Wall Decorating Ideas: Sponge Painting

Sponge painting to add personal style to any room.

Are you tired of looking at neutral colored walls? Do you want an idea to liven up your home’s walls but don’t want to hassle with wallpaper?  Sponge painting might be your answer. It will give you an easy faux finish that will really standout.  It’s an inexpensive way to add your own personal style to your home. When you want to change the look all you have to do is buy more paint.  You can’t mess it up.

For my home office, I chose an African theme.  I started by rolling the walls with a deep harvest orange latex paint. After that coat dried, I mixed some dark brown paint with clear glaze according to the directions on the glaze in a paint pan.  I took a damp natural sea sponge and lightly dipped it in the paint/glaze mixture and started dabbing the walls.

At first, I was strategic with dabbing, but quickly let creativity and randomness take over.  The great thing about this project was not worrying about messing something up. If I didn’t like how an area looked, all I had to do was paint over it with the orange base and re-sponge. By afternoon, I had taped off and color-washed a 10×12 home office.  All that was left was to add shelving and décor to make the room complete.

If you are more cautious by nature, practice on a small area or get a piece of scrap drywall to perfect your technique. But if you are more adventurous, just go for it.  After all, you can’t ruin your walls, just paint over your mistakes. Choose the colors that fit your style and home and let your creativity run wild.