What paint technique for faux adobe walls?

by on Jul.08, 2010, under Uncategorized

I am doing my livingroom Spanish style (not Mexico – Spain). After researching I can only find very few colors they used on the walls. Ocre is mainly outdoor but was also used on the interior and of course Adobe. I just hate having plain white walls so I am hoping to use a brownish color on the walls and whitewash with white. Does anyone have any experience with this? I could use the help I’ve never done this technique. I also dont know if maybe a different technique would better mimic adobe walls.

Thanks !

:adobe walls, brownish color, colors, mexico, spain, spanish style, white walls, whitewash

1 Comment for this entry

Paul in San Diego
July 8th, 2010 on 10:42 am
One thing you might do before painting is to texture the walls so that they look like adobe.

You’ll need to get a box of drywall mud (comes in a 50 pound box), a stucco brush, a 6-inch spackle knife, a bucket to thin out the mud, and a drywall sanding screen (optional). Also, make sure to get lots of dropcloths, because this is a very messy procedure.

Scoop some mud into the bucket and dilute it with water until its the consistency of stirred mayonaise (not so much that it’s runny, but enough that you can scoop it up with the stucco brush). Take a brush full of mud and fling it at the wall. It should stick to the wall and not run down the wall. If it’s too runny, scrape it off with the spackle knife, put it back into the bucket, and add more mud to thicken it.

Fling the mud at the wall to cover it, but not completely. The mud will be the high points of the texture and where there is no mud will be the low point. When the wall is covered, let it sit and dry for about 15 minutes.

Lightly drag the spackle knife across the blobs of mud to flatten them. Go in different directions in different areas of the wall so as not to create a definite pattern. When you’re done, let it dry for a couple of days. After it’s dry, you can lightly sand it with a drywall sanding screen to smooth out rough edges or just leave it rough. If you sand it, brush it off with a soft broom to remove the dust. Prime and paint.

It’s really a lot easier than it sounds, once you get the hang of how to do the splattering of mud and the knockdown (flattening) technique. And, it really gives a great adobe-like texture.