Spanish Revival is a mixture style of the Spanish Colonial and Mission-influenced residences in the West and Southwest, Spanish Baroque, with its curling wrought iron, brocades and richly decorated woods, and Moorish architecture, evidenced largely by the use of ornamental mosaic tile and lacy cut-out metals. The design was all the rage in the early 20th century, and its graceful, relaxed design is immediately identifiable by such particulars as terra-cotta barrel tile roofs, arches and courtyards, lots of stucco along with a textured paint palette.
Chalk and Lime
The chalky finish from real plaster or stucco walls, along with a synthetic paint technique implemented with matte paint, which provides walls depth and character. White is “can not miss” as it bounces light across the room and becomes a gallery background for handmade furniture, architectural detail and archaic art. Lime-washing at palest turquoise, neutral tones like linen or antiqued vanilla, or delicate shades like petal pink or faded apricot, provides a soft, powdery-looking finish, uneven and intriguing on a wall devoid of texture.
Faux and Glazing
Glazing will “bring down” a wall color that’s too extreme and age the shade so that it seems like the first paint job at a home. You can find a contemporary Scrub Collar which is easier to utilize than oil and turpentine combinations which can be brushed quite successfully by an amateur painter. Rag, wax or wax on a darker glaze above a lighter foundation coat so the end seems lit from inside, and the wall has visual depth. Colorwash thinned latex on a light base coat for gently uneven color that signals at stucco or timeworn paint. Cover walls in colored plaster; the plaster is saturated with the hue, and the consequent surface is heavily textured.
Decorative Detail
Interrupt the predictability of chalky white surfaces using a bedroom or office which contains more demanding paint. Cover the ceiling and walls at a soft, matte shade; a faded ripe-pineapple gold is a little bit Aztec, a little bit Gold Rush. Add a border around the entire room at chair-rail height or about a foot from the ground. Stamp or paint a design cribbed from Moorish tile at the home, or a Spanish Colonial-era or Pre-Columbian design. Paint the border design at a more intense colour of the colour on the walls so it improves rather than dominates the decor in the room.
Viva la Vivid
Do not be scared to get a rich, gem-like, extreme shade to offset the strength of red-orange terra cotta or brightly patterned mosaic tile. Teal walls at a hall or kitchen are dramatic with hand-rubbed, carved wood furniture, clay tile countertops or floors, fantasy stylized colored tiles on staircase risers or backsplashes. A single pumpkin wall at a dining room casts a warm glow over a glass and wrought-iron table, wrought-iron candelabra pendant and handmade Mexican colonial sideboard. Wake a mudroom or powder room with apartment lime stucco or colorwashed walls, framed by wood trim and tile floors.