6 Luxury Home Finishes That Make Your Abode Stand Out

Paint is predictable, almost passé, for certain clients. That’s especially true in many modern homes, which “can come off as cold and spare,” says Kirsten Molz of KHM Design. One antidote can be found in plaster walls that provide “a soft glow and create movement,” according to Molz. Los Angeles designer Ryan White often enlists European-limewash craftsmen, such as ClayCraft, to supply that elevated earthiness. “It adds a lot more depth and texture, but also warmth in a home versus standard paint,” he explains. White recently installed a plaster-sheathed snaking staircase in Malibu. “Without getting too woo-woo, it ignites something within your own sensibility, saying, ‘I feel calm in this space. I feel comfortable. I feel safe.’ And I think that really matters to all of us in life these days.”

White selects hand-painted murals over wallpaper “nine times out of 10, just because it has a story to it, and it just feels more personal.” He recently commissioned decorative artist James Mobley to create cherry blossoms on the walls of a primary suite. “The house itself is a very modern home—lots of glass—so we wanted to bring the outdoors in… It was a fun, soft moment.” For West Palm Beach decorative artist Joseph Steiert, the customization factor is often what clients are drawn to. Unlike a standard-issue wallcovering, his trompe-l’oeil treatment can be ultra-tailored. “I try to do something that’s original for the client to make it special for them,” Steiert explains. “Sometimes I’ll personalize it with a monogram or the client’s dog hidden in a mural.” For some, that truly bespoke touch is an easy decision. “They like the idea of it being specific to their house and nobody else has it. And perhaps some bragging rights.”

Top: Ryan White enlisted artist James Mobley to hand-paint these fantastical wall murals.

Bronze is experiencing a renaissance, even in kitchens where marble and quartzite have been the norm. “I have done a custom-poured-bronze countertop a few times for very high-end luxe interiors,” says Susan Bednar Long, a designer in Dallas. “The material looks amazing in person… Subtle color changes are part of its beauty, and it has an instant patina.” Henault worked on a newly created duplex in the famed Ansonia building on the Upper West Side, where every gleam told a story. “The stair railing, made entirely of new-cast bronze, expresses the modernist use in the balusters,” he says. “However, even these are not machine-made straight. There is the slightest taper from top to bottom. The handrail caps this off, again, expressing the fluidity of the material.”

Top: A cast-bronze stair railing and wallcovering applied in an unexpected mosaic supply drama and élan to a Darren Henault project on the Upper West Side.

Wallpaper is one of those design categories in which the internet has democratized knowledge. “No one wants mill-printed wallpaper anymore,” Henault says. That’s where bespoke papers and applications come in. “They want to do something that pushes the boundaries.” For one client, he had a small batch of hand-marbleized William Morris paper cut into squares and set into a pattern; for a different project, he cut sheets from Cannon/ Bullock into varying rectangular sizes and asked the installer to mix them in a design that turned into what he has deemed a moody and magical mosaic: “It’s not what you use; it’s how you use it.”

Above: Henault created a bespoke wallcovering by inserting small-batch hand-marbleized paper into a lattice of William Morris motifs.

“Clients are requesting high gloss now,” says New York designer Sasha Bikoff. “They want this glamorous, rich, luxurious finish for their homes.” Achieving a surface as shellacked as a Ferrari 488 isn’t cheap, “because glossy paint reflects light and imperfections like a mirror,” says Bikoff—but the process is worth it. Designer Chad Graci applied it to living-room ceilings of a private residence at the Four Seasons in New Orleans, where the lacquer hovers overhead like a shimmering pond. “Clients love this finish, especially in lower-ceiling scenarios since the reflective quality accentuates the vertical,” he says.

Top: A mirrorlike lacquered ceiling of a private residence at the Four Seasons in New Orleans was designed by Chad Graci.

“We have seen a number of clients who are leaning towards specialty woods but departing from years of richly stained walnuts or the ever-popular bleached, cerused oaks,” says Julie Kleiner, cofounder and principal designer of Seattle firm Massucco Warner, which employed blond Beeswing Primavera wood in a paneled library. “To achieve the very subtle finish, this wood requires countless steps in finishing to have the finish turn out even and get the exact right shade negating any yellow or streaky finishes or tones,” she explains. “While some clients might opt for lacquer, this is an equally luminous and beautiful finish.”

The truest form of wealth just may be singularity. “In my career, my focus has always been on ‘the hand that makes it’—the craftsmen behind the product,” Henault says. “I want to be able to see something about the material that clearly expresses itself as made by hand.” In an increasingly A.I.-riddled world, that human imprint is exactly the kind of personal touch we need.

Top: Beeswing Primavera wood sheathes the walls of this Massucco Warner library.