How to Repaint a Wall With a Skip Trowel

Prepare your wall for texture painting. Clean the surface of your wall with a mild detergent, such as diluted dish soap. Wash off any surface grease or grime with a soft sponge. Rinse with clear water. Sand the outer surface of the wall with a piece of fine-grit sandpaper, buffing lightly to remove the surface sheen only. Wipe down the entire wall with a piece of tack cloth. This will help remove dust and invisible particles of lint and hair.

Prime the clean wall with a coat of general interior wall primer. Use a medium-nap roller to spread the primer over the surface of the wall. Let the primer dry.

Mix the drywall joint compound with water to create a thick texture that resembles soft clay. Tint the texture with latex paint to create your desired shade. Add enough water to the tinted mixture to make the joint compound soft and spreadable. The texture should resemble the consistency of thick, creamy cake batter.

Scoop some of the tinted joint compound onto your skip trowel. Dab the compound onto an area in the center of the wall. Spread the texture outward, upward and downward, using short, jerky sweeping motions with the trowel. Make short pecking motions over long streaks to break them up and create the uneven, free-form that makes this style different from a stucco style. Paint the texture over your entire wall in this fashion, working from the center of the wall to the edges. Keep the pattern random and loose. Let the first coat dry, then go back over any thin areas to create a thicker texture.