You’ve picked the perfect paint color for your walls and it looks great but how about a decorative finish? Your wall color does not need to be one dimensional and Venetian plaster is a great way to give your walls a great look mimicking marble or stone.

Venetian plaster consists of marble dust mixed with plaster then it is applied with a spatula or trowel in thin, multiple layers. Then the layers are polished for a smooth surface. With this finish, the more layers you apply, the more depth you achieve. Venetian Plaster can also be left un-polished for a matte finish and stone-like look.

This decorative finish also has a few different styles: marmorino, scagliola, and sgraffito. Marmorino finishes can include marble flour, slaked lime and fine sand to create distressed stone-like finishes. Scagliola is more commonly used to resemble stucco and Sgraffito involves scratching the surface to expose the colors underneath.

Any one of these styles can be used in a multitude of ways to create unique looks inside and out since Venetian plaster can be tinted and treated in a variety of ways. The technique makes a marble or stone look more accessible for a contemporary building or remodeling project.

Venetian plaster is a decorative finish originally installed on plaster walls and ceilings. Venetian plaster finish is: plaster mixed with marble dust, skimmed or applied with a spatula or trowel by very thin, multiple coats (like a layer cake). The coating is then burnished to create a smooth surface. The finished work has incredible depth. Venetian plaster techniques include marmorino, scagliola, and sgraffito. A Venetian plaster finish can be installed with a lower sheen finish if the surface is left un-burnished., Venetian plaster has a matte finish that is rough and stone-like to the touch. Un-burnished Venetian plaster is also very brittle and damages rather easily; although more modern material suppliers have product with improved elasticity.
When applied correctly, Venetian plaster can be used to ‘create’ a highly polished, rock-hard, marble-like finish. Venetian plaster is especially useful on surfaces where marble panels could not be installed easily, and on surfaces that would be too expensive to have carved from real marble such as columns, corbels and curved walls.
Venetian plaster can be tinted, or colored using natural or synthetic colorants. The ability to tint Venetian plaster is especially helpful when a specific color of “marble” is desired, or when a color that does not exist naturally is wanted.

We restored this residence in 2007, and the homeowners asked us to maintain the bright new finish with annual washing.

Yes I said it: I love alkyd paint. Alkyd paints are the best.

We use alkyd paints on interior cabinets.
We use alkyd paints on exteriors.
we paint seattle..LOL

There are no true water based acrylic equals in performance: any body who tells you differently has a vested interested in selling you something or does not know how to apply the material properly, or is misinformed. Understand although traditional; I am not an old grouch stuck in his ways; infact I am a self learner and early adopter. What you experience is more important than what you read. I painted exterior trim with ALKYD PAINT on homes in Wallingford in 1990; those homes (trim) are yet to be re-painted. In the years since I have witnessed high build, low build, ceramic, blah, blah new technologies come and go. Sort of like bars and night clubs come and go. I have been drinking scotch with my friends at FX McRory’s and using Alkyd paints for 22 years. I write some about emulsified coatings here..I twice requested and was granted visits to Benjamin Moore manufacturing facilities (1997 Seattle Paint Supply- LA) & (2012 Mallory Paint- World HQ) for the sole purpose of talking directly to the scientist/chemist who cook oil and water together to make the paint I use..that controversial (just kidding) blog post in BETA.

This is Susan Marinello’s cloud white in Satin Impervo

FYI the video below sound track is off; I do not hire out video. I do these amateur clips during free time; forgive.

Chemical stripping to reduce failing paint to bare wood. If lead paint is present it needs to be contained and disposed properly.