Stucco is a versatile medium that lends itself to many interesting color and texture choices.
Stucco is a popular construction finishing material that can add dimension and visual interest to walls both inside and outside your home or office. While stucco is most commonly seen on exterior surfaces, you can get a stucco effect inside using a textural paint. True stucco can be painted any color, but be sure to choose the proper kind of paint for the weather conditions in your area.
Traditional
Like brick or wood-sided homes, buildings covered with stucco can benefit from the simple but rejuvenating qualities of a new coat of paint. If you are looking for a way to give your home a basic facelift, consider stucco, which can be painted in any shade and color combination you like, much like any other home surface. Stucco's clean, unbroken lines also lend themselves to bolder colors than brick or wood siding. Stucco homes are often seen in bold greens, deep reds and even pinks and bright yellows. If you're looking for something more traditional, first consider which tradition you wish to follow--stucco is very popular in the Southwest, as it mimics the look of adobe. Homes there are traditionally seen in shades of clay brown, rich mocha or pale, dusky pink. For an adobe look, choose a trim color that is similar to the color that you paint the walls of your home. Add bright focal points, like a blue door or colorful Southwestern wall art.
Textures
You can get a variety of textures with stucco. The texture you choose is important because it affects the way your entire project turns out. Different textures cast different shapes and depths of shadow, and may affect the way the color looks. Try creating your own textures to work with your planned painting theme. For a beach house, paint a pale, golden tan over stucco with a fine pebble texture to create a look that seems organic to the sandy setting. For a more dramatic look that stands out instead of blending in, use a wavy finish known as a "skip trowel" texture, and paint it in shades of ocean blue.
Murals
If you don't want a solid color and would like to experiment with something a little more creative, use your wall as a canvas. To brighten up a patio or outdoor eating area, turn a stucco surface into a wall mural. If your wall is already finished with stucco, use its existing textures and contours as inspiration for your creation. If you are applying new stucco before painting, use different textures to your advantage by planning your mural out and assigning appropriate textures to certain areas. Use leaves, rocks and other found objects to make interesting imprints in the wet stucco. When you paint your mural, these added textures will create contrast and depth within your artwork. Be sure to allow new stucco to cure for a few months before painting, and always use quality acrylic-based exterior paints, even for your mural.
Inside
Though sometimes referred to as stucco paint, the medium most commonly used to create a stucco look inside a home is seldom true stucco. Plaster may be used to get a similar effect, but plaster walls are often fragile in comparison to walls finished with other techniques. Applying textural paint is the most-often-used--and simplest--way to create a stucco look inside a room. This paint contains small particles that recreate the gritty, knobby texture of stucco when dry. Textured paint is applied with a brush or sprayed on. Purchase your textured paint in the color you want your final result to be, or apply it in a neutral shade and paint over it with another color for a smoother, more subtle effect.
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