What Problems Do You Have With Color Selection on Plaster Walls?

Classic to Contemporary

• When the pre-war, classic six apartment has sculpted plaster walls, and the new owner is a modern minimalist, even white paint will look vintage. Go bold with a medium or deeper gray, such as pewter or elephant hide. The color masks any imperfections but allows the handmade beauty of the plaster to show. Gray is a stunning backdrop for contemporary furnishings and art. Painting the plaster is quicker and far less labor-intensive than refinishing the walls. The plaster gets an inexpensive and dramatic facelift and the cool style of the interior design is seamlessly integrated into a dated space with a new, timeless façade.

Patching Plaster

• Shades of gold and butter are warm and rich wall treatments with a textured plaster finish. Try a pale, buttery yellow in a bedroom with vanilla or marshmallow-white trim and shabby chic linens. The color is soft enough to be restful and fill the room with light but it provides some cover for marks and scuffs. An integral color plaster is a combination of wall plaster and paint color in one. It saves extra steps and looks lustrous and saturated with color but can be difficult to patch without leaving traces. To allow for eventual dirt and damage, use an integral color plaster that can be re-worked with the addition of a little water, and don’t apply a protective finish to the walls. Patch or "repaint" by moistening a damaged wall area and smoothing in a bit of fresh plaster color with the existing plaster, for repairs that are almost invisible.

Paint Sponge

• Plaster can soak up paint, increasing the amount of coverage you pay for and the number of coats you have to apply. Minimize the cost and labor by keeping the new paint shade a close match to the old color. White walls that are dingy look crisp and clean with seagull or bone paint. Faded, pale blue walls morph into turquoise without streaking or looking patchy. The strong design element of plaster can be tempered with a strong paint color, but tricky hues like reds may require too many coats for even coverage to be practical. Use a stabilizing primer as a first coat to eliminate any chalkiness on old walls and make them less porous.

Hard to Match

• Fabulous, jewel-tone plaster walls are vivid and one-of-a-kind. Colors such as deep salmon, Southwestern turquoise or gleaming amethyst are conversation pieces no matter what else is in the room. But when renovations or workmen scratch or ding these spectacular finishes, they can be impossible to match. Create a strategy in advance for any inadvertent damage. Paint or stencil a small, handmade decoration over the damage. Hobby paint or acrylic paint becomes a small scattering of flowers that's charming under a window ledge -- and over a chip or a smudge. A partial stencil of a Moroccan pattern that fades out as if it's worn away will cover a scratch from the furniture movers or the headboard. More, not less, decoration is how you keep show-off plaster shades looking fresh.