Our Specialisms
Choice Finishes are polished plasterers based in East Finchley (N2), working across London, especially Mayfair, Marylebone, Kensington, Chelsea and Bayswater/Lancaster Gate. We apply polished plaster London designers choose for hotels, restaurants and prime homes, including Venetian plaster, Marmorino, grassello, metallic polished plaster and Tadelakt. Our hospitality work includes The Ivy Market Grill, Balthazar and The Hoxton. For Venetian plaster London clients can specify with confidence, we prepare samples before work starts. Whether you are a homeowner or a contractor looking for a polished plasterer, we are fully insured and handle both the background and the decorative finish.
Our finishes
Venetian plaster is a hand-applied lime finish built in thin coats and burnished to create depth, movement and a refined sheen. Depending on the chosen formulation and application, it can read softly textured or highly polished. We help select a suitable finish and prepare samples for approval before work begins.
Explore finish
Marmorino is a lime-based decorative plaster containing marble flour, applied in layers to give walls a softly nuanced, stone-like surface. The finish can be left more textured or carefully burnished for greater sheen. Colour and surface character depend on the material and application; we prepare samples so the selected look can be reviewed before installation.
Explore finishMetallic polished plaster is a decorative finish with a subtle metallic effect within the surface. Its appearance shifts with light, colour and application, so a sample is useful for judging the final result in its setting. We can discuss the intended sheen and tone with you before specifying the finish.
Tadelakt is a lime-based finish traditionally compacted and soap-treated to create a smooth, water-resistant surface. Its softly varied appearance suits considered interior settings, including wet areas when correctly detailed. The result depends on preparation and application, so substrate suitability and detailing need to be discussed before work begins.
Explore finish
Microcement is a thin decorative cement-based coating used to create a continuous-looking surface across walls or floors. It is distinct from lime polished plaster, with its own substrate and finishing requirements. We can discuss the intended area and confirm whether this is the right system for your project.
Explore finishVenetian Plaster — Lucido
Colour, Texture and Metal
Polished plaster is not limited to pale marble effects — it can be tinted, textured and metallic, and specified to suit the wider interior scheme.
Mirror Finish
At its highest sheen, polished plaster reflects the room and the architecture outside while retaining the subtle movement of a hand-applied surface.
Following Architectural Form
Applied by hand, polished plaster can follow vaulted arches and curved ceilings as one continuous decorative surface.
The Burnishing Stage
Mechanical polishing develops the final sheen evenly across broad ceiling areas, bringing out the depth and movement built up in the finishing coats.
Polished plaster is a family of decorative finishes made from slaked lime and finely ground marble, applied by hand in several thin coats and compressed with a steel trowel between layers. That compression — burnishing — closes the surface and brings up a sheen, so the wall reads with depth and soft movement rather than as a flat colour.
The term covers several distinct finishes:
Every wall is hand-finished, so no two are identical — and the layered surface catches light in a way paint cannot.
Choice Finishes
Send us your brief and we can advise on the right system, finish and next steps.
We sample colours and finishes on-site before committing to a full room, and every project begins with careful surface preparation to ensure a flawless final polish.
We assess the substrate and the light, then produce samples of the chosen finishes and colours for approval.
Making good, levelling and a bonding primer suited to the plaster system.
An even, workable base for the decorative layers.
Hand-applied, trowelled and burnished in thin layers to build depth and sheen.
A protective wax or sealer; for Tadelakt, soap curing for water resistance.
Choice Finishes
We work with homeowners, architects, designers and contractors across London.
Venetian plaster is the finish most clients picture: layered, light-reflective and subtly variegated. Choosing between Lucido, Marmorino and Spatulata comes down to the light in the room, the sheen you want and the rest of the material palette. Lucido is dramatic on a feature wall; Marmorino is more forgiving across large areas.
We sample on site before committing to a full room, so architects and designers can judge each finish under the actual lighting, against joinery, stone and fabric samples. Colours can be tinted to match a design scheme — we have matched tones to designers' physical samples at Maison Estelle and balanced finishes against copper leaf at The Hoxton.
We are specialist plasterers rather than decorators. A polished finish is only as good as the wall beneath it, so we prepare, level and prime the substrate ourselves before any decorative coat goes on.
