After French Wash Wall Application

Before French Wash on Walls

Manhattan Decorative Painter

We were contacted by an innovative homeowner who wanted to make his newly purchased apartment uniquely his own before moving in. His vision included the warm look of multi-grain wood and walls with a French Wash. Our Paintworks team installed the new floor and added a modern, flat profile baseboard finished with quarter-round shoe molding.  

Walls are the largest expanse in any room, and here we used Benjamin Moore’s Nickel as the base coat and the company’s Smoke Gray for the top coat. The French Wash effect adds texture and depth with a soft marbleized appearance. To achieve this novel result, we used a large swath of muslin cloth working non-stop as the Smoke Gray paint was applied in random brush strokes followed by patting the wall quickly and expertly with the fabric. The outcome is a stunning, deep pewter, contemporary interior with an industrial flair where the homeowner can proudly host friends and relax himself.

Jackson Heights Flooring Installation

Ethnic diversity takes center stage in Jackson Heights with some 167 languages spoken.Many blocks of pre-war apartment-style buildings, modeled after European structures with courtyard gardens, are bundled in a designated historic district. Linoleum (Latin for linseed oil) was invented in 1855 and can be found in some JH properties, even layers of it, as a Paintworks & Decorating crew recently discovered.

 While linoleum may have enjoyed a reputation for going down easily, it can be a bear of a job coming up. Paintworks approaches these projects with the goal of removing every snippet of old material - in this case four linoleum layers, old glue and adhesives - before patching and repairing the sub floor. Then there's an underlayment before installing hardwood boards. Everything has to be level and fit snugly. The tools and equipment are only as good as the operators, and Paintworks is expert at prepping and laying hardwood floors, allowing for expansion around the edges, and strategically placing boards with a variation at the ends that looks natural. We kind of figure this home's market value increased by multiple factors of the cost of materials and labor, and the homeowners have decades to walk on beautiful flooring from a sustainable natural resource.