I am doing some nail hole and small dent repair on a lightly textured wall surface.
How do I make the repairs blend with the existing surface?

Hi Rojo...

I got to tell you, matching a patch to the surrounding area is really an art form more than anything else. Here, over the years I have had to free-hand things, I've had to use sponges and textured materials, and I've even had to blend different materials/plaster/sand, etc. until I found just the right texture needed.

One time, I put a 3" hole in a very detailed wallpapered wall that had to be 100 years old and in the first wall you walk into entering the entrance way. I managed to patch the 3 inch hole pretty well and then I pulled out the plaster, pencils, cigarette ashes, and anything else I could find to finally make that patch look like the old wall paper. Here, let's just say the landlord returned my security deposit when I moved out 6 months later... can't say what happened a few years later though... :)

Anyway, I think this is all about practicing on a piece of cardboard or similar until you find a technique or material that works well for your particular texture, you know?

Hope this helped some...

Mark