The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California
Interior Decorating
A very easy way to avoid the formation of brush marks in distempered surfaces which the beginner may find difficult to eliminate is to stipple the work. Stippling is done while the surface being decorated is still wet with a small stiff brush such as a military hair brush. Stippling consists of dabbing or tapping the whole surface with the brush and the final result should be quite clear of any streaks and brush marks. If a goodish amount of work is to be done the amateur decorator will find it wise to invest in a stippling brush, which is not a very expensive item of equipment.
The stippling brush may also be used for two colour stipple finishes. This is done by distempering the wall with a ground colour and following the first coat, after it has dried, with another wash of distemper of a harmonising orcontrasting colour. The second coat of distemper should be stippled immediately the surface has been coated and the effect of dabbing the bristles of the stippling brush is to clear small areas of the top coat, allowing the ground colour to show through With a little practice the amateur decorator can make this quite an effective way of using distemper. Another method of stippling to obtain a two colour finish is to use a coarse sponge or a rag, dampening it and dabbing it over the surface after the second colour has been applied and is still wet. A good place to try stippling experiments is on the walls of the inside of a cupboard.
Wall or ceiling surfaces that are badly marked and tend to crumble are best covered with a lining paper before they are distempered and if a wall or ceiling surface is lined, care should be taken to ensure that all the joints of the paper closely adhere to the under-surface so that the distemper cannot seep through the patches of the paper.
Walls may also be distempered in two separate colours, using one colour at the top of the wall and the other at the bot- tom. When applying this form of decoration, it will be found necessary to mark straight lines on the walls. The marking of lines on walls and ceilings may be found necessary in other forms of home decorating and perfectly straight lines can easily be marked by using a snap line. A snap line is a piece of string with chalk coated on it The ends of the snap line are held tightly at each end of the wall in position where the dividing line is to be marked and obviously it will require two persons for this job. With the line held firmly to the marks it should be pulled slightly away from the wall surface in the middle, then let go to snap on the wall surface, where it will mark a straight line.
