We did a double-take during a virtual tour of a monochromatic home in Risskov, Denmark designed by haute-architecture firm Ardess: The luxurious silvery custom-made interior of Douglas fir, linoleum, and concrete looks curiously like the weathered silver-painted plywood door we spotted in Chelsea a couple of years ago, and fell in love with.
The door looked like it has been made on-the-fly: a simple practical solution to the need for a barrier.
It looks sort of like an animal skin. We’ve always wondered what the story behind the silver paint was. Was the color all that was on hand or intentional? Was it slathered on in a hurry only to weather, the grain rising as the wood swelled? Or was it painted on wood whose grain had already been exposed to the elements?
We filed it in our heads under ‘possibilities of painted plywood‘…’possibilities for silvery wood finishes‘…and…’things to test out‘…
Lately, we’ve been seeing silvery engineered wood flooring in style blogs, and wonder what they look like in person…
But there’s nothing like the real thing — real wood. Whether high-end, ike famously luxurious Dinesen wood floor, at top (we think the finish is Dinesen Lye and Floor Soap White.) Or low-end, like plywood bleached and washed with silver stain…
…or even Orient Strand Board (OSB), transformed by silvery paint…
…
On a Pinterest devoted to silver paint, we got ideas for different kinds of silvery finishes.
And then there’s silvery plaster…
top space via Desire to Inspire
According to a carpenter I had asked about this effect, UV light (sun) is needed to break down certain components of the wood, in alternation with (rain) water too wash out the degraded wood components. In the more sunny seasons, keeping the wood outside for 3 months should be enough.
And yes, it is difficult to duplicate this effect. I tried with tannin and iron sulfate, and although the effect is nice to bring out the structure of the wood, it does not have this silvery “skin like” sheen..
Thank you SO much for this info.