The Tuscan look is one of the most popular paint finishes available today. It employs faux painting techniques to create a warm, weathered appearance, reminiscent of traditional homes in rural Italy. Faux painting is one way to simulate the textured Tuscan look. Alternatively, actual texture can be added by means of Venetian plastering. Faux painting is a particularly economical and effective way to create texture on flat walls. A rich but subtle color palette is vital to reproducing the Tuscan finish, with its Mediterranean feel.
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.
Tuscan interiors evoke informal living and relaxed lifestyles. That makes them ideal for rooms associated with social gatherings, such as dining rooms and patios, as well as kitchens. Additional design features associated with Tuscan homes include stenciled borders depicting foliage, as well as tiles and mosaics in muted natural colors.
Tuscan Colors
The materials that lend the Tuscan palette its distinctive warmth have been used throughout human history. Iron oxides, as well as other minerals, are the traditional basis of paints world-wide. These pigments, or ochres, create colors that are muted and natural, not bright or sharp, as in industrial paint products of today.
Iron oxide, or red ochre, comes in an astonishing range of colors, used to make paints and sometimes to add color to plaster. Bright reds were much prized in antiquity, but the variations are huge. It can be a deep maroon or (since it is made of iron) a rich, rusty brown. Shades of orange vary from burnt tangerine to peach and warm, deep yellow.
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
The natural colors in the Tuscan palette mix and match well, though there are further considerations. You can choose paints of different color intensity. Warmer colors may be required for a cold room and conversely, cooler colors for a bright, sunny space. Color washing requires a minimum of two colors, but further colors can be added to produce a more textured and varied effect.
Color washing allows you to vary the amount of texture and create diverse finishes, depending on the number and intensity of the colors you select. You could opt for a lighter, brighter and more neutral finish or you might prefer the coziness and warmth that a darker palette can create. Patios and kitchens can be finished off with blue or green tiles or you could paint faux mosaics. A stenciled border featuring Mediterranean plants, such as acanthus, olives or grapevines, provides the final flourish. - 15615
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.
Tuscan interiors evoke informal living and relaxed lifestyles. That makes them ideal for rooms associated with social gatherings, such as dining rooms and patios, as well as kitchens. Additional design features associated with Tuscan homes include stenciled borders depicting foliage, as well as tiles and mosaics in muted natural colors.
Tuscan Colors
The materials that lend the Tuscan palette its distinctive warmth have been used throughout human history. Iron oxides, as well as other minerals, are the traditional basis of paints world-wide. These pigments, or ochres, create colors that are muted and natural, not bright or sharp, as in industrial paint products of today.
Iron oxide, or red ochre, comes in an astonishing range of colors, used to make paints and sometimes to add color to plaster. Bright reds were much prized in antiquity, but the variations are huge. It can be a deep maroon or (since it is made of iron) a rich, rusty brown. Shades of orange vary from burnt tangerine to peach and warm, deep yellow.
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
The natural colors in the Tuscan palette mix and match well, though there are further considerations. You can choose paints of different color intensity. Warmer colors may be required for a cold room and conversely, cooler colors for a bright, sunny space. Color washing requires a minimum of two colors, but further colors can be added to produce a more textured and varied effect.
Color washing allows you to vary the amount of texture and create diverse finishes, depending on the number and intensity of the colors you select. You could opt for a lighter, brighter and more neutral finish or you might prefer the coziness and warmth that a darker palette can create. Patios and kitchens can be finished off with blue or green tiles or you could paint faux mosaics. A stenciled border featuring Mediterranean plants, such as acanthus, olives or grapevines, provides the final flourish. - 15615
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Ready for more Tuscany in your home? Visit ThatPainterLady.com for more ideas and extra tips for faux painting finishes in golden yellow tuscan too.
