Polished Plaster - Rene Dekker Design

It's All in the Polish

Two of René Dekker's signature features when it comes to creating a high end interior finish for his luxury design schemes, are polished plaster and bas reliefs. These inspired techniques create a stunning finish as well as a beautiful and unique focal point.

The former, polished plaster, is usually used on walls and ceilings because it gives a finish similar to that of travertine, polished marble or even limestone. Its main ingredients are marble dust, slaked lime, and marble chips. When applied in multiple thin layers and polished, these combined components give the surface a distinctive subtle and glamorous sheen that boasts an almost three-dimensional quality.

Types of polished plaster:

Lucidato or Venetian, is often said to be the classic polished plaster and is also known as spatulata or grasello. It is applied onto a surface in several thin layers using a small spatula to produce a smooth surface with a depth of colour and shimmer. It is naturally white, but can be tinted by adding natural or synthetic earthy ochre tones to create the exact hue needed. This process will render an equally beautiful finish, simply in a slightly deeper hue, which enables a luxury interior designer to create the desired atmosphere.

Once the layers of plaster have been applied, they are finished or burnished with a specialised steel trowel to create a silky smooth sheen. Without this technique, the surface will remain visually matt, and rough and brittle in texture, which is all rather unappealing and also easy to damage.

High End Interior Kensington MansionVenetian plaster is often used on surfaces where heavier materials cannot be easily installed, and as an alternative to marble. It's particularly useful in venues with columns or curved walls, where it's easy to apply.

The intrinsic qualities of Venetian Plaster allow the walls to breathe.   Some professional tradesmen oil and wax the plaster as a final finish to add protection and enhance the material's natural vibrancy. It is possible in today's market to speed up the application of the process by using products that contain several types of modern additives. The characteristic glassy shine is still there, but only three or four layers are needed to achieve it. Either way, the result is a high end interior with a beautifully elegant finish that is soft to the touch and one that exudes glamour and a luxurious living.

Another popular choice is Polished Plaster Stone, which has a unique quality achieved by the natural flecks within this plaster that help provide a high quality and different type of finish.

High End Interior West London PenthouseMeanwhile, Marmorino Pitted creates a stone effect and is often used with a mix of Lucidato. This helps in achieving a variance in textures, often deemed as having the best of both worlds.

Marmorino Stucco is a fine grained marmorino polished plaster, which is ideal for creating a fine-grained and smooth polished finish on walls as well as ceilings.

Marmorino Classic is a traditional plaster that can easily be applied to both high end interior as well as exterior surfaces as it is naturally mildew resistant. It provides a lustrous and smooth finish with a lot of depth.

Bas relief

Another of René Dekker's unique and highly successful elements that he includes in his top of the range designs are Bas reliefs. This is a style of relief sculpture that projects only slightly from its own background. It does however still maintain a three-dimensional element, which allows the work to be viewed from different angles without distortion. When natural forms are sculpted in this way their contours are flattened slightly – a technique frequently seen in the architectural decoration of buildings in a carved stone frieze.

Popular choices for the imagery of these beautiful sculptures are figures and inspiration from the natural world such as trees. Bas relief is the perfect feature for a high end interior designer who wants to create luxurious and glamorous schemes, and René Dekker is at the forefront of this style.