Decorating with Sponge Painting
by Cindy Snyder - cmc@creativemortgageco.com

Description: Tips and tricks for getting started with sponge painting.

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Have you tried sponge painting? I just recently painted my kitchen using this technique and was amazed at how professional it looks. It is really easy to do and much less messy than the traditional way of rolling it on. Let me say upfront that I do not like to paint. I am just not coordinated enough. I always make a big mess, end up with paint all over me, the floor, etc. This was really the easiest paint job I ever did and it was really simple. The best part was the clean- up! But you know what? It's cheaper too than rolling it on because you are using less paint! I recommend getting a quart to start with, you can always go back for more. I had at least 3/4 of a gallon left over.

All you need is a pan to pour small amounts of paint into and a sponge. I was told that you can use just a regular household sponge, but I splurged on the sea sponge since this was my first try and it was not very expensive. You can buy the sea sponge in the paint department of Home Depot or Wal-Mart. I cut mine in half since I wanted to go with a smaller pattern.

First, wet your sponge and squeeze it out. You don't want to get a lot of paint on your sponge. It should not be full of paint, just dab it in the paint and then wipe off any excess on your pan. If you have to quit for awhile and then go back, wash your sponge out good and be sure to wet it again before you start.

Start by dividing your wall. I don't have a lot of wall space in my kitchen so this part was easy. But the idea is that you divide your wall into four quadrants. Then start in your first quadrant. Basically, you just "dab" it on with your sponge. How much? It depends on how much depth you want of the new color. You should dab it in a criss cross or X pattern. Example, top left, bottom right, top right, bottom left and just fill in so that it looks the way you want. Try less paint at first pass, you can always add more if you think you need to fill in the holes.

My husband was kind of leery of this paint project. He tried to talk me into trying it in the bathroom first. (Less people would see it, if it looked terrible, I guess). I told him I was going to go for it. If it looked terrible, I could always go back and roll it on! You should have seen his face when he walked in the door. He couldn't believe how great it looked! Now that I know how easy it is, I plan to do the bathroom next, but I am going to try using two coordinating colors.

Reprinted with permission.

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