Bored with flat colours on your walls? Here's a simple colour wash technique which can add life and texture to a painted wall.

If your wallpaper is tatty or peeling, replace it with good quality lining paper before you start. Here I have applied a basecoat of bright green emulsion paint, ready for the paint effect.

 
Once the basecoat is dry, mix a diluted quantity of your original colour in a suitable paint kettle or bucket. I've found that a thin mix of paint (roughly 1 part emulsion paint to 5 parts water) seems to work best.
Stir the paint really well so that there are no lumps!

Then take a large sponge and using broad circular motions, rub the paint across the wall.

At first the paint will look rather messy. Don't worry, just work as quickly as possible across the wall as the paint needs to remain wet for the next stage.

 
If your room is large, it's worth completing one wall at a time to ensure that the paint remains wet throughout the process.

The colour wash looks rather rough at first, but you can tone it down using this blending technique.

Take a small quantity of white emulsion paint, and using a small piece of sponge, rub the paint into areas of colour which appear too bold. Soon your wall will take on a more subtle appearance.

Try to avoid 'over-blending' otherwise you will loose the mottled effect!

Now leave the paint to dry completely.
 

This paint effect creates an ideal canvas for stamping and stenciling.

I finished this wall with some leaf stamps to create an attractive, calming atmosphere for this bedroom.

I used the same paint effect technique for the base colour on my bathroom wall project, which was completed with some hand made stencils.

You can see this project, and many more, in my new video, "Ellen Kharade's Style Secrets For Your Home".