Hi. I hope some one can help me.
I am painting my son's room. What I would like to do is to use the sponging technique. I want to paint the base a shade of blue and sponge a darker shade of blue over it. What I would like to know is if I have to add glaze to the paint I am sponging on. It can get expensive if I do it like it says like the books at Home Depot say. One part paint to four parts glaze. This is a large room.
Thanks to anyone who can help.

You do not have to add glaze, as far as I know, as long as you are using the same types of paint - like oil based on oil based and the same level of gloss (can't put matte on high gloss, for instance.)

What I have seen on the hundreds of home improvement shows I've seen (through which I decorate vicariously - we can't paint where we live!) what they do is use semi-gloss water based paints, and just add a touch of water (a TOUCH) to the top coat to help it be a little translucent.

This link from True Value also describes not only the difference between the glazing technique and sponge painting, and has detailed instructions. Your local home improvement store like Lowes or Home Depot should have instruction sheets too.

Good luck!

I have done the sponging technique in two of my rooms - both a white background and sponging in celery green and a pale yellow. I did not use a glaze in either of the rooms and they both came out great.

I used an acrylic latex flat wall paint for both the base and the sponging. Make certain you allow your base to dry completely before applying the sponging technique.