The Timelessness of White Plaster

Ever since the rise of social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, interior design ideas, colors, shapes, textures, and patterns rise and fall at a dizzying pace. Things that used to become popular in an organic way, that is by installation and use, are now artificially turned into "trends" that cycle through in a matter of months. Images race across the internet and things become passé even before the last person can hit SEND.

So I appreciate an interior design item that has been around and will be around...an item that is not appealing to the Insta-crowd. And this subtle material shows up discreetly in design schemes, adding interest and style without appealing to the lowest common denominator. White plaster has been used for many different applications (see the marvelous white plaster furniture of John Dickinson here) but when used on lighting fixtures, it turns into something very special.

In 1954, the modern master artist Alberto Giacometti created three plaster chandeliers for his friend, the art critic, patron, and publisher Tériade (Stratis Eleftheriades). The one seen below hung in Tériade's dining room in his apartment on rue de Rennes in Paris. The artist had used white plaster in his sculptural work for some time. Giacometti had begun designing plaster lighting in the late 1920s, a period of intense collaboration with Jean-Michel Frank. And this particular light sold at auction for £2,045,000.

In this portrait of Alberto Giacometti in his studio, the chandelier can be seen hanging in the upper right.

Alberto created many works with his brother Diego who was an equally powerful and famous sculptor and designer. And in 1985, the Musée national Picasso-Paris commissioned Diego Giacometti, then in his 80s, to create a 50-piece collection of chairs, benches, lights and tables, designed exclusively for the Hôtel Salé (the historical site that houses the museum). He finished the commission just before his death in July 1985.

As I mentioned, the allure of such delicate, geometric white plaster light fixtures seems to transcend styles and trends.

Lighting designer Julie Neill has an entire line of white plaster fixtures: she created this light in homage to Diego Giacometti called, appropriately enough, the Diego Chandelier. The version here is a two-tier fixture but it also comes as a single tier.

Something very much like the Diego light can be spotted in the Paris apartment of Jean-Louis Deniot.

And this sitting room by Jeffrey Bilhuber sports what looks like the two-tiered version.

Interior designer Miles Redd designed a fixture in white plaster for Ballard.

There are lots of other versions of light fixtures in white plaster...

I love this cup fixture and lantern fixture from ALT For Living.

This white plaster Lotus chandelier from Tracey Garet for her company Apsara is both modern but organic enough to take its place in a traditional Chinoiserie dining room!

Here is a lovely, subtle chandelier in a beautifully bright dining room by Charlie Ferrer.

And even legendary interior designer Nicky Haslam has a white plaster lantern in his London home!

Happy designing!

The Beauty of Venetian Plaster

In Venice, Italy in the 1500s, builders began to use a very special material to finish the walls and ceilings of the dwellings in this magical city on the sea. They mixed plaster and colored tints with limestone and marble dust--and sometimes chips of marble--to create a finish that is quite dazzling. On my last trip to Venice, the finish was indeed everywhere, even in my Hotel Rialto, right next to the Ponte Rialto.

Mediterranean Living Room by Atlanta Paint & Wall Coverings ROMA | Eco-Sustainable Building Technologies

Venetian plaster is still done in this ancient method. In this time- and labor-intensive process, multiple layers of the plaster, infused with slaked limestone, are applied by hand. Once on, the layers are then burnished either to a satin or a very high gloss, glass-like texture and appearance. A more matte texture is also possible, but the hallmark of Venetian plaster is the gloss.

Eclectic Living Room by San Francisco Photographers XOJY

Once burnished, the plaster hardens and dries to stone...which makes sense since it is basically wet stone that is being troweled on to the surface. It is incredibly hard and durable. It can even stand up to water and is acceptable to use in bathrooms...and even in showers!

Walls look fantastic in Venetian plaster. Because of the multiple layers of plaster and limestone, the material has a startling and alluring depth. It can look like suede but the gloss brings out the depth even more.

Mediterranean Hall by Oakland Paint & Wall Coverings Level Five Design

But real luxury is a Venetian plastered ceiling. Below we see a bedroom with walls and ceiling in the same tone of Venetian plaster. Additionally, it appears that the walls are satin but the ceiling is high gloss.

Victorian Bedroom by Minneapolis Architects & Building Designers Murphy & Co. Design

Here are some more examples of Venetian plastered ceilings. The look is gorgeous--and is especially attractive on tray ceilings or barrel vaulted ceilings.

Traditional Kitchen by Sioux Falls Artists & Artisans Bella Faux Finishes

Contemporary Dining Room by New York Interior Designers & Decorators Andrew Flesher Interiors

Contemporary Staircase by New York Interior Designers & Decorators BNO design

And Venetian plaster can be very versatile in terms of style: it may have originated in Venice in the sixteenth century, but the look is very at home in a modern setting. The "stone" texture and sensibility bring a contemporary edge to any space.

Contemporary Family Room by San Francisco Architects & Building Designers Mark English Architects, AIA

Eclectic Kitchen by San Francisco Artists & Artisans Fitzgerald Studio

Happy designing!

The Furniture of John Dickinson

John Dickinson's San Francisco-based interior design career spanned decades, through the 60s and 70s, but he will be best remembered for a collection of whimsical, stylish, furniture and furnishings created in matte chalk white. Since his death in 1982, his console tables, side tables, lamps, and mirrors have become highly coveted items by interior designers and collectors. His original designs feature wry details like animal feet and the illusion of draped fabric but made in metal or plaster.

Dickinson's African table is an homage to the kind of rough-hewn anthropomorphic objects from that continent.

The following images of his Etruscan chair and table are a combination of historical elements from Greek and Roman furnishings (and even as far back as the Egyptians who put animal feet on stools and small tables) with the neo-classical sensibility of eighteenth century Europe.

His footed and hoofed demi-console, lamp, table, and stool are now iconic.

Another trompe-l'œil effect from Dickinson is his organic stacked stone console table. The unexpected style comes from the fact that it is executed in his hallmark matte white.

His tin console (part of the permanent collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art) and table look as if they have luxurious linens draped over them, cascading down into box pleats at the corners.This idea was so copied that we now see the idea in acrylic from various manufacturers and designers.

And finally, Dickinson ventured into "faux-bois" territory ("faux-bois" is a style of furniture that rose to favor during the Victorians and featured pieces in cast concrete that resembled rustic log furniture) with his twig lamp and mirror.

His pieces look wonderful as accents in rooms of any style. See if you can spot his pieces in each room below.

And here is a pine wood version of his African table in Dickinson's own San Francisco home, a renovated fire station!

Dickinson's original pieces were made in plaster but Sutherland Furniture has retooled the formula and has reissued some of these pieces in a mix of concrete and fiberglass. You can see and purchase them here. Take a look at the tableau from Sutherland below which features Dickinson's twig lamp and mirror over the tin console.

Happy designing!