Penthouse Oil-Based Finish with Venetian Plaster and Lacquered Joinery

The Challenge

Oil-based paint throughout a fully furnished penthouse — with marble flooring, bespoke fabric wall coverings in the sitting room, and a full complement of antique furniture — demanded exhaustive protection measures and meticulous ventilation management during application and drying. The ultra-high gloss lacquered joinery required a spray-applied two-pack polyurethane system, demanding the creation of temporary spray enclosures within the apartment to prevent overspray contamination. The venetian plaster feature wall in the master bedroom needed to be colour-matched to a specific marble sample provided by the interior designer.

Our Approach

We began by constructing sealed spray booths around all joinery to be lacquered, using polyethylene sheeting and sealed perimeter tape to contain overspray. All marble and fabric surfaces received multiple protective layers. The joinery was prepared by hand-sanding to 240 grit, primed with a high-adhesion two-pack primer, and sprayed with three coats of Teknos Futura Aqua 40 in a custom high-gloss sheen, with denibbing between coats to achieve a mirror-like surface. Oil-based paint was applied by brush throughout all rooms — Mylands Wood & Metal Gloss on all trim and skirting, Farrow & Ball estate oil-based emulsion equivalent on walls — providing the depth of colour and washable durability demanded. The venetian plaster feature wall was applied by our specialist plaster artist over three days, building up multiple coats of Grassello di Calce lime plaster, trowelled and burnished to a translucent sheen that referenced the marble sample precisely.

The Result

The completed penthouse has the finish quality of a five-star hotel suite, with the oil-based palette delivering a richness and durability that water-based products cannot replicate. The lacquered joinery is a particular achievement — from a distance of two metres the surface is a perfect reflection, indistinguishable from factory-applied automotive lacquer. The venetian plaster feature wall changes character entirely as light moves through the day, from a pale chalky matt in the morning to a warm, translucent sheen by evening. The interior designer declared it one of the finest decorative finishes she had specified in twenty years of practice.