subject: How To Liven Up The Paint Job For The Walls In Your Bathroom [print this page] How To Liven Up The Paint Job For The Walls In Your Bathroom
When choosing a wall covering for your bathroom, you don't have a lot of options. Typically, most people consider one of three basic choices - painting, wall paper, or tile.
If you are looking to make your work easier, then painting the walls is the best way to go. Not only that, but it is also the least expensive. Painting a bathroom can easily be accomplished on a Saturday morning before lunch. The most time consuming part of painting is masking off the areas that you don't want to get paint on such as window frames, shower enclosures, tiles, and so on.
And, even though it may take a bit of time, once you have used your masking or painting tape to separate the areas and placed your painting tarp on the floor, the actual painting itself is a piece of cake.
Many homeowners like walls with that textured look to it. One way of easily doing this to your walls is to add sand to the paint before you start. You can't just add sand that you pick up from your child's playground, however. You will want to purchase silica sand, which is a special type of sand created specifically for mixing with paint.
Silica sand is not that hard to find. Most local home maintenance centers will carry it on their shelves. Follow the instructions on the bag and you will have no problems. The more sand you use, the more textured your wall will be. If you only want a mildly textured look, simply limit the amount of sand that you put into the paint.
Sand, however, is just one of the interesting mediums that you can add to your paint in order to give it a bit more texture. Another method is to add a latex glaze to the paint. Doing this creates a texture and look that can often mimic the look of wallpaper. By using ragging techniques, you can create some spectacular faux finishes that would rival the look of some of the best wallpapers that you can buy.
Not only that, but using a latex glaze on your wall will definitely personalize it and make it more unique than the normal, run of the mill, conservative wall coverings that are found in most home bathrooms. Ragging techniques, even though they may appear intimidating, are actually not that hard to master. The best way to learn is to start on a small area, to get your bearings, and then continue to the rest of the walls.
So, what kind of paint do you choose for the walls of your bathroom? In most cases, the best type would be a latex paint that is water based. Specifically, look for paints that are advertised as washable, scrubbable, and moisture resistant. This is particularly true if you have kids as it will enable you to clean many of their finger and hand prints by a simple wash with soap and water.
