My daughter used a midnight blue suede finish above a white double chair rail . . . between the two rails and below she did wide silver stripes -- alternating matte and more shiny. She used Ikea silver shelves on the blue walls and has white contemporary pieces on them. I don't know how often it's used today, but her room is stunning.

That sounds incredible hostagrams!

We just sold our old house ourselves and the one room that everyone raved about was the master bedroom. We had done it in a dark copper/rust RL suede. Even the people who didn't like dark colors loved that room. One lady even brought a friend back to look at it.

I think it's the nicest look you can do and don't care if it's in or out...it's beautiful! There is sooo much depth to it.

I have it in two rooms: MBR and Foyer + one living room wall. The MBR is the second time around, the foyer I did 4 yrs ago. I have gotten comments on how cool the texture is, how rich it looks, etc. We hired an appraiser a couple years ago and he like it so much he asked me for the formula (had extra swatches so just gave him some ;).

The only drawback I see, well there are two: touch up is a bear and it's critical to get it on right the first time. (It's not hard to apply.) Secondly, someday I will probably tire of it and the thought of sanding or skim coating (to restore the wall to 'flat') does not really appeal to me. But I think that's because DH and I are big DIYers, and I have a lot of DIY jobs under my belt, and find as my age increases my stamina to do big jobs decreases! ;D. So I might just leave it and put on a fresh coat in a new color (noticed new colors on the suede palette). I like the effect, it's held well, no issues.

I love this paint but I've never used it. Can I use it if I have a textured wall. I have the little bumps all over the wall (not flat).

I have used suede before and absolutely love the look. We had done our old foyer in Fossil Butte.

In this home we went with RL river rock in Hawthorne something or other for the room that was originally our office. The walls in this home are textured and it was very difficult, well impossible for me anywho, to get a perfectly smooth coat required to get that river rock finish, so I ended up doing the same technique I had done for the suede and it looked great.

When we made that room over into DD's new room I was told to go over it with a primer and then paint as normal. I was skeptical to say the least.

It was amazing - after applying the primer the suede finish was gone. The primer I used was Zinser as recommended by the HD paint dept guy. We were really worried because DD does not like the suede or river rock feel on her walls and wanted it gone, completely. She now has an eggshell finish and you'd never know there was ever any other texture on that wall except the regular wall texture found through out the house.

I also don't see it discussed on here much but love the look.

I had the little bumps too. Worked fine.

We had suede under the chair rail in our dining room when we bought our house seven years ago. We painted the whole interior except for the Suede! Our painter was totally amused at our love of the suede walls! The only reason we painted it a few month ago is because we had a water leak and needed to break through the sueded wall to find it. We immediately repainted the wall with RL River Rock to try something new - it looks just as good as the suede.

Did any of you who used the RL Suede or River Rock use a protective finish on it to avoid burnishing? We had used the River Rock in the MB of our other house. Loved the final look, but it was hard to apply to get that even look - I also finally used the suede technique, but with a sea sponge for a final coat. It was gorgeous. My experience was it took alot more paint (coverage less than stated on can) Paint store had run out and it had to be ordered! ugh- I had forgotten all this - because I am considering using it again or the suede - in a high traffic hallway & family room - Why I ask about the burnishing.

So the suede isn't applied like regular paint? Is there a special technique/supplies we have to use?

I never used a protective finish but if it would be in a family room or hallway...

Why don't you post your question on the paint forum? Maybe faron could help you out?

Oh yeah! Special small roller to cut in and brush to make Xs on the wall. First coat looks horrific then second coat does the magic. I remember seeing a Matt and Sherri sp? episode where they used a regular paint for the first coat after a previous show had said never to do that. I'm sure it cut down on the cost but I'm not so sure it would look as good.

I didn't put a protective coat on mine. MBR has never been an issue. Foyer I wasn't sure if it would be. We have no kids, but I have a DH who has to place his palms on the walls as he bolts up the stairs *rolleyes* . No harm done.

