I was interested in a textured finish that looks like clay/adobe. Although the product American Clay looks amazing, it is quite challenging to apply, and the professionals have to take an extensive course before you hire them. Too expensive and easy to marr.
Home Hardware markets a line of wall finish called Flexrock. It is not called a paint, per se, but you roll it on like paint. It dries very quickly, so you can only do a 3×3 foot section at a time. Depending on the texture you want, it can look like “suede, parchment, lace, or linen.” It was necessary to order it in large pails, which took about a week to come. It’s manufactured in St. Jacob’s, Ontario, or at least distributed from there. I don’t think it has a very long history, because the support material/phone contact lack a bunch of answers to questions I had.
Although the colour isn't accurate here, the texture of the finish is visible.
First, I experimented on some spare drywall. It claims not to need undercoating, but when I applied a coat directly to un-primed drywall, it did not cover very well, and dried too fast to get the finish I was trying for. I think it has sand suspended in it. It is a water-based product, so very low VOCs.
I chose a creamy white for the base coat. Using very light finishes in our home will help to save energy, because we tend to turn on the lights later if the interior surfaces are reflecting a lot of light. I rolled it on with a 10 mm-thick roller, then with a dry roller, smoothed it out.
This is closer to the colour of the finish. You can also see our window trim here. We are planing pieces of fir flooring, reclaiming it and finishing it with water-based Varathane. If there are some nail holes evident, I think it's great - shows the character and origin of the old edge-grain fir that came out of Vancouver-area homes which were being demolished or renovated. One of the people who sold us some flooring were actually replacing this gorgeous stuff with laminate!
Because it’s so dry at this time of year, we lightly spritzed the wall with water.
A second colour, ever-so-slightly darker, is applied with the special roller covered with nailed-on suede fabric pieces.
Then, flattened out with a dry roller. 
Immediately, it is “knocked down” with a plastic smoother. 
It’s easy to apply, and is a very tough finish, hard to scratch, like plaster.
Also this week, Ron and I have been finishing the vaulted area in the living room before the scaffolding is removed and returned to the rental shop.
Here are before and after photos of the trim around the multi-lam beam and tongue-and-groove ceiling finish. Ron covered the beam with fir boards so it would look like the other big beams in the main living area.
"Before" trim
"After" trim
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Did you alter the colours of the before and after photos to make the “after” more visually appealing? Oldest trick in the book, ma.
The trim does look nice, though.
Li
I’ve updated the instructions on how to apply Flexrock.
How long does it take to finish one wall section?
Joy, the base coat takes a while, like paint, because it needs to be masked and trimmed first. You don’t have to worry too much about cover, though, because you want an uneven finish. The second coat goes on in minutes, particularly if there are two of you working on it. In fact, it only works if you are very quick, because it tends to dry out before you can knock it down, even if you spritz it with water first.