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Penelope Bianchi

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You are here: Home / Design / The magical things that can be created with paint effects!

The magical things that can be created with paint effects!

September 18, 2017 By //  by Penelope Bianchi 18 Comments

photo 2

Sometimes people ask me about “faux” wall finishes.

The walls in our house are not “faux” anything!  They are  lime washed.

 Lime (which is mined out of the ground); is mixed with natural pigments also mined out of the ground in  Roussillon, France

in a way it has been done all over Europe for hundreds of years!

The lime is a natural insect repellent; and this kind of “paint” lets the mortar in old stone and brick houses “breathe”.

(A friend who has an historic  plantation near New Orleans had some serious damage done to her

outbuildings by a movie studio painting with modern paints!)

I absolutely love murals;  and am so lucky to have this one in our powder room.  The animals all around our property

are represented;  it makes me happy every time I peek in there!  We always leave the light on, as there is no window!

(Done by Zoe Designs from Massachusetts;  Brooke and Lena)

     http://www.zoe-design.com/?section=home

 

photo 1-1

 There is our rooster!

 

photo 5 Often, ceilings are ignored and neglected.  I love pale blue ceilings , and use them in much of my work!

It reminds me of the sky! This is pale blue lime wash in the powder room!

photo 4

  This delightful deer I haven’t seen;  but she may be out there!

photo 3

We had peacocks for a while!  They “ran away from home”!

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 11.53.34 AM

    photo 1

This is in our master bathroom;    over a bathtub.  From the tub;  I can see the sky and the pale blue ceiling!

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 12.12.43 PM

This is a hand painted tile mural in a niche.  (painted and fired by Radisha)!

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 12.11.45 PM

In a client’s entry we did this Moroccan ceiling  ( Also by Radisha)

Examples of other works  I love!

9cda0e00b0a5e0c20b5fa0b2d80d1b56

 This fantastical ceiling absolutely “makes” this awkward space!

30dc82d01658d7d27542c3d5b6cb2b24

 This wall treatment is like a dado echoing the ceiling!fa9633daf44d83e013d57510b03aa515

This is my favorite!  It is like being in a pergola.

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 11.54.24 AM

     A tent on the ceiling and walls!

11f6d91004b1157dcc1ac45bb1b351ba

 Another tented ceiling

 

 

 

Screen Shot 2013-04-17 at 11.57.33 AM

 delightful wall mural!

 

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Filed Under: Blog, Design, Radisha Tagged With: animals, blue ceilings, faux finishes, hand-painted murals, limewash, murals, painted ceilings, Radisha, Zoe Designs

Previous Post: « The inspiration for our French chickens!!
Next Post: My definition of “luxury”! »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Thoughts on Design

    April 23, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    Inspiring Penny! Love the hand painted tile!!!

    Sally and I saw Doug and Lena just the other day at a presentation on historic Zuber wallpaper we sponsored here in Salem. Wish you could have been there. You would have loved it!

    Love your little ducklings!

    Cheers,
    John

    Reply
  2. Thoughts on Design

    April 23, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    Inspiring Penny! Love the hand painted tile!!!

    Sally and I saw Doug and Lena just the other day at a presentation on historic Zuber wallpaper we sponsored here in Salem. Wish you could have been there. You would have loved it!

    Love your little ducklings!

    Cheers,
    John

    Reply
  3. My Dog-Eared Pages

    April 23, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    I adore the blue lime wash over your bathtub. It’s perfection!! All lovely.

    Reply
  4. My Dog-Eared Pages

    April 23, 2013 at 3:06 pm

    I adore the blue lime wash over your bathtub. It’s perfection!! All lovely.

    Reply
  5. Marsha @ Splenderosa

    April 23, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    One of my most un-favorite things is exposed plumbing under a lavatory, but with this beautiful treatment I don’t seem to mind it at all. That gorgeous crystal embellished flowered necklace is on my post today…to you get the pics of the piece I found for you? xx’s

    Reply
  6. Marsha @ Splenderosa

    April 23, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    One of my most un-favorite things is exposed plumbing under a lavatory, but with this beautiful treatment I don’t seem to mind it at all. That gorgeous crystal embellished flowered necklace is on my post today…to you get the pics of the piece I found for you? xx’s

    Reply
  7. LA CONTESSA

    April 23, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    WELL,TODAY I FOUND A BABY DEER DOE!I MAY HAVE TO GIVER HER TO YOU AS THE HUSBAND DOSNT WANT ME TO KEEP!SHE IS ALL OF 3 DAYS OLD!IN THE TENTED PHOTO I HAVE THE SAME CHANDELIER IN MY KITCHEN!SO, ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE THINGS IN COMMON!ALTHOUGH, I REALIZE THAT ISNOT YOUR HOUSE.I READ ABOUT LIME YEARS AGO………AND OF COURSE WANTED TO DO THAT HERE!BUT WE DIDNOT WENT A FASTER WAY!GREAT POST!

