What is the best way to texture drywall?

I'm trying to match a design that I already have in the room on 2 different walls.What is the best way to texture drywall?
I had a 73 year old gentleman skim coat the drywall and then take and apply mud in a pattern I picked out . He had done plaster for many years so if you could find someone that can do this you can probably get a good match. Not many people are left to do this. In the southwest you can find them but I don't know where you are at . You can always try it yourself if you have an artistic flair. You can tint the drywall mud with paint to save time painting too.What is the best way to texture drywall?
#1 what is the type of texture?


does it have sand in it? best thing to do is go to Home Depot or lowes and take a sample of it with you. They have small hand despensors but if you are doing 2 walls that would take forever. Best way is go to the commercial check out counter and hire one of the contractors to do it for you. It is an art, expecially if you are trying to match an existing wall.
I like using Texture Paint... Home Depot or Lowes both sell it. If you want more texture they also sell rolls of paintable wallpaper.
That depends on what type of texture your trying to achieve. It's going to be trail and error until you get what your looking for. The 1st thing you should do is get some supplies ready. You will need some joint compound (preferably Sheetrock with the green lid), some texturing tools ie; drywall knives, mud pan, stomp brush (this is basically a round or oval broom that you stomp on the mud with to give it texture. About $10 at a hardware store), a couple of empty clean 5 gallon buckets, a bucket of water to mix with the mud and clean up tools, some type of disposable drop cloths (this can be very messy) , and several pieces of scrap dywall or something else to do some samples on. First thing you want to do is stir your mud. The best way to do this is with a drill and mixer, but you can also stir it with your hand. Just be sure your near your water so you can clean up. Now there's a couple of ways to apply the mud to your walls. One is with your knives, the other is with a roller. I don't know what texture your looking for but if you want kind of a swirl effect you should use a drywall knife and apply the mud to the wall with a swirling motion. If your looking for more of a consistant prickley kind of effect you will need to roll the mud on the wall and stomp it with your brush. Then sometimes you might want to knock down the points a little bit so you can let the mud dry some, not completely, and lightly run your drywall knife down the wall. In order for you to do this effect you will probably have to thin your mud with some water. Empty about 1/2 of your mud into an empty 5 gallon bucket. Now add about 1/2 gallon of water and stir it really well. Then wet a 9';paint roller with a 3/4'; nap, shake off the excess water and dip it in your mud. Now apply it to your wall. This will take some practice but you'll get it. Oh, I almost fogot. If your walls to be textured are painted with any type of glossy paint you will want to either paint them with a latex primer or you can use flat wall paint. Usually the flat wall paint is the way to go. The paint stores will try to sell you on some primer but I've been in the business for almost 20 years and believe me, flat paint will work. If you have anymore questions , feel free to email me .todd_lombardi@yahoo.com
Maybe a can of spray texture? You can mimic different types (light, medium, heavy) if your other walls have this type of orange peel. You can get this stuff everywhere.
Home improvement centers sell spray-on texture in aerosol cans. Get however many you need to do the job. It's fairly easy to blend in if you have an eye for it. After you spray on the texture, paint the wall and you're good to go.
plaster the walls its the best thing to do that spray stuff is bad for the environment and its tacky