Category: blog

Tuscan Influenced Venetian Plaster Interior

By on May 29, 2010 in Architectural Wall Finishes, blog, Decorative Finishes, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Polished Plaster, Textured Plaster, Uncategorized, Venetian Plaster Vancouver

On June 1st, I begin a great project — a 10,000 square-foot (Venetian) lime plaster interior. This project calls for a smoother finish with minimal texture, a “Tuscan” influence.

To get that look, I’ll be using Stucco Italiano Intonachino.

For an accent in the basement level, I’ll be creating a woodgrain finish (also known as faux bois) for all the crown moulding.

This home has a view to die for and architecture I’m excited to be taking to another level with my finishing techniques. I’m scheduled to reach final completion in early August.

With a Tuscan/Mediterranean feel throughout this home, getting the perfect colour so a client can be comfortable with their final decision is a tough task, but it’s got to be perfect — just look at the stunning architecture! Anything less than perfect would be a crime.

You might wonder how a “young” guy like me in this industry is landing big projects like these large interior Venetian plaster jobs, but I think my work speaks for itself — and it should, anyone’s should. I love the work I do, I do it the best way I can, I use the best materials that are available to me, try to deliver the best customer service, and have finished work that blows expectations away.

Whether it’s in my work’s detail or in the way I work for my clients, I know it’s the little things that make the difference. My guys and I are tidy and clean, flexible, and we all know how to work well with other trades.

Isn’t that how it should be?

Enjoy the read and the photos.

Cheers

Darrell Morrison

Italian Lime Plaster Interior

By on May 4, 2010 in Architectural Wall Finishes, blog, Decorative Finishes, home, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Polished Plaster, Tadelakt, Tadelakt full interiors, Textured Plaster, Venetian Plaster Vancouver

The last few months, I’ve been working on a Tuscan lime plaster interior in a beautiful custom home tucked away in Burnaby.

 

I’ve gotta say, the architecture blows me away. It’s my first plaster project in the area, and the home definitely ranks in the top 5 fave homes I’ve worked on. With curved walls, dominant archways, stunning distressed-wood doors, what didn’t I love?

I was brought in to install a 4,000 square-foot Venetian Plaster effect. I’m nearing the 70% completion mark. Things will move along really quickly in the next few weeks, though.

 

Here’s a breakdown of what’s going on.

 

The materials of choice this time are Stucco Italiano and Intonachino lime plaster.

I choose to seal my Venetian plaster projects with penetrating sealer. This helps to repel moisture and oil. If you’re getting a great finish, shouldn’t it be protected for you to enjoy for decades? Yeah, I think so too.

 

Once the sealer dries, I’ll go over it with golden heavy-bodied glaze tinted to a light raw umber.

 

If I don’t do this overglazing step, the Tuscan plaster style looks too new and fresh — like the photo on the top left shows.

While I believe in sealing all my plaster, it’s really necessary if glazing Tuscan lime plaster. Why? It’s thirsty like you wouldn’t believe. If it’s not sealed before glazing, a catastrophe can happen. The raw umber glaze would stain the surface beyond repair — blotchy and horrible. The wall would need redoing from start to finish, and who wants that? I’ll get it right the first time.

 

This is also where being super-prepared before getting started means everything. If that glaze hits an unsealed wall next to the project, it could be a domino effect of colour catastrophes, so care always needs to be taken.

 

Check out these snapshots of some of last week’s great work. Catch you next time.

Refinishing an Oak Table – Wood Furniture

By on April 26, 2010 in blog, Uncategorized, Wood Staining & Clear Coating

I’ve always enjoyed refinishing wood, including wood furniture. Last weekend, I decided to tackle a little side project of refinishing an oak table. I really enjoy the beauty of rejuvenated wood, so I was pretty keen to get started on this one.


Using a new 6-inch orbit sander with paper discs varying between 100- to 220-grit, I removed most of the old finish with great ease, compared to doing all the work by hand.


Something to keep in mind when refinishing any kind of wooden table is, it’s likely a veneer, and if you sand too much, you’ll wear through the woodgrain pretty quickly and hit the core-wood base — which isn’t going to have any of the grain’s appeal. This is where it’s dangerous to use an electric sander if you’re not sure you can control how far down it’s sanding.


For this particular table, I figured using two different stains would work best. This choice was inspired by the table itself. Since the centre was slightly raised, I thought a contrast on each level would enhance the design.


I used 100% water-based stains and clearcoats for this refinishing job, and I’m thrilled with the results. The low-VOC content and lack of smell was great, and I absolutely plan to work with these projects again when I’m on larger projects.


Check out the photos and you’ll see why I’m feeling good. I hope more of these tasks come my way in the future.

Venetian Plaster Bathroom White Rock: Carrara Marmorino

By on April 23, 2010 in Architectural Wall Finishes, Bathrooms, blog, Carrara Marmorino, Decorative Finishes, Lime Plaster, Polished Plaster, Venetian Plaster Vancouver

Over the past week, I had the opportunity to work on the new Bosa building in White Rock, BC, with one of my favourite designers — a big fan of my style of Venetian Plaster. She’s always pushing me to try new things and stretch my creativity, so it’s a great working experience to be around her.


When meeting a new client and designer, the most important part of the meeting is being able to absorb their ideas and use that as inspiration for creating a unique design that’ll reflect the best of everything they want.


I think I pulled that off, and it’s even reflected in the materials we used.


For this project, I used Carrara Marmorino. It’s different because of its small granules, which allows it to polish to a beautiful satin finish. For added durability and a beautiful finish, I sealed the surface with natural beeswax.

