Polished plaster & limewash.

Paint is not the only finish a wall can take. Polished plaster gives a surface movement and depth that flat colour cannot; limewash brings a soft, mineral bloom that suits old lime plaster and modern rooms alike. Both are applied by hand, both are unforgiving of poor preparation, and both are specified in writing before anything is mixed.

Polished plaster

A lime- or marble-based plaster applied in thin coats and burnished with the trowel, to a surface that ranges from a soft, stone-like matt to a deep, marble-like polish depending on the material and the hand. It suits bathrooms, hallways, feature walls and whole rooms where the scheme wants a surface rather than a colour. The substrate must be sound, flat and correctly primed, and the finish is built up over days rather than hours — with a protective coat where the room is wet.

Limewash

Limewash is slaked lime and pigment, brushed on in thin, translucent coats that cure with the air to a chalky, cloud-like finish no emulsion imitates well. It belongs on lime plaster, brick and mineral surfaces it can bond to; on a modern painted wall it needs the right mineral primer beneath it, and we say so at survey. It is breathable, which makes it a natural choice for period rooms and for walls that were built to let moisture through — the same logic that governs painting a stucco façade.

Other specialist finishes

Where an interior designer's scheme calls for something beyond paint — lacquered walls or joinery to a mirror standard, a colour-washed or dragged surface, a metallic or textured treatment — we work to the specification exactly, sample first, and build the finish in proper conditions. Fine wallpaper and wallcoverings have a page of their own.

Preparation & sampling

These finishes magnify what lies beneath them. Walls are made flat and sound first — filling, sanding, the correct primer for the material going on top — and a sample panel is prepared in the room before any commitment, because polished plaster and limewash both shift with the light more than paint does. The sample is what the specification is written against, and it is the standard the finished room is judged by.

Working with designers

Much of this work arrives as part of a designer's scheme. We coordinate with the designer and the other trades, hold to the agreed sample, and deliver the finish the drawings intend. Our page for designers and architects sets out how we work with the professionals who specify us.