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  • Painting, Sponge
  • This exclusive DIY kit shows you how to sponge paint your walls.
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    Features

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    This exclusive DIY kit sponsored by ACE Hardware shows you how to sponge paint your walls.

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    Figure A

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    Figure B

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    Figure C

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    Have fun and be creative with this DIY kit! Remember, there's no such thing as a "wrong" look with sponge painting.

     WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEO
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    Materials:

    Sea sponge
    Satin or eggshell finish paint
    Glazing liquid
    Disposable latex gloves
    Painting tape
    Plastic buckets
    Drop cloth
    Paint tray
    Ladder

    1. Before you start, make sure the walls are smooth and clean. Mask off all the woodwork and ceiling (figure A), then cover the floor with a drop cloth. Once you've decided on the color palette for the room, you can get started.

      Note: If the room isn't one of the colors you have chosen, then you'll want to paint the walls with a base-coat color, using a quality satin finish paint. Allow at least 4 hours for the paint to dry.

    2. Mix sponging paint with a glazing liquid -- mix 1 part paint to 8 parts of glazing liquid.

    3. Wet the sponge and squeeze out most of the water. If you have a large sea sponge, you may want to cut it in half to create a smooth working surface, and the sponge will be easier to handle.

    4. With latex gloves on, gently dip the sponge into the paint and remove the excess by dabbing the sponge on a newspaper or paper towel.

    5. Start in an upper corner by pressing the sponge onto the wall, giving a slight rolling motion as you come off the surface.

    6. Randomly apply the paint (figure B), slightly overlapping the sponge-marks so you can't see a pattern. Use smaller pieces of the sponge to get into the corners (figure C) and all the way to the edge of the wall.

    7. If you're just doing one color, remove the tape and let the wall dry.

    8. If you want to apply a contrasting color, let the first color dry for approximately 4 hours, and then start the process again. There's no limit to how many coats you can apply, and there's no right or wrong look -- just choose the color combination that you desire.