Color
Washing Color
Washing Color washing walls is one of the quickest and easiest ways of creating a soft effect. The only equipment you need is an inexpensive car washing sponge with rounded corners. A color washed wall looks best on a medium to heavy textured wall. You can use color washing in all rooms of your home.
If this is your first time to color wash I suggest you go to a wallpaper store and purchase paintable wall paper to practice color washing. The wallpaper comes in several different textures so just pick a texture that comes close to the texture you have at home.
Choosing your Paint: 
When you go to the paint store and start looking at paint chips you will notice that each paint card has several paint colors on it ranging from light at the top to dark at the bottom. The paint chip card has the same color family. This will help you in the selection of your colors.
In most cases color washing is done from light to dark. The light colored walls seen in most new homes are perfect for color washing. If you are going to paint your wall first, you will want to pick one of the top two shades on the color card for your base coat. The color you will want to pick for your color wash will be 2 to 4 shades darker than your base color.
If you're starting with a white wall you can pick any color that you want as long as it is 2 or 4 shades darker. You should experiment with different colors and intensity of colors on your painted wall paper sample first to get the feel for what you might like. Remember that a color wash is there to accent your furnishings and not dominate the room.
Measuring your Walls:
Measure each wall's height and width. Then multiply these two together to get your square footage. To color wash a 12' x 14' room usually takes 2 quarts of glaze mixture. Where as a half bath would normally take 1 quart. You can use regular latex interior house paints and latex glazes for these projects. Dry time is about one hour. You can also use low odor latex paints that are out on the market.
Do's and Don'ts:
Do -- Have fun and fix yourself a glass of Iced tea before you start.
Do -- Remember that a color wash should look uneven, light and dark shades should appear on the wall.
Do -- Remember to reload your sponge with paint after each 4 x 4 foot section of wall.
Do -- Wash the color on the wall in a circular or rubbing motion. Like mopping the floor on your hands and knees like your grandmother use to do.
Do -- Remember to keep your sponge damp with water but not dripping. I like to add about a teaspoon of water on the painted surface of the sponge after I have covered about 16 square feet.
Don't - Be afraid to make a mistake. It's only paint and if you don't like it you can always paint over it!
Don't - Have excess water in your sponge. You want the sponge to be damp but not wet.
Don't - Tape around doors, windows and baseboards. Keep a clean wet sponge or rage to wipe off the paint/glaze mixture immediately when it gets on these surfaces.
Supplies:
1 - 5" X 7" car wash sponge with rounded
edges
1 - plastic paint pan
2 - cloth rags
1 - gallon blend and glaze (to mix with the flat latex paint)
1 - quart flat latex paint (to mix with the blend and glaze) This is the
color you have chosen for the color wash.
1 - container of water (I like to use a coffee can.)
1 - container for mixing the glaze, paint, and water together
Mixing the glaze:
| 1 part flat latex paint plus 1 part
water to 6 parts blend and glaze
1 gallon = 4 quarts |
||
| 1 gallon of glaze for color washing = | 3 quarts blend/glaze 2 cups flat latex paint 2 cups water |
|
| 1 quart of glaze for color washing= | 3 cups blend/glaze 1/2 cup flat latex paint 1/2 cup water |
|
Step by Step:
Cindy Martin is owner of Murals by Martin in Austin, Texas.
She specializes in custom painted murals on walls and furniture, as well
as in faux finishing. Be sure to visit her website and on-line gallery
at: http://www.homeimages.com/murals
