Decorative Finishes for the Creative Soul

Texture and color are vitally important to the success of your space. When you take the time to meditate on the goals that you have for your room, your ideas will start to fall into place nicely. Do you want to evoke a feeling of warmth and comfort? Or would a room bathed in peaceful relaxation be more in line with your goal? Color and texture can stimulate the senses or remind you of a favorite destination.

Plasters are a wonderful medium for adding texture. They are available in a range from sandy all the way to glassy or velvety. In addition, most plasters can be applied with a variety of tools. Trowels and application blades offer versatility in rendering smooth or distressed finishes. Blade marks and pitted areas are often beautiful additions to a plaster finish.

Color can be mixed directly into the plaster, and layers can vary in tonal value in order to add to the feeling of warmth and comfort. To create a peaceful, meditative feeling, un-tinted plasters can be very affective when a translucent-color glaze is applied afterward.

Choosing your palette of colors effectively will depend heavily on the feeling that you wish to evoke and on the elements that belong in the room and its adjoining areas. A monochromatic palette can be very effective when you plan to use your darkest tones lower in the room to visually ’anchor’ your space. Keeping your palette quiet and simple brings a soothing feeling to a bedroom or entryway. While a limited range of colors can offer more stimulating results for a dining room, kitchen, or a place of work.

Your creative soul will guide you well if you visualize your goals and stay on coarse.

Faux Limewash

Creating a beautiful faux limewash simply requires careful peripheral vision and a proper colorwash technique. Four colors are employed to produce this lightly textured Mediterranean finish. Prepare the walls with 2 coats of soy or clay based paint with an eggshell finish in a creamy hue. After the basecoat is cured, apply glaze mixture as a colorwash in a wedgewood blue hue on 95% of the wall. After the first coat of glaze is dry, colorwash the second coat of glaze mixture in a raw sienna hue to 70% of the wall. The 3rd color is a mixture of venetian red, glaze and water which is fly-specked to 5% of the wall with an old toothbrush—touch up any drips with a dampened cheesecloth. The final coat of the glaze mixture is applied as a colorwash in a burnt umber hue. This finish dries quickly and is quite durable.


Glaze recipe:
Mix 1 quart water-based glaze, 3 cups water-based wallpaper paste, 1 cup finely textured natural sand, and 2 teaspoons of dry pigment. Mix thoroughly and re-stir often.