Amongst the paint finishes used to create an antique or weathered look, the Tuscan finish is extremely popular. It is typically achieved using faux painting techniques, especially color washing, to create the illusion of texture and age. The look can also be recreated by introducing actual texture, with Venetian plastering, for example. Faux finishes that create the appearance of texture on a flat surface are a practical and economical choice for decorators seeking the atmosphere of Italy. As well as texture, the right color palette is also of paramount importance in the Tuscan look.

The Tuscan Look

Tuscan finishes evoke the sunny charm of Italian country villages, simple peasant lifestyles and cozy homes that have been lived in for generations. Central to the look are subtle colors softened with age. The Tuscan homes on which the finish is modeled have an organic feel. Without industrially produced paints and plasters, builders used local materials, mixing their materials in the same way as their fathers and forefathers.

Decorative details are typically stenciled onto walls as borders and have a home-grown, folk-art quality. Tiles and mosaics in complementary colors are also used. The versatile Tuscan paint finish is well-suited to informal living areas, dining rooms, kitchens and patios but can also be effective in more formal rooms.

Tuscan Colors

Mined for millennia, pigments known collectively as ‘ochres’ are the traditional basis of paints worldwide. Red ochre is simply iron ore, while other metal oxides are used for different color paints. These natural pigments, mixed with lime and other substances, lend paints an organic quality that is lacking in the commercial paints that we are accustomed to today.

Ochreous earth pigments are typically various shades of red, but they range from rust brown to burnt orange, and weathered yellow to purplish-maroon. Pinkish and peach-colored pigments occur naturally and other metal oxides provide black pigments. They can either be mixed to make paints or added to plaster to add subtle color.

The colors of natural pigments are characteristic of the Tuscan palette. So too is terracotta, ideal for tiled floors, which derives its name from the Italian for ‘baked earth’. Complementary colors of the Mediterranean may also be incorporated. They include soft gray-greens and the deep blue of the sea itself.

Choosing Your Tuscan Palette

Natural colors share comparable color values and are easy to mix and match. Color washing is the faux painting method usually used to create Tuscan texture. It can be done with two colors, but more can be used to vary the effect. You may want to also want to match your colors according to the room you intend to decorate. A sunny room may demand less intense colors, and cold room warmer, deeper hues.

Depending on how you apply the paint and the nature and range of the colors used, you can achieve a cloudy, airy finish or a denser, moodier feel. To complete the Tuscan paint finish, consider stenciled borders in similar muted tones. Foliage such as acanthus leaves or vines and grapes are motifs in keeping with the Tuscan theme. Faux mosaics and tiles in suitable colors provide another finishing touch.

Tags: gardening, home, home repair, home-and-garden, home-improvement, interior-design, painting

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 7:23 am and is filed under decorating, gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.