Wall Finishes... Which Will You
Choose?
The term “wall finishes” is exactly
what the term sounds like: it is the
final touches placed on a wall that
‘finishes’ the wall with an
acceptable visual look. The finish
to a wall can range from simple
paint to expensive wallpaper to
elaborate plastering, but the end
result will always be the same. That
end result is the fact that the
wall’s finish enhances the actual
look of a room if not the entire
interior of the dwelling. If the
finish of the wall does not look
decent, then the wall will
ultimately detract from the quality
of the residence as a whole.
Wall finishes are generally taken
for granted. The reason for this is
perhaps psychological. Without any
walls, there is no home. That is
just a given! However, people have a
tendency to confuse the structural
duties of a wall with the visual
allure of the proper wall finish
designed by a decorator. In a way,
the lack of a proper finish may be
perfectly acceptable to one who is
happy with bare, white painted
walls; but for those who have higher
standards and expectations in terms
of what type of interior décor they
deem acceptable, a bit more emphasis
will be placed on the design and,
perhaps, the originality of the
design of the wall finish that is
required.
In order to understand what type of
wall finishes would be considered
“proper” or “acceptable,” one must
decide what specific type of wall
finish one wants. There is a great
variety in terms of specific wall
finishes and a home owner or even
apartment dweller needs to decide on
what type of finish would be optimum
based on the specific dimensions of
the dwelling combined with the
specific tastes of the dweller.
The various types of wall finishes
include: wallpaper, the grandfather
of all wall finishes and probably
the finish that people are most
familiar; faux finishes, which
utilize various methods of
decorative finishes; murals, which
involve the use of illustrations
which can be either painted directly
on the wall or painted on wallpaper;
plaster finishes which involve the
application of lime like plaster
material; and many others.
The various varieties of these wall
finishes can be even further
subdivided by, for lack of a better
word, “genres.” For example, a
plaster wall finish can be further
divided into Italian plaster
finishes and these types of finishes
can be further divided into specific
types of Italian finishes such as
Venetian plaster finishes, etc. So,
in that regard, there will never,
ever be a lack of variety when it
comes to the different types of wall
finishes available.
So, one needs to select a particular
finish, provided the type of finish
selected is appropriate for the
dwelling. For example, a mural wall
finish may be fine for a bedroom,
but probably would not look that
good in a dining room. A plaster
finish would probably better serve a
dining room. Of course, this example
should not be mistaken for a
recommendation that is locked in
stone. There are probably many, many
different interior designers that
could probably come up with many
creative methods to make a dining
room mural look fantastic. However,
such an application of a mural would
surely involve quite a bit of
original and creative thinking.
Ultimately, a proper wall finish is
the type of finish acceptable to the
homeowner based on budget and taste
specifications. Since there is such
a large volume of different types of
wall finishes, there will never be
any specific budgets or tastes that
will end up being utterly precluded.
