Decorative rollers are a ton of fun to use on many different surfaces. You can even use rollers on your walls!
Using Rollers on Walls
New to decorative rollers? Let me give you a little background.
My Decorative Art Rollers offer a wonderful creative tool to create patterns and designs and are so much fun to work with. I want everyone to try them!
Each roller is made of high-quality rubber and measures 7" long by 2" in diameter.
You can use a single roller pattern or combine several different patterns to create an infinite variety of surface treatments. Rollers allow you to create unique finishes that are fast, fun, and easy.
So, let’s talk about how to use Decorative Rollers on a wall project...
The Red rollers are designed to be a “negative” technique, which means we will roll through a wet material to create an impression.
To create a finish using Glaze, first base coat the wall surface in a paint that is a Satin paint. This will provide a “sealed” surface for the glaze to work well on. You don’t want to work on matte or flat paint. Also, allow the base coat to dry for several weeks if possible. This will allow the paint to cure better and the glaze will not soften in the process.
Paint the surface a light or contrasting color to the Glaze color. The stronger the contrast the more visible the roller pattern will be. The less contrast the more subtle the finish will be.
Let's start a project...
First paint the wall a shade of gold, even a metallic paint would be fabulous. Allow this to dry for several days.
Create a glaze color using the Modern Masters Walls Glaze and Colorants. I used Coffee Bean/Tobacco Brown 50/50 mixture, approximately 3 tablespoons total to a cup of glaze.
Brush or roll the tinted glaze onto the wall surface working in approximately 3 to 4-foot sections. You could also do a section that is about 3 feet wide from ceiling to floor if you are rolling on the glaze.
While the glaze is wet, use your decorative roller and roll through the wet glaze leaving an impression in the glaze and exposing the base coat color.
Move on to the next section working from ceiling to floor and across the wall.
If possible, roll from ceiling to floor in one continuous roll. If it's not possible, line up the pattern and continue to roll down the wall.
Off-load the roller onto paper to clean off some of the glaze.
Roll up another section with the glaze and continue to repeat the steps until the entire wall area is complete.
If you get to the end of the wall and don’t have enough room for a complete pass of the 7” roller pattern, the rollers can easily be cut to the size needed. Just use a hacksaw and cut the roller. I remove the end caps first when cutting the rollers.
If you can’t get the roller pattern all the way to the ceiling line or baseboard, use the Wipe-Out Tool and hand carve the design into the glaze. This does not need to be perfect and also it's not noticeable, so don’t worry about it.