Sponge-painting is an appealing option for a home: the sponge-painted look adds depth and texture to painted walls, while simultaneously being more timeless, easier to maintain, and less hassle than wallpaper.

Materials:

You need two colors of paint, preferably not highly contrasted, as a high level of contrast can make your walls looks splotchy or messy. Your base paint can go on the walls as-is (get a paint tray and roller), while the color you'll be sponging will need to be mixed with a faux glaze.

You'll also need a sponge, or even more than one. Go with natural sea sponge to avoid too much regularity - you want to pattern you produce to look uniform at a macro level, and random at a micro level. In addition, get yourself some gloves: latex or dishwashing rubber.

Preparation:

Paint the walls as you normally would with your base coat, using the roller and tray, and avoiding stripes and blotching. Use multiple coats if necessary. If you do end up with some small irregularities, don't fret: sponge painting should help hide small blemishes.

Mix the color you'll be sponging with some glaze. The more glaze you use, the more transparent your sponged color will be on top of the base coat. One part paint to four parts glaze works well. If you would like the sponged pattern to be darker, add glaze; if lighter, add paint.

Sponging:

Practice on a piece of scrap wood or cardboard. Not only will this help you determine the paint/glaze ratio you prefer, but it will allow you to brush up on your sponging skill. Wear your gloves to avoid staining your hands. Dip the sponge in the top color, and squeeze out excess paint until sure the paint won't drip. Keep a rag with you in case you add too much paint when sponging. Carefully daub excess off the wall, but don't rub - rubbing will create unsightly smudging.

Rotate the sponge regularly while painting, and on the practice board, experiment with the look you want until it feels natural - you're going to be doing a lot of it to cover all that wall space. Your main goal should be to produce what looks like an even spatterin. Avoid creating a pattern that looks like a section of sponge repeatedly stamped to the wall.

Re-dip the sponge when it runs out of paint, and while you shouldn't rush, try to keep the edges of the pattern wet as you go: this will help your judgement, ensuring a more uniform look. You can touch up missed areas later with a smaller piece of sponge.

As soon as you're done an area, stand back and look to make sure you have the same ratio of undercoat and topcoat showing across the wall. Try to touch up missed areas before the original paint dries. It's a good idea to have a friend look at your work too, if possible, to add to your perspective.

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