An interior renewal in Brighton
A full interior repaint of a family home in Bayside — considered colour, clean lines and a calm, gallery-like backdrop for the owners' growing art collection.
Read case study
Limewash, plaster & specialty finishes
SURFACE works in the finishes that give a space its character — limewash, mineral paint, polished plaster, textured render, patina and bespoke decorative work. Each is chosen for the surface, the light and the architecture, and applied by hand, by painters who trained as artists.
What we do
Limewash
Breathable, mineral-based colour with a soft, chalky depth that moves with the light and ages rather than fades. Limewash bonds into masonry, render and plaster rather than sitting on top, which makes it a natural fit for older solid walls that need to breathe — and for new interiors that want the depth a flat acrylic can't give. Applied in thin brushed coats, each wall carries the mark of the hand that made it.
Polished plaster
Venetian and lime plasters built up in fine layers and burnished by hand to a smooth, luminous surface — real stone in the wall, not an effect painted over it. Suited to living spaces, fireplaces, bathrooms and joinery-adjacent walls where the surface is close enough to touch. Sealed correctly, it is hard-wearing, wipeable and only improves with age.
Textured render
Hand-worked wall finishes with grain and movement — matte, raw and quietly architectural. From fine sand finishes to heavier trowelled textures, applied inside and out. Texture catches the light differently through the day, giving large walls a life that flat paint can't.
Patina & metallic
Reactive metal finishes — bronze, copper, iron — applied in liquid form and left to oxidise and shift over time. No two panels are the same, and the surface keeps developing after we leave. Used on feature walls, joinery, and details that want weight and age.
Mineral & silicate
Durable mineral systems that chemically bond into masonry and render, for façades that need to breathe. Silicate coatings are UV-stable and highly vapour-permeable, which makes them the right specification for solid-wall and heritage buildings where trapped moisture would blow a conventional membrane paint off the wall.
Murals & decorative
Bespoke hand-painted work, from contemporary murals to fine decorative detail — signwriting flourishes, borders, ceilings and one-off walls. Led by a practice with a background in visual art, so the work is composed for the architecture rather than dropped onto it.
Artwork & acquisition
Sourcing and commissioning art for a space, drawing on a background in visual art and curation. Where a room calls for it, we find the artists and artworks to complete it — and handle the installation.
Our process
From first sample to final surface
Specialty finishes are developed for the space, not picked from a chart. We sample, test and refine before a brush or trowel touches the wall.
01Consultation & colour
We look at the space, the light and the architecture, and talk through the finishes that suit it — guiding the design process from first colour to final surface.
02Sampling
Colours and textures are developed on sample boards and reviewed in the room's own light, then refined until the surface is right — before any commitment is made on the wall.
03Application by hand
Surfaces are prepared for the system, then the finish is built up in layers by hand — limewash brushed, plaster trowelled and burnished — each wall completed as one piece.
FAQ
Finish questions.
On masonry, render and plaster — anywhere the wall needs to breathe. It suits older solid-wall buildings, and new interiors that want more depth than a flat acrylic can give.
Sealed correctly, polished plaster is hard-wearing and wipeable, and it suits bathrooms and other wet areas well. It only improves with age.
Often, but it depends on the surface — some finishes need particular base coats or a mineral substrate to bond properly. We assess what is there and prepare accordingly.
Yes. These finishes are mixed and applied by hand, so colour is developed for the space — we can guide the design process from first colour to final finish.
Yes — bespoke hand-painted work from contemporary murals to fine decorative detail, led by a practice with a background in visual art and curation.
Case studies
Finishes in practice.
Specialty surface treatments
Beyond conventional paint, a growing part of our work is in specialist finishes — breathable limewashes, textured and polished renders, reactive metallic patinas and mineral coatings drawn from houses like Keim, Resene and Porter's Paints. Each is chosen for the substrate, the architecture and the character a space is reaching for.
Read case study“The limewash is the first thing people ask about. The colour shifts with the light through the day — it made the whole room.”
Get in touch
Start a project.
Tell us about the space and the finish you have in mind, and we'll be in touch.