    Reply
    • Penelope Bianchi

      April 23, 2013 at 11:48 pm

      May I have a picture of it? I know it isn’t “alive”! I think I want to buy it!

      Reply
  8. LA CONTESSA

    April 23, 2013 at 9:19 pm

    WELL,TODAY I FOUND A BABY DEER DOE!I MAY HAVE TO GIVER HER TO YOU AS THE HUSBAND DOSNT WANT ME TO KEEP!SHE IS ALL OF 3 DAYS OLD!IN THE TENTED PHOTO I HAVE THE SAME CHANDELIER IN MY KITCHEN!SO, ONCE AGAIN WE HAVE THINGS IN COMMON!ALTHOUGH, I REALIZE THAT ISNOT YOUR HOUSE.I READ ABOUT LIME YEARS AGO………AND OF COURSE WANTED TO DO THAT HERE!BUT WE DIDNOT WENT A FASTER WAY!GREAT POST!

    Reply
    • Penelope Bianchi

      April 23, 2013 at 11:48 pm

      May I have a picture of it? I know it isn’t “alive”! I think I want to buy it!

      Reply
  9. Heather

    April 24, 2013 at 1:56 am

    Hello there Penny! I think that your washroom is my favorite that I have ever seen. That would make me happy every day too. Something made with such love and attention.

    I might have already mentioned to you that when restoring our old house here in Arles, we used limewash extensively, inside and out and oh how the colors caught the light–better than Farrow & Ball! 😉

    What is amazing is that knowledge somehow got lost by the artisans for a while and there are many ancient homes that have been shored up with cement! So they are rotting from the inside because, especially as there is extra humidity as we are right on the Rhone River, they do indeed need to breathe.

    Have a wonderful day,
    Heather

    Reply
  10. Heather

    April 24, 2013 at 1:56 am

    Hello there Penny! I think that your washroom is my favorite that I have ever seen. That would make me happy every day too. Something made with such love and attention.

    I might have already mentioned to you that when restoring our old house here in Arles, we used limewash extensively, inside and out and oh how the colors caught the light–better than Farrow & Ball! 😉

    What is amazing is that knowledge somehow got lost by the artisans for a while and there are many ancient homes that have been shored up with cement! So they are rotting from the inside because, especially as there is extra humidity as we are right on the Rhone River, they do indeed need to breathe.

    Have a wonderful day,
    Heather

    Reply
  11. mama

    October 14, 2013 at 5:03 am

    I wish I could get my hands on some of the stuff that belonged to my maternal grandparents. You would thoroughly enjoy them. Besides several peacocks (and hen) they had deer plus other animals; some of the scenes represented on different mediums. A brass chandelier with hunting scene (in different metals),china cabinet (inbuilt) back with a mural similar to the one in your powder room. Takes me back in time! I’ll be calling my cousins for pictures…

    Reply
  12. mama

    October 14, 2013 at 5:03 am

    I wish I could get my hands on some of the stuff that belonged to my maternal grandparents. You would thoroughly enjoy them. Besides several peacocks (and hen) they had deer plus other animals; some of the scenes represented on different mediums. A brass chandelier with hunting scene (in different metals),china cabinet (inbuilt) back with a mural similar to the one in your powder room. Takes me back in time! I’ll be calling my cousins for pictures…

    Reply
  13. Gloria Krekel

    September 12, 2014 at 5:31 am

    I love, love, love your master bedroom with the beautiful blue ceiling
    and the pink walls too. How do you achieve this?
    Thank you,
    Gloria Krekel

    Reply
  14. Gloria Krekel

    September 12, 2014 at 5:31 am

    I love, love, love your master bedroom with the beautiful blue ceiling
    and the pink walls too. How do you achieve this?
    Thank you,
    Gloria Krekel

    Reply
  15. Penelope Bianchi

    September 13, 2014 at 11:55 am

    Hi!

    The pigments are from Roussillon; in France they are mined out of the ground.

    (Also available here from “Porter’s Paints”
    I will try to get the website!) mixed with lime and put on to raw plaster with a big brush!

    Reply
  16. Penelope Bianchi

    September 13, 2014 at 11:55 am

    Hi!

    The pigments are from Roussillon; in France they are mined out of the ground.

    (Also available here from “Porter’s Paints”
    I will try to get the website!) mixed with lime and put on to raw plaster with a big brush!

    Reply

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