venetian plaster

[iBlue]

info here for those currently scratching their heads.


anyone choose this route instead of simple paint?

it's a huge chore but the results usually look amazing.
i bit the bullet and i'm going for it this week/weekend. i had them mix mine into a sort of brick red color. i painted a wall this color (to see if i could handle it) and i love it but it's a bit too plain in texture... so on the plaster goes. eeeeek!
wish me luck!

call the ambitious urge a side-effect of being sick for so long and finally feeling better.

 

[kretzy]

My aunty did a few feature walls in her house with venetian plaster and I must say they look pretty cool (especially when it's coloured!). I'm sure you'll do a spectacular job with it!

Perhaps a before and after photo to showcase your work...

 

[iBlue]

My aunty did a few feature walls in her house with venetian plaster and I must say they look pretty cool (especially when it's coloured!). I'm sure you'll do a spectacular job with it!

Perhaps a before and after photo to showcase your work...

it looks pretty pitiful at the moment with all the painter's tape but i'll snap a couple. an after picture is definitely in order. i had to get the masking tape up but i didn't want to start plastering until tomorrow. it took me just over an hour to tape one wall. when i go for the big wall with the vaulted ceiling it is going to really suck!

 

[jadekitty24]

I can't wait for the results. That looks lovely...I may try this myself.

 

[OutThere]

Venetian plaster looks really cool if used in the right places...the look lends itself to bright and airy rooms.

You know what a real plaster chore is though....plastering walls with real wall plaster...

We have all plaster walls and ceilings, no drywall/wallboard or anything, and when there's any damage to the wall (especially water damage), you have to patch it. Urgh. Bad memories.

 

[iBlue]

it's going on (at least partially) tonight. then tomorrow i have to apply the second coat of plaster using the trowel in another direction (for dimmension) and then that has to dry for a day. then comes the burnishing and primping and stuff.
frackin difficult wall finish but it's usually so amazing when it's done. part of it is seeing it in person. it has these smooth/rough/shiny areas, it's really cool.

wish me luck, i'm scared!

 

[Abulia]

The office that I currently sit in (at home) has venetian plaster on 3 walls. I couldn't do four, because honestly, it would have killed me.

Yes, the effect is nice but be warned, THIS IS A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF WORK. My arms about fell off when I did my office. All told it took about a week to do...a...very...long....week.

Best of luck!

 

[iBlue]

my god... what a pain in the ass. took me just over two hours just to do this first coat on a tiny stretch of wall. i am so glad i didn't resign myself to going to the further wall... that will just have to wait a little bit. i can't completely drain myself, i just got over pneumonia (can't overwork myself) and i also have surgery scheduled in a week - can't take advil excessively (bleeding problems from ibuprofen) so aches and pains would go mostly untreated.
so i'm buggered not to complete a task but i think i have to just focus on this one area and finish the rest later.

however there is that "wait 4 hours and start the second coat" thing right now. i dunno if that means *minumum 4 hours* or *anytime after 4 hours*
i'm debating whether or not i should just wait until tomorrow night (almost 20 hours later) or just skip sleeping and go at the wall again at 3am
i have a 3 year old to tend to during the day so all my tasks of this nature go on at night.

decisions decisions...

anyway, here is a picture of the wall's first coat drying. you caught my house looking quite messy too, all my supplies sitting out and a few other strange going-ons. i swear things aren't always so disheveled.

 

[cyberddot]

Nice! It looks fantastic! Of course, my body is currently coursing with cold medicines as well as dealing with this current bout with insomnia, but I think my eyes are still working. Don't stop now!

PS: when's the rave to celebrate your success? I see you've got at least one PA speaker for the Dj duty.

​

 

[iGav]

Wow that's horiffic (not yours specifically iBlue, just the technique in general) reminds me of the colour washing fad made soooooooo unbelievably popular by 'Changing Rooms' during the '90's.

 

[jadekitty24]

That's a lovely color, iBlue. It's already looking good. I brought this idea up to my roomie/ex/thorn-in-my-side and he shot me down. He said I could do my bedroom but the rest of the apartment is off limits. Why? I asked..."because the apartment is old" he says. Well, duh! Anyway, good luck with that Blue...it's gonna look good!

 

[CanadaRAM]

That's some serious speaker you got there. What happened -- Iron Maiden was having a garage sale, and you thought - "Hmmm, good deal, I can get 5 of these bad boys and make a b!tc#!n' surround system. ROCK ON!"?

(I bet you live a little distance from your neighbors, yes?)

