing!
Mary says
Beverly the color you had on the walls before was beautiful and striking. But i can see where you would want a breath of fresh air and so this new color is very relaxing. Enjoy your new office.
Beverly says
Thanks, Mary! I did like that color for a long time, but the room always seemed dark. Now, it’s a place that I enjoy spending time in.