Our polished plaster has been specified for some of London's best-known hospitality interiors:
We work across central, north and west London — including Chelsea, Kensington, Belgravia, Mayfair, Notting Hill, Hampstead and Richmond — and out across the South East to Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Surrey and Berkshire.
Walls. Polished plaster walls suit reception rooms, hallways, stairwells and commercial spaces — as a single feature wall or a full-room treatment, with returns, reveals and corners finished by hand.
Ceilings. A polished plaster ceiling is more demanding — work is overhead, and the finish shows every change in plane — but the effect can be remarkable. At Lancaster Gate the grassello vaulted ceilings were burnished so finely that they reflect the windows opposite. Curved and vaulted geometry is applied by hand.
This is one of the most common questions we are asked, and the honest answer depends on the system:
In every wet area, the waterproofing build-up behind the finish matters as much as the finish itself. We will advise on the right combination for your bathroom before work starts.
Polished plaster can be used outside, but not every interior system is suitable. External work needs a breathable, weather-resistant lime-based finish — Marmorino-type exterior systems are the usual choice — applied over a sound render background and detailed properly at sills, copings and junctions. Because we also carry out external rendering, we can take responsibility for the background and the finish together.
The cost of polished plaster depends on the finish (Marmorino, Lucido, Spatulata, grassello or Tadelakt), the area, the condition of the walls, the number of coats, access and the amount of detailing — corners, reveals, curves and ceilings all add time. A single feature wall costs considerably less than a full room. We give a fixed quote after a site visit and sampling rather than a rough per-square-metre figure.
Consistent Sheen
Careful polishing around beams and changes of plane brings the same controlled sheen across detailed ceiling geometry.
Mayfair, London
Bespoke polished plaster finishes throughout the principal rooms of this private members' club, tailored tone by tone to each room's use and lighting.
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Covent Garden, London
Marmorino polished plaster base with a bespoke smokey distemper wash, delivering a 'faded elegance' finish for this celebrated London restaurant.
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Covent Garden, London
A richly patinated artisan plaster finish introducing warmth and aged character befitting a grand European brasserie.
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Holborn, London
Bespoke aged off-white architectural plaster finish balanced precisely against copper leaf detailing throughout this boutique hotel interior.
View projectWorking together
Answers to common questions we hear from clients, architects, and designers.
Polished plaster is a decorative finish made from lime and marble dust, applied by hand in thin coats and burnished with a steel trowel to build depth and sheen. Venetian plaster, Lucido, Marmorino, Spatulata, grassello and Tadelakt are all types of polished plaster.
It depends on the finish, the area, the condition of the walls, access and how much detailing is involved. A feature wall costs considerably less than a full room or ceiling. We provide a fixed quote after a site visit and sampling rather than a per-square-metre estimate.
Tadelakt is the traditional waterproof lime plaster and is suitable for showers and wet rooms when correctly detailed. Venetian plaster and Marmorino are water-resistant once waxed or sealed, so they suit bathroom walls away from direct water but should not be used inside a shower.
Yes, with an exterior-rated, breathable lime-based system applied over a sound render background and properly detailed at sills and junctions. Interior Venetian systems should not be used externally.
Venetian plaster is the broader term for marble-like polished finishes and is often burnished to a high sheen (Lucido). Marmorino is a marble-dust lime plaster with a matt to satin finish and a softer texture, which suits larger walls and ceilings.
Yes. Ceilings, vaults and curved surfaces are applied by hand. At Lancaster Gate we applied grassello di calce polished plaster to vaulted ceilings, burnished to a mirror finish.
Most rooms take several days because each coat must be applied, burnished and allowed to dry before the next. The programme depends on the area, the finish, drying conditions and preparation needed, and we confirm it with your quote.
Yes. We are based in East Finchley and work across London, most often in Mayfair, Marylebone, Kensington, Chelsea, Bayswater and Hampstead, and in the Home Counties for the right project.
A regular plasterer applies gypsum or lime plaster to create a flat base. A polished plasterer applies decorative lime and marble finishes such as Venetian plaster, Marmorino and Tadelakt in thin coats and burnishes them by hand. We do both, so the background and the finish are handled by the same team.
Yes. We prepare samples on site or on boards so the colour, sheen and texture can be approved before the walls are done.
Our coverage
Get in Touch
Send us drawings, photographs or a design brief and we will advise on the right finish and arrange sampling. Call +44 7854 393865 or email choicefinishesltd@gmail.com. We typically respond within one business day.
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