If you haven’t read part one and two of this article series… start here: Adding Age To Walls
So your done with the tough decisions and the hard work. Now to the fun part… giving the walls some real age!
This technique should be subtle, you don’t want to shout that you have old walls. 
You will need
- A small artists brush (see below)
- An old tooth brush
- Your Woolie Tool (washed and dried from previous painting)
- Faux Finish Glaze (you can use water – but it doesn’t work as well)
- Universal Colorant you used previously or (the bottle of acrylic paint from previous wall technique- again this doesn’t work as well).
I love these soft grip brushes… they are so much easier to handle! No slip – easy Grip!
Soft Grip Scrpt Linr-Size 10/0
Mix the dark color paint or tint with faux glaze to make it runny in a large flat pan. If it is too dark… add some white.
The Woolie paint pad is used to get the effect next to the door. Just lightly dip the pad into the paint pan and press on to the wall, move down the wall and press again.
Repeat until you are at the bottom of the wall, only adding paint if you aren’t getting some paint showing on the wall.
This will give lots of variation to the effect… if you don’t load up each time.
To get a blotchy effect on the wall… The Woolie is the tool to use. The pad should be free of paint. Then you will actually paint onto the pad blotches of paint in an irregular patter and then press on the wall. Lots of cool texture!
Paint in any cracks, vertical lines etch with the small artists brush.
The tiny dots on the wall… called fly specking… are created with the toothbrush. Dip the toothbrush into the runny dark paint mixture and flick on the wall with your thumb across the bristles. If some of the paint runs… so much the better.
If this faux technique turns out too dark or too blotchy. Use some light colored paint like off white, thinned with faux glaze and use it with the pad again, over the entire wall. This will mute everything.
That’s It! Have Fun!
What if you actually wanted the walls to have a real aged wallpaper look? To find out what I recommend Click here : Using Tissue Paper On Walls
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
We have put textured wallpaper on the wall & it is paintable as well. This is in a small bathroom, the wall space is very small. The solid color is a shade of burgandy the raised design is a fluer de lis. Wife wants to high the raised design with a second color touching the primary color. The second color is in the gray family but not dark. I have tried a sponge roller & even a hard rubber ink roller. Do you have any ideas? I am at the end of the rope.
Textured wallpaper is fun to paint! It can really turn out dramatic.
Solid color background of burgundy is elegant – especially with a fleur de lis design.
I think the gray color as the highlight might turn out to be pink or purple looking. This may not be what you want.
For an elegant look – think of using a metallic glaze instead (bronze – copper – gold)
To just hit the raised areas and not bleed onto the other areas of the wallpaper with a sponge roller (or even an ink roller) is nearly impossible.
This is what I would do:
Glaze the entire area (a portion at a time) and wipe off the high spots. This should result in a soft effect as the background and keeping the flue de lis areas as the focus.
Good luck – and try to have fun!
Debra
I did an old world sponging technique and i have some blotchy areas.How do i fix it?my colors are brown tones.Light camel back sherwin williams base coat and burnished brandy mixed with glaze?There are alot of viens.