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Stucco finishes are high-end finishes that offer infinite possibilities for color, mottling and sheen.  These timeless finishes lend themselves beautifully to every type of interior, whether traditional or contemporary.  Stucco finishes offer sophisticated depth and movement while remaining perfectly smooth to the touch.

In the United States "stucco" is thought of as an exterior cement or form of concrete.  In Europe and abroad, stucco is known as any of various fine plasters used for decorative work.  Americans who have lately been introduced to these finishes refer to them as Venetian plaster or decorative plaster.  Venetian plaster is a method of applying stucco popular during the Renaissance using very small spatulas and a decorative plaster finish could be anything.  We at Olivetti Mineral Finishes are committed to the preservation of this trade and urge others to educate themselves as to what a well performed "stucco" job consists of before applying or paying for one. 

Olivetti Mineral Finishes offers the classic stuccos, "Grassello" and "Marmorino".  Grassello is fine stucco with a fat lime content for optimum polishing capability.  Marmorino is fine stucco containing marble aggregates.  The trowel hits the aggregate, creating flame-like or marble-like movement in the surface. 

More familiar than stuccos are lime washes.  Lime washes are made using different types of natural lime.  Lime paint is much more substantial than other decorative painting mediums.

"I have a feeling that  there is earth and nature on the walls.  The walls exude something.  They emanate warmth and light.  The color is not flat.  It's as if the lime reflects the color.  I feel even at night the walls are alive.  You cannot compare this to a faux finish.  Lime has so much more substance.  It's real!  I see how incredibly limited I was.  This room is about joy!" 

                                                                                                                        Nico Eichlseder, Mill Valley, California

Through travel and magazines most people have seen the lime washed villas that grace the Mediterranean.  Southern European interior and exterior walls are usually composed of lime plaster.  Natural hydraulic lime washes are used on these porous surfaces.  Natural hydraulic washes are not suitable on sheetrock systems and previously painted plaster walls.  These surfaces popular in America for earthquake, trend or resource reasons require the use of other natural limes. 

Olivetti Mineral Finishes offers an interior lime paint using these other natural limes.  Olivetti Lime Paint mottles and appears chalky and velvety when left unpolished.  Lime Paint used on smooth surfaces can be polished or burnished to create an illustrious sheen similar to high-end stuccos.  Many other lime washes in the market are synthetic and contain no lime at all.  Other lime washes are gritty and offer no polishing capabilities.  We at Olivetti Mineral Finishes feel our Lime Paint is in a class all it's own.  There is an achievable Olivetti Lime Paint Finish for everyone with a little instruction and a little practice.  More involved Lime Paint finishes, perfect for those in the decorative painting trade, are also possible using our Lime Paint.

The inventor of Olivetti Mineral Finishes was born and raised in France.  He attended years of trade school and apprenticed for more years in France and Italy to have the opportunity to work in his trade.  He has been applying stucco in the United States for the past fifteen years.  His client base in long and impressive but passion for the materials themselves is really what drives him.  Having tried almost every European formula for stucco, he combined his favorite elements into his own recipes and began to manufacture them for himself and later for others.

Olivetti Mineral Finishes offers these quality lime based traditional stucco finishes.  We sell some of the best tools available and we know what we are talking about.  Because we manufacture in the United States, a large percentage of your purchase price is not freight cost and distributor markup.  Instead we are able to pour the finest ingredients into every pail.  It is important that you use products that work for you and that you believe in.  We want our customers and anyone delivering great quality and craftsmanship to succeed.

www.olivettimineralfinishes.com (Network Solutions)
olivetti mineral finishes llc  
p.o. box 460362, san francisco, ca  94146  
415-242-9883 
415-242-9885 (fax)  
e-mail:  chouinard68@msn.com

Webauthor: Nicole Chouinard – all rights reserved, 2001

Photography:  David Livingston           

Images courtesy of Olivier Garnier - all rights reserved, 2001