Town homes and condos can be some of the toughest spaces to decorate.
But you would never know it at the home of Bill and Ingrid Mancuso of Mukilteo.
Their two-story town home overlooking Possession Sound is one of a kind, complete with lavish window treatments, exquisite furniture, stunning art and superb surfaces.
But it's the faux-finished walls, once white, bland and flat, that have taken the Mancuso home to the proverbial next level.
Rich golden walls with earthy highlights stretch from the wood and carpeted floors to high white ceilings.
"It's a warm and comfortable feeling," Ingrid Mancuso said. "Come in and have a good time."
This is no ordinary or amateur faux finishing work, of course.
The Mancusos, who had recently downsized from a nearly 4,000-square-foot home in Mukilteo, needed a special touch.
They found it, definitely, in Tracy Wade, owner of Tracy Wade Design of Mukilteo. Wade and her team of eight women artists, known to some as "The Painter Babes," adorned the walls throughout the home with plaster and faux-finishing techniques.
The Mancusos wanted an authentic Italian look, an homage to Bill Mancuso's Italian roots.
"It's a heritage thing. I'm the result of a matched marriage in Italy," he said. "I'm a full-blooded Italian."
The Mancusos have traveled much of Italy and have displayed numerous paintings of the country throughout their home, including a view of the beautiful Cinque Terre, a group of five villages on the north coast of Italy.
It's a scene made all the more dramatic by its placement over a custom-made, rustic-looking mantel and fireplace surround, also faux painted.
"Tracy has been instrumental in this transition," Bill Mancuso said, pointing out their custom-made kitchen island, painted with a "faux bois" or faux-wood technique that makes it look like solid wood, even though it's not.
Real-wood accents, including fluting to echo the fluting on the fireplace, mingle with artfully painted potted olive trees and other accents all over the island's base.
But the real joy here is the warmth of the plastered, faux-finished walls in the open living, dining and kitchen space.
"In the evening, it's even more cozy," Ingrid Mancuso said. "It's really great."
Wade, who started her business as a self-taught faux-finishing artist in 1992, said she and her team created the walls with common plaster.
"It has the same durability of every wall in every home," she said. "We were going for the look of the exterior of a villa in Italy."
There is a subtle downward movement to the plaster as if it's been weathered by time.
Four paint colors made it happen.
First there's a basic yellow base, followed by a warm gray, then a rosey rust to pick up the dark wood tones in the furniture, followed by a final coat of a slightly darker yellow enhanced with a glaze.
"Having the base color come through gives it a bit of a glow," Wade said. "It's like magic."
In the Mancusos' master bedroom, Wade and her crew, who often dress in matching coveralls or shirts, did a more traditional faux finish, a softer look using multiple colors but no plaster.
"It's kind of my signature faux finish," Wade said. "It's Old World without the heavy texture."
It's a method that requires three to four women using five or six colors. Each person's painting style naturally creates different variations.
"Everybody has a different pressure that they apply," Wade said of her employees who range in age from 18 to 58. "We keep it fun and casual. It's very professional."
In the home's three bathrooms, the Mancusos' chose darker finishes created with metallic paints and antiquing glazes, including an antique bronze hue in the master bath, a copper in the powder room and a terra cotta in the guest bath.
"People say you shouldn't put dark colors in small rooms," Ingrid Mancuso said. "I disagree with that."
It's an especially dramatic effect in the powder room where the walls are dark, rich, reflective and sumptuous.
"It depends on the color," Wade said. "With such a little room like that you've got to make an impact."
Though the Mancusos hired Wade and her team to create a stunning backdrop for their home, they did the decorating and design mostly on their own.
Using furniture and accessories from entry-level stores such as Target as well as high-end outfits such as Valley Furniture and Interiors in Bellevue, the Mancusos have created the perfect home for easy hospitality.
They also aren't wasting any square footage.
"Here we use every bit of space here," Bill Mancuso said. "Everything is livable."
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com
