How to Get Rid of Wall Texture. And Free DIY Wallpaper.

 

Be forewarned, this post does contain strong, maybe controversial, opinions.

Wall texture.  Oh my word.  In my opinion, it's awful.  I can't stand it.  It exists and I deal but more largely conceptually, I do not want to feel like I'm living inside a chiseled-out cave.  So, I devised a free way to get rid of wall texture using a DIY wallpaper idea.  Yes, super budget-friendly.  Very.

It's The $100 Room Glow-Up Guide unfolding before our eyes, quite honestly.

Ok, I know, this idea sounds odd and confusing but bear with me.  

And I get this may feel baiting or misleading but it's not.  Because here's why:

I've said before, let me see if I can find where...I can't heh so trust me:  if there's something standing out visually in your space, something odd or grating like pipes or a weird bump out or an aspect that makes no sense (or freakin' wall texture), quite often the best way to get rid of it, or "rid" of it is to highlight it.

Highlight, or very much incorporate it into what you're doing, bring it forward because then it becomes a feature rather than a detriment and that is far more exciting.

See.  What typically then happens is that feature that makes you insane then recedes and it's no longer front and center driving you bat-tay.  Optical illusion of sorts, FTW. 

Hiding it, or attempting to hide or conceal it or cover it up, only exacerbates the situation.  Because think for a sec about that thing you tried to cover up or hide.  Did it work?  Did it go away?  It probably became more of a sore thumb.

I know.  My theory sounds highly suspect and very counterintuitive.  

It works though.  Trust me.  It does.  Because this post here will be a prime example of how it worked to get rid of wall texture.

Because again, I truly loathe wall texture.  I understand it was like a Thing, it was stylish and chic and cool, all the rage, but to me?  No.  It is not.  

It's messy, it's unattractive, it's visually chaotic, casts dirt looking shadows, and upsets anything you do around it by competing visually for attention.  It's tired, it's dated, it sucks all the life and energy out of a room.

cough, I forewarned you at the top, shrug.

It was also used to hide shoddy work.  Which, seems to me, if you're spending the time, money, and labor on walls, just go the extra few steps to make them nice rather than spend the extra time, money, and labor on making them worse.  Six, one half dozen of the other.

Right, but we're not here for a rant about wall texture and how horrendous it is.  .....Heh, it is horrendous.  

Hang on though, wait, don't get me wrong and hold that thought on being offended -- if you like it, you love it, you can't get enough, I applaud you and your love for it.  Stand up loud and proud, I've got your back.

Ok.  Right.

So I'm staring at a mixed-painted wall coated in wall texture one day from the couch, this sort of hallway pass-through area.  Maybe not big enough to name it a hall but a hall nonetheless.  My eyeballs being grated.  

And I'm thinking to myself, got-damn, I cannot stand wall texture.  Make it, hand wave, go away.  Ugh.  Ugh.

Then I hear my own self in my own kooky head, make it work, Becky.  I guess that's more Tim Gunn.  Highlight it and it will go away.

So then I have this cockamamie notion to create a sort of faux DIY wallpaper using a marker.  So.  Free.  Because I already have a handful of Posca black markers.*

Why Posca?  Why not Sharpie?*  You can use Sharpies, no problem.  I love Sharpies.  I went with the Posca because they're water-based, they'll be easy to paint over, and they have a smooth, acrylic paint line, less felt-tip fuzzy line to them.

Just another angle of before.

If it writes, you can likely use it.  Though skip any oil- or alcohol-type based type, or ballpoint pen, that's harder to paint over.

First order of business, I painted the whole wall in a shade of white.  I know, white is not my top five to use so it seems atypical I'd choose it but it was on hand.  Keeping the free, low low budget theme.

But hot diggity, paint the walls black and then use a white paint pen*?!  Omg, fan me down, that'd be, oh man.  10000% yes.

With the white paint done all that was left to do was draw on the wall.

Heh, it feels like you're a kid again breaking all the rules which is also part of the fun.  You finally get to draw on a wall without getting yelled at.

Just trace the wall texture.  

 

Trace the edges, circle around it, follow the lines, the crevices, the shapes it makes, the bumps, divots, whatever.  Trace as much or as little as you'd like.

You might find you need a flashlight* or a work light* angled just right to see the edges of the texture more clearly.

Cool things about this project idea:  

• you really can't make a mistake
• you can do this any which way you want
• you don't need to have texture in order to draw on your walls
• it's incredibly easy to do
• it's completely 100% custom, no one else will have the same design anywhere

And honestly, it's kinda addicting, like where is the next blob, where's the next bumpy spot or long squiggly line, gimme more.

For sure I am sitting there staring at icky wall texture the whole time which I just >gag< cannot but at the same time, I'm watching it disappear with every marker stroke.

Pulling back, it reads exactly the way I hoped.  The texture is no longer the main event.  

The eye reads it like a wallpaper first, then blink-blink and it's a loose overall pattern, and then a short bit later your eye kind of understands that the pattern is made by tracing the wall texture, or at least by stepping closer to it.

It's kind of reminiscent of the master closet wallpaper if you glance quickly.

But what ends up happening here is it feels a little like bark, or a topographic map, or animal print.  Old etched landscape prints, maybe even snippets of handwriting depending which way you catch it.  But it never narrows into any one thing.  Which is fun.

 

It's really cool actually.

And the wall texture?  Gone.  I got rid of it.  Without skim-coating the wall in joint compound and sanding until I can't see straight, creating dust and dust and dust.  And more skim-coating.  And more dust.  

The decor is a work in progress.

The bonus really is that it does look like wallpaper, or a wall mural.  Using just a marker or two (I used two). 

How long did it take?  A bit.  But do it in chunks.  There's no rush.  It's not like you've got joint compound setting up in a bucket or wallpaper glue drying out.

Because this is a small space, it can handle a busy, small pattern.  Small spaces handle large busy patterns as well, fyi.  Heck, there are no freakin' rules if you love it.

Anywhooo.

This project seems a small thing but it's a victory desired and I'm proud of it.  And it was free.  A free little DIY to get rid of wall texture hellscape, remaking this pass-through space from ordinary into something special.

Not quite done in this space, so stay tuned.

Now.  What to do with the rest of the wall texture in the other rooms.  My eyes.

FYI, there's even more "Wait...I actually can make a big difference on a budget of little" in The $100 Room Glow-Up Guide.

*The Posca and Sharpie markers, white acrylic paint pens, and flashlights are Amazon affiliate links.  The work lights are a Lowe's affiliate link.  Mwah, thanks!  Please see the "boring stuff" tab for more info.