DIY Network

Rustic Wall Texture Liven up boring walls—naturally! From "B. Original" episode DBOR-151

Dress up your drywall with help from Michele Beschen.

Tired of flat walls? Michele Beschen has a way to add a touch of old-world charm to plain drywall with textures that are truly organic. The B. Original host adds sawdust, wood shavings, straw or other natural ingredients to drywall compound for walls with organic appeal. Scroll down for her easy how-to.

Note: Michele Beschen recommends trying out this technique on one or more practice boards before texturing an entire wall. This will give you a chance to experiment with different materials, mixes and techniques and get the look you want.

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	Figure A
	Figure B

Rustic Wall Texture

• Scoop some lightweight joint compound into a large mixing bowl or other container. Work in small batches; don’t try to mix a whole bucket at once.

• Add some texture material such as sawdust, straw or wood shavings (figure A). Any material will work, as long as it’s dry.

• Thoroughly mix the material into the joint compound (figure B).

• Choose the type of spreader you want to use to apply the texture (figure C). You’ll get a different effect depending on the width of your spreader and whether or not it has notches or texture of its own. You can even use a brush instead of a traditional spreader.

• Spread the texture on the wall (figure D). Experiment with the pressure and shape of your strokes to get the look you want. Don’t spread it more than 1/8" thick.

• Let it dry, and see what kind of character you’ve added to your space.

Figure C

Figure D