(Either that or you invite them to all of your parties... )

 

[iBlue]

wow, i am exhausted, my arms are all shaking and stuff. i took a nap for a few hours and woke up and finished the second coat. let me tell you, putting up something on a wall that is just a bit thicker in consistency than pudding with a metal spatula (trowel) is a real bitch. and i haven't even gotten to the worst part - the burnishing.

like i said, i love the results enough to put myself through it but man is it work. pictures don't do it justice, you sort of have to see one of those finishes in person, it's really cool. it looks nothing like it will once it's burnished, so you're sort of seeing the nitty gritty of it.

psssssst... Doctor Q doesn't know what color that is. (his color blindness probably makes it appear a dark grey-ish brown to him) i tease

oh, and the speakers... it was a project of my SO's (he's a musician and a bit obsessed with JBL) he wanted to use them in the living room for some reason. the regular ones are going back soon, he's having fun.

anyway, there you have it. (attached is the second coat result)

i would sell my soul for a percocet about now.

 

[kretzy]

That looks great and I really love the colour! It'll definitely be worth the effort. Maybe you should get your hubby to help out, isn't that what husbands are supposed to do?

 

[iBlue]

That looks great and I really love the colour! It'll definitely be worth the effort. Maybe you should get your hubby to help out, isn't that what husbands are supposed to do?

pfffft... yeah right! i work better alone anyway though, it never even occurred to me to ask him for help. i might when it comes to the other wall, where the ceiling vaults upward 12 feet or so.

thanks, i'm excited about it.

 

[devilot]

thanks, i'm excited about it.

And you should be! It's looking good (well, at least as much as I can see from a photo and not in person). Doesn't really look like a 3 year old lives there at all, though! Dilbert calendar? And I see that you tidied up for your second photo... where'd the little table go? teehee

 

[cyberddot]

I like it because it looks very similar to a wall treatment some friends did in a house I used to rent from them. I lived there for several years and always liked the 3-tone wall treatments, one reds, one greens and one yellows. They rolled the first tone, used a paint coated rag for the second tone, and then used a rosemary twig dipped in the third tone for the final touch. Sound unusual? it was, but it looked great and had a depth similar to that seen on your wall, though I'm sure your's gives a different impression when in the room.

Way to go.

​

 

[iBlue]

And you should be! It's looking good (well, at least as much as I can see from a photo and not in person). Doesn't really look like a 3 year old lives there at all, though! Dilbert calendar? And I see that you tidied up for your second photo... where'd the little table go? teehee

it is a dilbert calendar, good eye. i didn't tidy up really, just put away my stuff since it now has to dry for a day. the house is a mess until i do my spring cleaning and fanatically insist on de-cluttering everything. i'm really getting weird about that these days.
if the camera were pointed in the other direction you'd find legos and train tracks tucked away... there's definitely evidence of a llittle boy living here.

thanks for all the replies. i actually thought more of you would have done this same thing but it's fun to share my experience as i go along too.

i'll try to take a closer and more detailed photo when it's all done and try to capture the different textures and stuff. i hope it turns out nice, it's a horribly involved process to apply it. (and i still have so much more to go. ack!)

 

[iBlue]

here are some snapshots of it. i tried flash on and flash off to capture the effect. it was so much work, and i have so much more to go.

there was way more texture than i had intended but it looks cool, like distressed leather.

 

[katie ta achoo]

here are some snapshots of it. i tried flash on and flash off to capture the effect. it was so much work, and i have so much more to go.

there was way more texture than i had intended but it looks cool, like distressed leather.

Blue, that looks so cool! I've never heard of the REAL technique. I thought it was only paint...

 

[gauchogolfer]

Very nice work iBlue!

When your arms recover, I've got a couple of walls that would look great for your next experiment....

 

[iBlue]

Blue, that looks so cool! I've never heard of the REAL technique. I thought it was only paint...

oh god, i wish! i don't think i'll ever do this again [after i am done with this project]. the white walls in the background were going to be done in a light blue/grey tone but i don't have the energy. i might faux finish it to appear like venetian plaster but i don't think i could pull it off again.

that stuff is applied with a trowel (steel spatula) and is the consistency of pudding or cake frosting. two or three coats and sanding (burnishing) and i'm beat. days of work for that little area of wall. in total (physical work: including taping on and off; 1st and 2nd coat; burnishing, etc) it took about 9-10 hours. dealing with the rounded edges of my walls was really problematic.

i love the result but the time it takes is pretty insane. i've seen those HGTV shows time lapse it... that's just unfair plus sometimes they "cheat" and you can tell by the end result.

anyway, like most everything in life: you get what you put into it. the currency of love is time.