You will need:

•100-125mm brush
•Cloths for ragging
•Container for mixing glaze
•Low-tack masking tape
•Paint tray and roller
•Pencil
•Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Moby and
•Resene Zumthor
•Resene Paint Effects Medium
•Spirit level

METHOD

Step One

Prepare the walls and basecoat with two coats of Resene Lumbersider or Resene Zylone SpaceCote tinted to Resene Zumthor, allowing it to dry between coats. Measure about one metre up from the floor, and using a spirit level and pencil, mark a line around the room. Don't
assume the floor is level and use that to measure from as this is likely to give you an uneven line.

Step Two

Mix up the effects finish:

1 part Resene Moby
2 parts Resene Paint Effects Medium
1 part water

The paint to medium ratio may be varied depending on the depth of colour or translucency you require. Paint for the ragging: 500ml should be sufficient to cover a room 3m x 4m. Brush or roll the glaze on. Working up to the masking tape, cover an area approximately one metre square.

Work into an S-shaped edge and feather off the edges so that the next section will blend in more easily. Don't stop until you have completed one whole wall as once the edge of the paint dries it is very difficult to blend the next section into it. Resene Paint Effects Medium gives a translucency to the paint but retains the body, allowing it to be applied to a vertical surface without dripping and running.

Step Three

Hold the scrunched up rag loosely in your hand and press it onto the wall. Start by softening the edges. Each time you lift your hand off the wall, turn it slightly so that you avoid a repetitive pattern. Use both hands, passing the cloth from hand to hand. This changes the creases in the cloth after each press and is easier on the arms.

Change the cloths when necessary. This takes a bit of practice, and don't worry about small discrepancies as they will not be noticeable when the furniture is in place and you view the room as a whole. Move onto the next section, blending the edges back into the finished area. Work your way down and along the wall. Remove the masking tape.

Step Four

Ragrolling is a different technique. Instead of scrunching up the cloth, roll it into a sausage shape and using both hands roll it across the glaze, either in one direction, up the wall, or randomly in all directions.

Tips

Prepare the cloths you will need for ragging. Tear the cloths to size rather than cutting them with scissors. This avoids small pieces of cut thread coming off and sticking to the paint. Make sure the cloths are washed and lint free.

Low sheen or satin paints are easiest to work with. A gloss finish has less key for stencilling. Step back from the wall each time you finish a section, and look at the wall as a whole. Are there any areas that need adjusting? Maybe a little more ragging off to even the colour? If rolling the paint on, leave the tray back as far as possible so you can view the whole wall each time you load the roller.

Ask (or beg!) a friend to help you if you are working on a large area. Ragging is quite physical. With two working together, one can put the paint on while the other rags off. Don't change jobs halfway through. Each person has their own style of ragging and the difference will show.

*Resene Paints available at all Mitre 10 Mega Stores excluding Rangiora Mega