Name: White Marigold 2149-60, Timothy Straw 2149 40
Brand: Benjamin Moore
What do you with the ugliest walls in New York? Paint them to look like a stone Grotto!
This small office space had those kind of walls you see in lower Manhattan, which have been plastered by somebody's bare fingers so many times it looks like the walls could crawl away. When my client suggested he wanted one of the those faux-finish sponging techniques in a room like this, I inwardly held my sides in mirth. Boy, was I wrong...
We used two different shades of the same hue, and I applied the paints simultaneously with a thick roller and sea sponges. This created highlights and shadows that followed the texture of the walls' surfaces, disguising dirt and flaws.
The walls feel like they were made of warm rough stone. The room reminds me of an Italian restaurant from my youth, with its fish-pond water fountain; or perhaps the follies at Versailles. Cheers to thick rollers and sea sponges.
- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter
I think its attractiveness must be lost in the internet.
view rich cardiff's profile
the color is striking and it's an improvement.
view SD913's profile
Love the color and the look in general, but 2 things bother me: first, I think that if the baseboard were well sanded and more neatly painted white, it would look as if the walls were more truly meant to be that way; and second, if that large vertical section of imperfection were more highly emphasized--with lighter "bumps" and streakier, darker shadows (artfully, of course), it wouldn't look as if you were trying to hide it by blending it in.
view Aulaire's profile
the walls in our apartment's living room are even worse (bonus popcorn ceiling too!). i'm afraid to do anything but paint them white and further amplify their fug-ness.
view I Love Upstate's profile
I now know what to do with the ugliest wall in my apartment, and if you've seen my apartment, you know that's saying something.
view Melinda's profile
definite improvement! I have a bathroom with the ugliest walls and could use this "thick roller" technique. with different colors, of course, since it is the bath.
view kristenk's profile
Not sure if this is the place to post this, but I am looking for a good goldish-amber color for my bedroom- many of them look so green. I am looking to re-do my bedroom in tones of gold and brown with some terra-cotta accents, and need the right wall color.
Any ideas?
view Lexipup's profile
love it. very "anthropologie" and I say that as a compliment.
view denise123's profile
something must be lost in e-translation. judging from the photo, i'd say it looks dirty and shabby...
view erin n's profile
Here's my question: If you client could afford to pay a faux-finish expert, surely he/she could have afforded to have to walls repaired and skim-coated? For a small room it would have been under $1k.
I admire your resourcefulness but how much nicer would that finish have looked on a smooth wall with nice molding? There's a thin line between shabby chic and shabby.
view Bolder's profile
I was thinking the same thing, Bolder!
Yikes. Maybe being in the midst of a year-long-so-far-and-a-lot-longer-to-go home renovation (including a TON of plaster work) has clouded my vision, but that just looks like a dirty, water-damaged wall to me.
view Anna at D16's profile
The finish itself is nice... but the overall look? No me gusta.
view shani-o's profile
When I saw the first photo, I thought it was the BEFORE view! It still gives me the impression of something nasty growing on the walls.
view Daily Nuance's profile