Common Drywall Textures for Walls and Ceilings, Explained

Texture changes how a wall or ceiling looks, how much it hides and how easy it is to repair. Whether you're replacing popcorn, retexturing a room or matching a repair, here are the textures you'll see most often in Central Florida homes and what each one is good for.

Knockdown

Joint compound is sprayed on in splatters, then flattened lightly with a wide knife before it dries. The result is a soft, mottled look with flat-topped spots. It's one of the most common ceiling textures in Central Florida, hides minor flaws well, and is easy to match for repairs.

Orange peel

A fine spray texture with a slight dimple, like the skin of an orange. It's common on walls, subtle enough to look clean, and hides small imperfections better than a smooth finish.

Skip trowel

Compound is applied by hand with a curved trowel that skips across the surface, leaving irregular, slightly raised patches. It has a hand-made, Mediterranean feel and works on ceilings and walls. See rooms transformed by skip trowel.

Smooth

A smooth finish is skim-coated and sanded flat. It looks the cleanest and most modern, but it shows every flaw under side light, so it takes the most careful work. See the levels of drywall finish.

Hand-applied textures

Swirl, sand, comb and rosebud patterns are made by hand with brushes, combs or trowels. They're less common today, but they're still found in older homes and need a practiced hand to match during repairs.

Popcorn

The thick, bumpy spray texture common from the 1950s into the 1980s. Most homeowners now remove it rather than apply it, and older popcorn may contain asbestos. See popcorn ceiling removal.

How to choose

• Light: Rooms with big windows or strong side light show flaws in smooth finishes. A light texture is more forgiving.
• Repairs: Knockdown and orange peel are the easiest to patch invisibly.
• Style: Smooth reads modern; skip trowel reads warm and hand-made.
• The rest of the house: Matching the texture in the rest of your home keeps rooms consistent.

Our articles on smooth or textured ceilings, textures to try after popcorn and the cost of a new ceiling texture go into more detail.

Texture in Orlando

New Ceilings applies and matches knockdown, orange peel, skip trowel, smooth and older textures on walls and ceilings across Orlando and Central Florida. See texture and finishes.