How to I texture the walls in my house?

What do I use to add texture to my walls. I am living in a very old house (temp... for about 3 years while building a new one) and the walls look horrible. The house was not made to look pretty that is for sure. You can see every seem of each piece of drywall plus its just so old there are imperfections everywhere. Some of the rooms I think I can just use a painting technique to make it look textured but a couple of the rooms I really need to add something on top of the drywall before painting. Any Ideas on what I would use?How to I texture the walls in my house?
best thing to do first is cover plasterboard joints over or cracks will appear ..get some drywall tape a bucket and some pva adhesive..mix up pva at 3part water to 1 pva then one at a time measure tape and cut to size soak in bucket for bout 3 mins then cover joint ..do this over any screw holes aswell once thats all prepped and dry get some artex obviously a large bag and mix accordin to instructions paint on as thick as needed ull find as brush loads up it becomes better to put on then depending wot finish u want either get a bark effect roller or stipple brush and go over artexuse a 1 inch brush to make a boarder round edges to make it look more professional leave to dry then paint to suit ur taste.should look much better after that! good luck hope that helps..and btw drywall doesnt need to b sealed with pva mix only existing plaster or concrete wallsHow to I texture the walls in my house?
Get a 5 gallon bucket of joint compound and round brush soak the brush to soften the bristles and you may have to remove some of the bristles (not required). load the brush with compound and stab at the walls. after it sets up a bit you can trowel it down with an 8 or 12 inch drywall knife. to knock off the sharp edges.
Paint stores and some Home Centers sell texture paint. It is very thick and you can add the texture you desire. Great stuff for covering imperfections in the drywall.