Postwar America was once thrilled with the smoothness of drywall walls, but now we love the old-world charm of plaster. DIY Decorating & Design host Nancy Golden shows how to add a rough plaster look to dry wall. For this project we used pale pink with a copper glaze. Experiment with your own selections: a soft-yellow wall glazed with umber is another winning combination. Materials: Premixed stucco or plaster paste such as drywall compound
Joint knife about 4" wide
Trowels with teeth, aluminum foil, steel wool or a whiskbroom to create various surface textures
Interior latex paint with semigloss finish (we used pale pink)
Glaze finish (we used copper)
Paintbrush
Cotton cloth
- Apply a thin coat -- about 1/4" thick -- of compound to the wall, using the flat edge of the joint knife. A thick coat might crack and would take a very long time to dry (figure A).
- Experiment with creating various surface textures. Use a trowel with teeth to make ridges (figure B), aluminum foil to make peaks (figure C) or a whiskbroom to create a striated surface (figure D). When your textured surface is complete, let the wall compound dry for about 24 hours.
- Use a paintbrush to apply pale-pink semigloss paint to the wall. This warm undercoat will give the wall an aged look. Apply at least two coats to seal the surface of the drywall compound. Allow the paint to dry between coats.
- Brush a liberal amount of glaze onto the wall with a wide paintbrush. Wipe off the excess with a cotton cloth, allowing glaze to collect in the crevices for an aged look.
- Glaze one small area at a time, but try to complete an entire wall before stopping, to prevent overlap marks.
Although this project is time-consuming and labor-intensive, the results are worth the effort.
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