Venetian Plaster was the perfect fit for this fireplace surround in Brookline! When my client reached out about this renovation project, he had selected the stone for his surrounding countertops, the wood for the cabinets and the paint for the wall color – but he did not have any answers for the fireplace. The challenge was to come up with a finish that would be a statement without overwhelming everything else. We needed something unique and interesting, but also something that would work well with all the other colors and patterns. Enter Venetian!
Because Venetian Plaster can be mixed to almost any color – and even applied with multiple colors – it can be extremely flexible. When we first began discussing the project, nothing had been installed yet -- so to come up with a solution for the fireplace, I met with my client at the facility where he had purchased his stone. Here we could look at possible colors for my finish together with his stone and the cabinet and wall samples he brought with him. In this meeting, we decided the fireplace should be lighter in color to avoid it from dominating the space, but still have plenty of motion in the finish to create some subtle drama. This gave me great direction to go back to my studio and create a sample board. For this finish, I used 2 different colors of Venetian to get both the lighter color, but also the “motion” we were looking for.
To confirm I had hit the mark, we met again at the stone store to look at all of the elements together with my sample board – and it was a hit!
When the construction team was ready for me, I went onsite to apply my Venetian Plaster to the fireplace – and it gave my client exactly the look he was going for!
Unfortunately, the space was still under construction, so I don’t have final pictures (for example, there is a trim ring around the fireplace that is not yet installed) – but these show the Venetian. From a distance (in the first photo), the motion in the finish is subtle. As you get closer (second 2 photos), you can really see the almost stone-like quality of the variations in the plaster. When looking at these close-ups, the finish looks like it is textured – but in the 4th photo (at an angle) – you can see it is smooth! The sheen also has pretty variation to it, and because there is marble dust in Venetian Plaster, it is cold to the touch – making it very satisfying to run your hand across it!
Enjoy!!
Jason
Standing back, you see the variation in the finish subtly
As you get closer, you really see the beauty!
The finish looks textured, but is actually smooth!