Kathy Baker

A Quiet Study in Plaster
We created a neutral burnished plaster finish designed to bring a sense of reflects light with remarkable subtlety, revealing delicate variations in tone and texture that change throughout the day. Rather than relying on color for its impact, the finish draws its beauty from craftsmanship and materiality. The burnished plaster lends the alcove a quiet luminous quality, enhancing the architecture while creating a feeling of warmth, depth, and permanence. Spaces like this demonstrate the enduring appeal of restraint. With its soft sheen and timeless character, the finish provides a refined backdrop that allows the architecture itself to take center stage.

Whispers of Ornament
I created a neutral off-white burnished plaster finish, allowing the beauty of texture and light to take center stage. The softly polished surface possessed a quiet luminosity, revealing subtle variations that shifted throughout the day as natural light moved across the room. To complement the plaster, I added a whimsical hand-painted motif that followed the contours and movement of the textured surface. Rather than sitting on top of the finish, the design became part of it, weaving through the plaster's natural rhythms and enhancing its sense of depth and character. The result was a delicate balance between restraint and ornament, where the simplicity of the burnished plaster provided the perfect canvas for an artistic flourish. Together, the finish and painted detailing created a space that felt both elegant and playful, inviting closer inspection and rewarding the eye with unexpected discoveries.

Layers of Time and Color
This distressed plaster finish was created through a process of building and revealing. Layers of plaster were textured and aged, then enhanced with translucent watercolor washes that settled into the surface, creating depth, movement, and a rich sense of patina. The interplay between the distressed plaster and the watercolor glazes produced subtle variations in tone, allowing the finish to feel weathered by time yet vibrant with life. As light moves across the wall, unexpected nuances emerge, giving the surface an ever-changing character. For me, finishes like this are about more than decoration. They are an exploration of atmosphere and memory, transforming a wall into a surface that feels storied, expressive, and beautifully shaped by the passage of time.

Bringing Light to the Space
To brighten and enliven this bathroom, we created a custom cream-colored plaster finish that brought warmth, softness, and a subtle luminosity to the room. The gentle tone reflected light beautifully, enhancing the sense of openness while providing a refined backdrop for the architectural details. The plaster's depth and movement added character without overwhelming the space, allowing the room to feel fresh, inviting, and timeless. Its softly textured surface created visual interest while maintaining the elegance and restraint that make handcrafted finishes so enduring. This project is a wonderful example of how a carefully chosen plaster finish can completely transform the atmosphere of a room, turning an ordinary bathroom into a space filled with warmth, light, and understated sophistication.

Depth in Plum
This finish was created in a rich, deep plum hue, chosen for its ability to bring both drama and sophistication to the space. Layers of plaster were carefully burnished to develop a subtle sheen, allowing light to move gracefully across the surface and reveal its depth. To further enrich the finish, we applied waxes that enhanced the translucency of the color, creating a luminous quality that seemed to glow from within. The combination of burnishing and waxing produced a surface with remarkable complexity, where shadows, highlights, and color continually shifted with the changing light. The result was a finish that felt both luxurious and timeless, demonstrating how plaster can possess the depth and richness of fine velvet while retaining the authenticity and craftsmanship of a hand-worked surface.

A Hearth of Rich Texture
For this fireplace, we created a custom chocolate-brown plaster finish designed to bring warmth, depth, and a sense of permanence to the room. The rich earth-toned color provided a striking architectural anchor, drawing the eye while complementing the surrounding palette of materials and furnishings. Layered and hand-worked, the plaster revealed subtle variations in tone and texture that softened the depth of the color and gave the surface a natural, organic quality. As light played across the finish, the fireplace took on a quiet richness, revealing nuances that enhanced its sculptural presence. The result was a fireplace that felt both refined and timeless, transforming a functional architectural element into a focal point rich with character, craftsmanship, and enduring beauty.

Luminous Simplicity
In this expansive space, we created a neutral plaster finish designed to enhance the architecture through texture, light, and subtle refinement rather than color. The soft, understated palette provided a timeless backdrop, allowing the scale and beauty of the room to take center stage. Once the plaster had fully matured, we carefully burnished the surface to a gentle sheen. This process compressed and polished the finish, creating a luminous quality that reflected light across the walls and brought depth to the otherwise restrained color palette. The result was a room filled with quiet elegance, where the polished plaster revealed its beauty through changing light, subtle movement, and the uThis room was another example of how restraint and craftsmanship can create extraordinary results. We applied a neutral plaster finish throughout the space, allowing texture, light, and architectural form to take precedence over color.

Refined Simplicity
This room was another example of how restraint and craftsmanship can create extraordinary results. We applied a neutral plaster finish throughout the space, allowing texture, light, and architectural form to take precedence over color. Once completed, the plaster was carefully burnished to achieve a luxurious sheen, bringing depth and luminosity to the otherwise understated palette. As natural light moved across the walls, the surface revealed subtle variations and a soft glow that enriched the entire room. The result was an atmosphere of quiet sophistication, where the polished plaster added elegance without excess. Its beauty lay in its simplicity, proving that a thoughtfully crafted finish can transform a room through texture, light, and timeless refinement alone.

A Kitchen Reimagined
As part of this kitchen renovation, we transformed a newly remodeled vent hood with a custom plaster finish, carefully burnishing the surface to create depth, elegance, and a soft luminous sheen. The goal was to elevate the hood from a functional element into an architectural focal point. To unify the space, matching plaster finishes were applied to the surrounding walls, creating a seamless composition of texture and light. The burnished surfaces reflected light beautifully, adding warmth and sophistication while complementing the kitchen's updated design. The result was a kitchen that felt both refined and timeless, where handcrafted plaster brought a sense of artistry and permanence to the heart of the home. The continuity between the vent hood and walls created a cohesive visual statement, proving that thoughtful finishes can transform even the most practical spaces into something extraordinary.

A Powder Room to Remember
This formal powder room was conceived as a memorable experience for guests, a space designed to captivate the eye and leave a lasting impression. Though intimate in scale, it was approached with the same level of artistry and attention as a much larger room, transforming it into a dramatic showcase of color, texture, and craftsmanship. To achieve this effect, we built the surfaces through multiple layers of plaster and richly nuanced color washes. Each successive layer added depth and complexity, creating walls that seemed to glow from within while revealing subtle variations in tone and movement. The result was a room rich in atmosphere and elegance, where the interplay of color, texture, and light created a sense of drama that was both sophisticated and inviting. It became a perfect example of how a powder room can transcend its function and become one of the home's most unforgettable spaces.

The Full Plaster Treatment
This kitchen received a complete transformation through the use of handcrafted burnished plaster finishes. The walls were finished in a refined plaster treatment that brought depth, texture, and a quiet luminosity to the space, creating a warm and sophisticated backdrop for daily living. As the centerpiece of the room, the vent hood was finished in a dramatic charcoal-gray burnished plaster. Its rich color and polished surface gave it a sculptural presence, anchoring the kitchen while providing a striking contrast to the lighter surrounding finishes. Together, the burnished walls and charcoal hood created a harmonious balance of elegance and strength. The interplay of light across the polished surfaces revealed subtle variations in tone and texture, transforming the kitchen into a space where craftsmanship and architecture worked seamlessly together.