Luxury Finishes

Choosing between the finishes

The finishes on this page solve overlapping problems, and the right choice is usually decided by how the surface will be used rather than by how it looks in a photograph. Venetian and polished plaster give depth and a hand-worked surface. Microcement gives a continuous, groutless plane and copes with floors. Panelling gives relief and physical robustness. Gypsum art gives cast, sculptural detail.

Water and wear narrow the field quickly. Floors and wet zones point towards microcement with a sealer chosen for that exposure. Walls in circulation space that get knocked point towards panelling or a durable decorative coating. Walls that are looked at rather than touched are where polished plaster and marble effects do their best work.

Substrate narrows it further. A flat, sound wall will take any of these. A wall that moves, is damp, or sits on a flexing timber floor rules out the thin, rigid options until the underlying issue is dealt with, and that is a survey question rather than a specification one.

Almost all of these finishes are hand-applied and vary between one wall and the next. That variation is a property of the material rather than a fault, and it is worth seeing in a sample at the size it will be used before committing to a whole elevation.

We apply luxury decorative finishes across London, including Venetian plaster, microcement, feature walls, decorative panelling, gypsum art and architectural features. Samples are agreed before work begins.

Common questions

Which of these finishes suit a bathroom?

Microcement handles floors and wet zones when sealed for that exposure, and works on walls including shower areas over a properly tanked substrate. Polished plasters suit bathroom walls outside the direct wet zone. Cast gypsum work is an interior decorative material and is kept away from the wet zone unless sealed for the purpose.

Do these finishes work with underfloor heating?

Microcement does, and it suits it well because the surface is continuous and thin. Wall finishes are unaffected. In all cases the heating is commissioned and brought up gradually rather than run at full output immediately after installation.

How are samples provided before committing?

In the actual materials rather than from a card, and viewed on site under the light in the room at the times of day the space is used. Sheen and depth shift considerably between a showroom board and a north-facing wall, which is why a decision made from a photograph often disappoints.