“Limewash is a really lovely way to get patina on your walls,” says O’Donnell. “I’d advise using soft, stony colors that echo limestone: slightly off-yellowed, brownish off-whites.” See: Farrow & Ball’s Skimming Stone or Bauwerk’s Still. It’s one of the easiest ways to bring depth and character to a room without relying on pattern. And when it comes to showing off plaster casts and classical details, he has one favorite shade: Farrow & Ball’s Setting Plaster. “It provides a heavenly backdrop.”
Plaster busts, reliefs, columns and plinths
Few things evoke the ancient world quite like a plaster—or marble, if you’re feeling extravagant— bust, sculpture, frieze or plinth. “Whether placed on a bookcase, desk or on a plinth of their own, busts and sculptural fragments can be wonderful additions to a room,” says Rollitt. “There’s something elevating and academic about them, while they also add a very human element.”
For her own home, Chudley recently bought miniature casts of the Parthenon frieze and arranged them around the inside of her front door. “It’s quirky and fun—if you put them somewhere obvious, they’re not going to have quite the same effect,” she says. “Here, they really catch you.” She also regularly uses Joe Sweeney’s deliberately wonky Grecian columns in her projects for its playful, kitsch quality.
O’Donnell is also a fan. His bathroom is filled with plaster casts, including a head of Hercules in a large decorative roundel he spotted while sourcing antiques for a client at Lassco. “There’s a romance to it,” he says, “but I think you have to have fun with it and not take it too seriously.” To avoid veering into themed territory, Rollitt recommends balancing overtly classical pieces with furniture and objects from different periods.
As for where to shop, Chudley recommends the brilliantly named Stoned & Plastered, just off London’s Columbia Road, where prices start from around £15 ($20). Pentreath & Hall, antiques fairs, and eBay are all excellent hunting grounds, too.
