PLEASE Help with plaster walls and bad paint color

[shells2756]

Hi, I chose the wrong color yellow for my living room’s plaster walls. I painted the whole room hoping the color would tone down after it dried. It was good paint and i could not return it since they mixed the color i requested. Anyways, I desperately need to tone it down and have been looking at different faux techniques.

I have never done anything like that before and am worried i will choose one that i mess up. I was hoping having textured plaster walls already, that i could just add some paint somehow to bring out those textures.

I don’t want my walls to be dark as my living room is so small and i wanted it to look larger. All the things i read about bringing out texture or color washing say to add a darker color than the base which in my case is a deep yellow that is shocking to say the least in such a small room. I don’t have alot of money to just repaint the whole thing. Can i add a creme color on top somehow to just let some of the yellow show through? I thought maybe a less expensive paint mixed with water and ragged on or something. I dont’ know. The more i read the more mixed up i get. Can someone pls help me?!!!

[Faron79]

One of the easy things to do would be using a Light-Cream color, mixed with a Glaze, to “mute” the your deeper base color.
>>> First…If you have some of your original paint left, put a couple of coats on a primed piece of 2′ x 2′ cardboard/foam-board, then experiment with using different ratios of glaze and the new coordinating color.
>>> When your “sample-boards” are dry (1 day!), start with a ratio of 1 part paint to 3 parts latex glaze. Use disposable dixie-cups or measuring cups for this. Dump your “mini-mix” into old plastic butter- tubs. Sponge this glaze/paint mix onto the sample board. Try another sample with 5 parts glaze to 1 part paint.
>>> For another cool look, brush on a thin coat of your glaze/paint mix, then lightly tamp a crinkled-up plastic bag on it!
>>> Do 6 sample-boards, let-’em dry for another day, and place them on the wall for a while to see them in different lights and times of day.
>>> You’ll eventually find a technique you like before you ever touch your “real” wall.
The toughest part is deciding on a coordinating color, because this will be the most noticeable tone. The glaze just gives a translucent property to this top-color, letting it reveal some of the original shade.
This will help!
Faron

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