Patching and Plastering - Texturing Kitchen walls

I finally got the wallpaper off my kitchen walls. Now I want to put on some kind of texture. I recently did a venetian plaster look in a small bathroom, and it looked decent, but the thought of doing that for this large kitchen is just too much for me right now. What is the easiest way to retexture these walls, which currently are smooth? I would prefer a roller, sponge, rag, etc, over spraying something on. Thanks so much for all the help and inspiration on your forums.

I'd leave the walls smooth until you decide what you want. Texturing just for the sake of texturing doesn't seem like a good way to be happy with the finished result.

I too would consider leaving the slick finish. IMO a coat of primer and paint would look fine.

Textures are always best sprayed but you could thin down joint compound to a paint like consistency and roll it on for somewhat of an orange peel finish. It must be applied evenly to insure a consistent texture.

I just finished what marksr said, rolled on thinned joint compound. It is a tough job to get it all even and looking nice. You can not get the edges and a brush doesn't match the texture so we had to do a dab kind of job. I only did my ceiling and the new tray area and the painters sanded off all the coating on the sides of the tray because it really did not look nice. I wanted it smooth simply because it looked better and also because it will be easier to clean. If anyway possible, try and leave it smooth! I did have all the rest of the house skip troweled and it looks great but not in the kitchen and baths.

The tools that you can use to texture are endless. I once matched texture on a wall with a plastic bag. I like skip trowel. I think the easiest thing for you is to go to home depot and buy a crows foot brush. It has long bristles on a wood frame. the bristles lay flat. Thin your mud down. dip the brush in the mud. Then "stomp" it on the wall. Do it in a random pattern. Then you can knock it down or leave it, its up to you.