Fade a wall to create dimension in a room. Fading can happen on a single wall or on two walls that meet. Fading can provide visual depth to a room, making a flat wall surface appear to recede or come forward. Blend strips of graduating color to create a subtle fade or leave without the blending for a more geometric fade. Use a dark glaze to age a subtle fade and create the appearance that the wall has been plucked from another era. Fade two different colors together by blending them where they meet.
Fade by Hand
Begin with the lightest color and fade to the darkest. Use a sponge or rag to achieve fading while paint is wet. For example, start with white and paint a horizontal strip of white on the wall at the ceiling. Paint a strip of the next darker color directly below the white. Dampen the sponge or rag lightly and begin to blur the lines between the two colors by patting and lightly rubbing along the match line (the line where the two colors meet). Paint a strip of the next darker color below the second color and stop to blur them together. Continue the process until the baseboard is reached. Move quickly so that the paint is not dry when blurring. Snap chalk lines to define the strips before starting or use the width of the roller to paint them (stripes can be two roller widths).
Fade Two Colors
Choose the two paint colors. Decide where on the wall the two colors need to meet. Snap a chalk line to mark the point. Paint the first color to the chalk line and then begin to paint the second color starting at the chalk line. Roll several roller widths of the second color on the wall. Stop, pick up a dry, natural bristle painter's brush and begin to paint crosshatches (from one color into the other) across the line where the two colors meet--this begins to blend the two colors. When the line is blended, pick up a dry sponge or rag and work the blending down about 6 inches by dabbing from the blend line down and then up. Use a separate sponge or rag for each color. When blended, continue painting the top color to the ceiling. Before painting, create a test sample by painting a width of the two colors side by side and blend them using the crosshair technique. Make sure the resulting color is desirable. Remember, blue and yellow make green, red and yellow make orange, blue and red make purple. Interior paint colors are made by mixing many colors so the result may not be what is expected--always test first.
Age the Fade
Glazes are used to create a worn look to the surface they are applied to. Create a faded wall and allow it to dry. Mix a glaze using a brown or gray paint and water, one to one (a quart of paint to a quart of water). Roll the glaze on to the wall in small areas (several feet square) and then immediately wipe it off with a lightly damp rag using a circular wiping motion. This technique will darken the faded colors, making them appear aged. Aging works best on a blended fade as opposed to a fade that occurs in noticeable strips. Use this technique when a solid white is not part of the fade.
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