Poignantly reminiscent of yesteryear, plush parlours and gorgeous gowns, velvet is one of those rare fabrics that caress our souls with opulence and noble memories. With its warm texture and jewel tones, velvet is unequalled as a material and has been cherished for centuries by designers, artists and aesthetes all over the world.

No-one is quite sure where it first came from. But what we do know is that the earliest traces of this textile date back to the storied Silk Road which snaked through India, Pakistan and China.  It seems that the first European velvets were produced in Palermo and Venice and mimicked the weave of the oriental originals.

Since then, this fabric has experienced a meteoric rise, straddling all sectors and epochs: Richard II announced in 1399 that no other material was to come in contact with his skin and that he wished to be buried in velvet, while the famous Italian painter Titian made ample use of velvet for his portraits. Fast-forwarding to more recent times, Gwyneth Paltrow once turned up to the MTV Music Awards in a scene-stealing ruby-red velvet suit designed by Tom Ford for Gucci.

Basically, velvet has come back for good. And internal décor is right behind the fashion sector. Velvet has the ability to transform a room with its decadent beauty, sensuality and warmth, which explains why it is used so frequently in interior-design projects. And we don’t just mean soft furnishings, but also decorative wall paints.

Velvet-effect paint on interior walls is a wonderful way to beautify an environment and show walls off to advantage.

Some practical tips for velvet-effect paint

Blurring the line between coloured paint and soft fabric, velvet-effect paint ensures a peerless decorative effect which will prepare the way for new interior-design solutions with tactile walls that are bound to be the focus of attention thanks to their refinement and elegance.

Here are some examples of application in private settings, like homes, and public environments, such as hotels or shops. In these cases, velvet-effect wall paint has been used to:

• create a special atmosphere;
• draw all eyes to a particular area of the room;
• highlight a specific function assigned to an area.

Velvet-effect paint in private homes

Instances of how velvet-effect paint can be used: restaurants

Palette-knife painting for interiors: a velvety effect on the walls of clothing stores

POLISTOF, the velvet-effect environmentally-friendly paint created by VALPAINT

A forward-looking Italian company that leads in the decorative-paint sector, VALPAINT has designed POLISTOF, a water-based paint for interiors with a velvety effect, denim or shantung-silk texture which will make sure settings stand out with elegance and refinement.

This decorative paint is made up of special pigments and acrylic resins with a water-based solvent and its main features are:

• excellent mechanical resistance
• optimal washability
• completely safe environments: it does not contain harmful substances (it is PAH, APEO and AMMONIA FREE); it is FORMALDEHYDE FREE (in other words, the level of formaldehyde emissions into the atmosphere are practically zero); it is VOC-LOW, meaning it is very low in volatile organic compounds, which are deemed responsible for certain air pollution effects and dangerous to human health

• its ability to catch light to dramatic effect: tiny sparkling crystals reflect and scatter the light, giving this fine heritage-fabric-effect paint a sublime shimmer which will delight the creative minds of interior architects.