Venetian Plaster Vancouver : “The Process, The Projects”

April 17th, 2012

The process, the projects, the finished product: This is an inside look into how I create my Venetian plaster projects, making them come alive.

In this video, you’ll see steps used to create my Venetian plaster projects, including completed project photos of Classic, Carrara, Intonachino and Tadelakt plaster applications.

When it comes to my projects, it’s Stucco Italiano Italian lime plaster that is my one and only choice, and I think this video shows you why. When you think interior stucco think Authentic lime based Venetian plaster.

The Return From Banff Back To Local Vancouver Projects

May 2nd, 2011

The trip home from Banff, Alberta, was an amazing seasonal drive. As I dropped from the Rocky Mountain highs to the Okanagan, then sea level, I saw things go from end-of-winter to lush and green, full of spring life.

I greatly enjoyed experiencing all four “seasons” this year, thanks to my cold-season work in the mountains and Alberta. It was mostly rain and a really mild winter in Vancouver, not one of our best years, but also not that unusual. It was a good time for a wintery change of scenery, but it’s nice (if a little soggy) to be home.

I’m getting back to making the rounds and taking on local projects. This past week, my team worked on two Valley projects — one in Maple Ridge and the other in Langley. The lengthy drives between home and the two projects took some adjusting, but it’s a great place to drive.

We just finished work on this smaller “feature” barrel ceiling’s plaster treatment. It’s one of those little jobs that starts and finishes quickly.

Italian Venetian plaster like this is where I began working in this trade, and those days kicked off what I hope will be a long and great career. It’s a real treat to work where I got my roots.

Smaller projects like this are always fun, too. Seeing the end result more quickly is a great pay-off compared to the visual impact but long work stint that doing a huge project comes with. I enjoy having a mix of both kinds of jobs.

Decorative Paint & Plaster is back in town and we’re booking clients for the next two years. How can we help you?

Château Banff Italian Lime Plaster Interior

January 21st, 2011

Another week has come and gone, and I’m a week behind on my blogging — with pretty good reason, too!

My crew has been working really long days and straight through their weekends in order to keep up with production on the house, since the trades are all making huge advances these days, and there are a lot of pictures to prove it.

If this is the first time you’re dropping in to looking at this project, I’d suggest going back to the beginning of this amazing Rocky Mountains Italian lime Venetian plaster project in Banff, right here.

I’ve been loving the level of work from everyone involved in this project. Get a load of this amazing buffalo design in the stone flooring, at the main entrance.

It’s almost like a giant puzzle, isn’t it? I bet there’s a lot of people who’d love to put a puzzle this size together, but I sure wouldn’t. The precision needed to lay this tile is a pretty rare skill, even at this level of the game.

Talk about a mistake getting set in stone… Not for me, thanks. I’ll leave that to the pros.

Here’s another look at the stone buffalo, from the second floor.

A little trivia for you: Did you know that Alberta’s home to one of the two last continually wild North American buffalo herds?

After the Venetian plaster finish on the kitchen ceiling got polished off, other teams got to put the beams up. I’m loving the look and the contrast of the smooth wood against the rustic lightly-pitted plaster, but can’t wait to see it stained.

Another shipment of material showed up this week, which meant more walking up hills and stairs covered in snow, hauling plaster supplies.

Ahh, the boring world of drywall… but progress here means moving on to what we love, the plastering.

Details are critical with a masterful build like this one, where everyone’s brought their A++ game. Here’s Kelvin getting all those reveals smooth and level. It’s looking great, and we know he’ll keep it up.

The beams in the master bathroom are installed now, getting closer to a finished look.

The outside of this place is getting just as much detail work as in the inside. Here are some shots of the exterior. Now this is some serious craftsmanship going on here.

Here’s one of my favourite areas of the whole build: the back patio, with its massive fireplace.

Can you imagine summer nights, friends, wine, a fire crackling, and those towering evergreens all around?

All work and no play makes Darrell and the boys unhappy. I’m no dummy, we can’t have that! No trip, not even a work one, to Banff, Alberta, is complete without hitting the local slopes. Here’s us, off to Sunshine Village for a little powder action.

Sometimes accidents happen… Would you believe a darn tree just jumped right out at me?

Thanks for sticking around as my epic work adventure continues.

Stay tuned for more soon!

Cheers,
Darrell Morrison

Grandview Business Center, Venetian Plaster Interior

December 2nd, 2010

Guess what I’ve always dreamed of scratching off my bucket-list? Plastering a high-end commercial building.

Soon, I’ll be scratching it off! (Or I can change the bucket list to “super-big high-end commercial building,” maybe. Then, after that, add “downtown”.)

Starting April, 2011, I’ll be starting an amazing adventure with my team as we begin a massive lime plastering project in the Grandview Business Centre in South Surrey, BC.

It’s a great building, an important part of the new “Morgan Crossing” district, which is an area that has just exploded over the last two years.

The mall, The Shops At Morgan Crossing, has great businesses like the Steve Nash Sports Club and a favourite of mine, because we all love a good wine: the “Everything Wine Store”.

Located so close to the mall, the Business Centre’s a great location for professionals looking to be accessible and convenient for clients.

All right, let’s talk project details.

The Builder Double V Construction will be creating the blank canvas for this amazing project.

We’ll be putting lime plaster in all the common spaces (including lobbies, corridors, and washrooms) on the Morgan Crossing Business Centre’s 1st, 3rd, and 4th floors.

We’ve chosen the palette already.

The corridors will be a slightly polished sandy/cream-coloured lime plaster with subtle pitting and black flecks.

Washrooms will be treated with a cement-based plaster that incorporates subtle pitting, almost like a honed travertine, but seamless and free of any joints.

The lobby ceiling will have a shiny finish that resembles the look of polished marble.

I can’t wait to see so much of my work in one place. A lot of what I work on is in private homes, but this will be a project that I can “visit” for years to come — and close to home, too.

Stay tuned while I prepare for this awesome undertaking, because I plan to share the journey with you by blogging the process in words and video while things come to life.

Cheers,

Darrell Morrison

Venetian Plaster Bathroom White Rock: Carrara Marmorino

April 23rd, 2010

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.

Metallic Bronze & Copper Distressed Ceiling

March 26th, 2010

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

March 21st, 2010

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

November 6th, 2009

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.

Thank You for a wonderful year of interior painting & venetian plaster installations Vancouver

September 12th, 2009

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.

This is a photo of one of our recent full interior paint project in downtown Vancouver, it also included a custom metallic paint finish in the master bedroom and a custom Tadelakt pillar to match their Solus Stone Fireplace