Wood Graining For Baseboards, Crown Mouldings And Ceilings

By on April 17, 2010 in Architectural Wall Finishes, blog, Decorative Finishes, Wood Graining Vancouver

So why would you want to use wood graining on your project? Lets start with the creativity, being able to control the colours and style of wood your looking to get is much easier when its created by hand, id say that’s a big asset. Next would be its Eco-friendly no need to replace any existing wood or if your building a new home MDF (medium density fiber board) is a great option as its cheaper to buy then real wood and saves the environment from another tree cut down. The 1st picture is a sample I created for an upcoming project the client loved it so much they have decided to d0 3000 liner ft. the cost savings is amazing and leaves room for lots of creativity. I will be sure to write a blog post about it once the project starts.

Now back to the ceiling, this home had that old school west coast style with the cedar ceiling from the exterior spanning all the way into the living room it looked great but the colour was way to orange and this client wanted to go more restoration hardware style. So I went to the drawing board and this is what I came up with. Painting the ceiling out in a solid colour was a great start then an idea hit me I want to make the ceiling look like a hardwood floor with different size pieces of board well lets say great idea TON of work, take a look closely at the pictures and you can see how the joints look natural and the wood flows as it should.

Conclusion Many considerations need to be taken in before starting a project like this, remember that wood is a natural thing it would not come in 20 ft lengths (in most situations) try to keep it simple avoid using more than 3 colours as the more you use it adds to the cost$$ think shading. I hope you have enjoyed my post and hey leave some comments I will answer questions.

Distressed Lime Plaster Entryway White Rock, British Columbia

By on March 29, 2010 in Architectural Wall Finishes, blog, Decorative Finishes, home, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Textured Plaster

In this renovation, the homeowner knew exactly what he wanted: A great living space with a lot of detail.

I’m not kidding, he left no corner out. Now that’s my kind of attention to detail!

I was commissioned to turn this doorway from “BLAH!” to “WOW!”

To do that, I chose to use Intonachino. I kicked it off with tinting the materials to a light orange/tan, using three colours to mix it from scratch: Raw Sienna, Red Oxide and Raw Umber (but the links are not the actual brands of the materials I use to tint my plaster; just great information pages for you to check out).

After, the finish was left to sit and cure for a few days before I returned to apply the all-important penetrating sealant before doing a beautiful raw umber glaze.

What do you think about this kind of finish?


Metallic Bronze & Copper Distressed Ceiling

By on March 26, 2010 in blog, Decorative Finishes, Golden Metallic Plaster, Interior Painting, Polished Plaster, Textured Plaster

This past week I was working on a Metallic Bronze & Copper Distressed Ceiling in a lovely home in Morgan Creek.  I was very excited, as it has been a while since I’ve done a plaster ceiling finish in this style I’d say almost 3 years to be exact and I truly enjoy this type of decorative finish.  A break down of the work involved begins with applying a black base  metallic plaster made by Golden after that is left to dry over night. I then return to apply the bronze plaster also made from materials made by Golden.  Once the texture is created and the designer likes what she see’s the final step is “waxing”.  Now for this step I like to us an old school material called Bri-Wax. I don’t mind sharing the information as its a easily available in most cities. One thing I will tell you is this stuff has a nasty and strong odor.  One more step to go adding copper mica flakes to the wax, this involves melting the the materials in order to make that possible, I advise using caution if you choose to attempt this your self as this portion requires a high degree of safety.

Tuscan Lime Plaster Interior Rough ‘N’ Rustic

By on March 21, 2010 in Architectural Wall Finishes, blog, Carrara Marmorino, Decorative Finishes, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Polished Plaster, Tadelakt, Tadelakt full interiors, Textured Plaster, Venetian Plaster Vancouver

In recent weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to be working in a lovely Greco-Roman home in Burnaby, BC.


It’s an awesome home, clearly designed for entertaining guests.


Well, when I first got out to the jobsite, the drywall wasn’t even installed. I’m a visual guy, but, for me, it’s difficult to get a sense of a home with all those studs and joists running up and down and everywhere. But, after awhile, I figured the home out, and I’m glad the project’s moving along.


We’re into the process now. Here, I was commissioned to install a distressed lime plaster finish, using something called Intonachino (in-tone-a-kino).


It kind of looks like it has a slight tint of yellow, but when paired up with the floor, it presents as a sand-beige. When I finish the project off, I’ll glaze the plaster with raw umber, adding a little character and an old, aged sense to the walls.

CLICK IMAGES TO ZOOM

Tadelakt Fireplace Reconstruction

By on November 6, 2009 in blog, Custom Fire Places, Decorative Finishes, Intonachino Lime Plaster, Lime Plaster, Polished Plaster, Tadelakt, Textured Plaster, Venetian Plaster Vancouver


One of my favourite things to do on the job is when I get to take something old and outdated and reinvent it all new and awesome.


In October, I got to do exactly that to a 50-year-old sandstone fireplace.


Not only did I lower the height of the fireplace by a whole eight inches, but I also created baffles for the Heatilator’s vents.


The plaster I thought best for this job was Tadelakt, but I got tricky and added Mother-of-Pearl to make the finish a one-of-a-kind fireplace.


I hope you enjoy checking out the pictures.


The Fireplace Before

Our Summer 2009

By on September 21, 2009 in blog

We have had an amazing summer at Decorative Painting & Plastering Concepts and the fall is just beginning!!!! First off I must thank my clients for challenging me on their projects and giving me the opportunity to work with them. We spent a lot of time this spring marketing and teaching our clients about the benefits of Green and low V.O.C. materials not only has it been better for us and the environment but the advancements that companies like Benjamin Moore & Stucco Italiano have made make it possible for me as an applicator to provide the best quality materials and customer service knowing that they will hold up for years to come.

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