How to Make the Venetian Plaster

Venetian plaster adds a rich, warm look to a Tuscan style room.

Venetian plaster is an elegant yet inexpensive decorative treatment for walls. Older Italian homes have stone walls that are often covered with a thick plaster coating that glows with a rich, layered patina. Venetian plaster brings a bit of that romantic atmosphere into any interior. Venetian plaster is applied with a trowel to emulate the textured, mottled look of Italian villa walls. Any color can be used for Venetian plaster, but it is most effective in traditional peach to golden honey hues, reflecting and absorbing ambient light.

Things You'll Need

• Primer, colored
• Paint brushes
• Paint rollers and pan
• Joint compound, premixed
• 2 trowels, 8 inches long
• Latex paint
• Acrylic wall-glazing medium
• Cotton rags
• Paint buckets
• Drop cloths

Instructions

1. Paint the walls with a primer color close to that of the intended final wall color.

2. Scoop enough smooth uncolored joint compound to make a rounded mound onto a large trowel (8 inches in length).

3. Hold the first trowel in your least dominant hand and scrape cup-size amounts of the plaster onto the second trowel while holding it in your dominant hand.

4. Plan to work in 2-foot square sections of wall to make the application manageable.

5. Scrape the small amounts of plaster on the wall, working fast while swiping the trowel back and forth to build up texture in many directions.

6. Allow the textures to vary, with raised streaks and places where the joint compound is very thin, giving the overall effect of plaster on stone.

7. Cover the entire wall, working in 2-foot sections.

8. Allow the application to dry thoroughly, preferably overnight.

9. Paint over the joint compound layer with latex paint in the desired final wall color, using a paintbrush or roller designed for textured surfaces.

10. Allow the paint layer to dry thoroughly for at least two hours.

11. Thin the paint with glazing medium, mixing equal amounts of medium and paint.

12. Tear up cotton cloths and make several loose tennis ball-size clumps.

13. Apply the next layer of medium/paint mixture with the cotton rags, blotting and dabbing the paint on in 2-foot sections. Varying the thickness of the application results in a richer, mottled surface resembling the look of traditional plaster applications.

14. Apply the medium/paint mixture to the entire wall. The transparent glazing medium adds a subtle glossy finish, resembling the look of plaster walls with a patina of age. The medium also fills in valleys in the texture resulting in easier cleaning later.

Tips & Warnings

• Add another layer of the medium/paint mixture in a few spots across the walls to add even more subtle hues in the color.

• Wear latex or plastic gloves whenever applying joint compound or paint.

References

• Life in Italy: Tuscan Decor
• Video Jug: Venetian Plaster Step By Step With Firenze Marmorino
• Venetian Plaster New York: Venetian Plaster--An Affordable Luxury for Every Decor