I used the RL regular size roller for suede and mini roller.
Wash walls with Dirtex, spackle any holes, prime with primer as recommended on can.
First roll of paint looks like caca. (Do not despair, it gets better ;). You start at the top, apply on the roller from ceiling to floor, then do one final roll all the way from top to bottom. Then move to next strip and repeat, overlapping a bit. 2nd coat is where the effect comes in. I used a 4" wide brush, generously loaded, and you make random "X" patterns, working in about 3'x3' to 4'x4' sections (no bigger than that). When you move to next section, you overlap the prior section a bit for blending. This is where you have to watch for missed spots (easy to do). If you try to go back after it's dried and put more on, it will look like a spot of grease on the wall. I had two tiny areas I missed on the foyer. 14' wall no less. I was not about to do that puppy over. So I took one of my art brushes, gently applied the paint, then pounced it off with a bit larger art brush. I found if I didn't play with it much, I could get it to blend in with the pattern. I know where those spots are, but no one else does ;)

acoreana: So you covered the textured paint with just primer and regular latex? I heard someone else say they did that, too. I can't grasp how it would cover and look like a smooth wall because the suede has the little bitty sand grits in it, but hey, if it works, great news for me if I ever change my mind! ;D

mlraff53: IMHO it would be ideal on a textured wall, because it's paint with texture anyway. ;)

We tried it in our laundry room and not only did the first coat look like caca -- the second coat did too! So did the third... We could never get rid of the stripes, despite following the directions to the very best of our ability. I swear - I read them and followed them to the letter! I've no doubt it was poor technique on my part, but I'm not a toally incompetent painter and I do know how to follow directions. Obviously, it can be done, since many of you have done it, but I couldn't do it to my own satisfaction...

On a brighter note, we LOVED the color, and went over it with one coat of 'regular' matte wall paint in the same color, and it's fabulous.

Thanks everyone! In response to some questions...
We applied it in two quick steps: First apply the flat base coat just like a normal coat of paint, then apply the suede finish with a four inch brush making X's as you go. This was recommended to us by a professional painter - and the results were fabulous without all the tricky steps and materials recommended on the directions. I loved the look... We also used the terra cotta color (in our kitchen), a sage color in the master, and a medium blue in the bath. People loved it when we sold the house... I am glad to hear it really does go away with a coat of primer. I had heard this, but never testing the theory...
I agree with moonshadow - it is great for bumpy walls... We originally used it to help cover the imperfections in our old plaster walls. Worked like a charm... Cheers!

What size X's?

And do you make X's in the corners?

I made mine about 4" long. 6" when I was getting tired ;). Oh, and this is not something that can be stopped mid wall. Once Xs have been started on a wall, the whole wall needs to be finished in one session or there will be a division line between stop and start point. (There's an instruction pamphlet floating around somewhere near the RL paint display at the store. My HD had them tucked in an odd location, but finally found them. ;)

Yes, make them in corners, at least as far into the corner as you can get. Same for near the ceiling. At the very top or side, after I did the initial roll, when I was starting on the Xs I'd do a narrow cutting in line with brush not over or under loaded (enough for good coverage, no skips, but not so much as to create blobs). Then immediately go back and do the Xs including right over top the cut in area as far as I could without touching adjoining ceiling/wall/trim that was not suede paint.

Here's a photo of MBR wall taken at an angle to show texture of suede when finished, ends and edges of Xs should be blended so it's not a 'pronounced' X when dried, if that makes sense:

Thanks! That's lovely --

Come to think of it, I think our failed RL paint was in the River Rock texture, because I don't recall it saying to paint any Xs... Of course, DH would probably still have a fit if I said I wanted to try another room in the RL Suede...

Sweeby - For what it is worth - I had heard such horror stories involving River Rock that I never tried it even though I loved the look when it was done well... Suede was not difficult at all... Don't resist out of a fear of it being a nightmare... it's not...

I applied river rock to a foyer and hallway...a few houses ago, I loved it. We had textured walls and I had to apply two coat by brush and it came out great. The roller wouldnt get into my crevises. Using a brush gave it that great look.