Painting: Ragging Technique

Use rags and two paint colors to add a soft background to a whole house.

Create a dramatic look for walls with little effort using a ragging technique.

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One advantage to this look is that you can start with the walls already painted. If you're living with a color that you just want to jazz up a bit, ragging is for you. Or start from scratch since this is one of the easiest and fastest ways to bring drama into a room.

Ragging can be done using more than one top coat color. However, the most sophisticated results come from a base coat with a single color layered on top.

Materials and Tools:

lint-free towels
roller
latex satin paint for base (Richmond Bisque) and top coat (Lennox Tan)
plastic tray
paper towels

Steps:

Roll on base coat and let dry.
Pour top coat color into a plastic tray. Dampen the rag and wring out well. Bunch the rag into random folds and creases (the fewer flat areas the better the look). Dip the rag in the paint and dab excess off on a paper towel.
Start at the center point of the wall and press the rag on the wall gently, working in about a two-foot area. The first blots will be heavier, so space them out a bit. As the rag loses paint, fill in the areas between the heavier spots to create blending by rotating your wrist to vary the ragging pattern. Re-bunch the rag once in a while to create different textures and shapes.
Step back to check your work and fill in where needed.
Rinse the rag out every so often so it doesn't get too saturated and start to blob the paint.