Liquid Tapestries Decorative finishes · Indianapolis Call Dave(317) 201-4953 Start a project
Close-up of a black and white veined stone backsplash with an outlet cover that carries the same veins, above a matching stone countertop. Before: the same stone backsplash with a plain black outlet cover.

Guess 1 of 6

Real, or painted?

Look closely at the outlet cover. Make your guess.

Painted. The stone is real. The outlet cover was plain black until Dave painted every vein onto it.

Hand-painted outlet cover · real stone backsplash

Walls people touch to see if they’re real.

Venetian plaster, hand-painted marble, wood graining, murals and sculpted stone, made by Dave Schmidt and his crew of three for Indianapolis-area homes since 1985 confirm.

Start a project For designers & builders

Most projects book months ahead. Now scheduling spring 2027 confirm.

  • Co-author of Marvelous Murals You Can Paint (North Light Books)
  • 40 years of decorative painting confirm
  • Indianapolis Home-a-Rama and designer dream homes
  • Homes for professional football and basketball players
  • Featured in Cowboys & Indians

Real, or painted?

A floor-to-ceiling wall that looks like pale grey onyx, with white veins sweeping across it. Hand-painted onyx · feature wall

Guess 2 of 6

Painted. A floor-to-ceiling onyx wall, every vein laid in by hand.

Tall arched double doors with the warm, streaky grain of walnut, set in a white archway. Wood graining · walnut-look doors

Guess 3 of 6

Painted. These “walnut” doors are wood-grained by hand.

A heavy riveted iron beam, crusted with orange rust and blue-green verdigris. Painted rust and verdigris · beam

Guess 4 of 6

Painted. No iron here. Rust, rivets and verdigris, all paint.

A wine cellar with rough, weathered stone columns and shelves holding terracotta pipes full of wine bottles. Sculpted stone · wine cellar

Guess 5 of 6 Real stone, or hand-sculpted?

Sculpted. Hand-carved stone columns and shelving in the Lost Run Farm wine cellar, featured in Cowboys & Indians.

A flared range hood with silvery zinc panels framed by copper bands and rows of rivets. Zinc-and-copper look · range hood

Guess 6 of 6 Real zinc, or finished by hand?

Finished by hand. A zinc-and-copper look on a range hood. confirm

That’s the point. Your guests will touch it, too.

What we make

No two jobs are alike. These are the finishes we’re asked for most.

  • Polished or matte mineral plaster, built up by hand in thin layers until the wall has depth you can see into. Our most-requested finish right now.

  • Onyx, Carrara, Calacatta and black marble, painted where real stone is too heavy, too costly or simply won’t fit.

  • Walnut, oak and weathered barnwood, painted onto doors, trim, cabinets and beams so new work matches old.

  • Safari rooms, beach scenes, old-world skies, a flower-wreath dome, a wall that says BELIEVE. If you can picture it, we can paint it.

  • Gold and silver leaf ceilings, bronze plaster walls, copper and zinc hoods, rusted iron.

  • Brick vaults, crumbling plaster, stone arches: kitchens, cellars, bars and restaurants that feel a hundred years old on day one.

  • Carved concrete walls, wine cellars and grottos for a few projects a year.

A two-story fireplace wall in soft silver plaster with cloudy, layered movement. A floor-to-ceiling wall hand-painted to look like grey and white onyx. A loft with ceiling beams and a staircase painted to look like weathered grey barnwood. A painted beach mural: a pelican on a weathered post in front of green hills and blue water. A round ceiling in warm gold leaf, ringed by an ornate gold fretwork band. A vaulted ceiling of herringbone brick with a chandelier, over stone arches. A wide fireplace wall of sculpted fieldstone in warm tan and grey.

Venetian plaster, Marmorino and Roman clay.

Polished or matte mineral plaster, built up by hand in thin layers until the wall has depth you can see into. Our most-requested finish right now.

Shown: silver plaster fireplace wall, two-story great room

Also known as faux finishes, decorative painting and specialty finishes.

Recent rooms

See all the work
  • A two-story great room with a tall fireplace wall in silver plaster.
    Two-story great room · silver plaster fireplace
  • An old-world kitchen under a painted brick barrel vault.
    Old-world kitchen · painted brick barrel vault confirm
  • A restaurant dining room wall of crumbling old-world plaster and exposed brick around green-shuttered windows.
    Restaurant dining room · old-world plaster and brick, Amoré
  • A lounge with deep rust-brown iron-look walls behind round leather chairs.
    Lounge · rusted iron walls
  • A media room wall in dark bronze metallic plaster framed by stacked stone.
    Media room · bronze metallic plaster
  • An entry hall with a softly glowing silver plaster barrel ceiling leading to arched black doors.
    Entry hall · silver plaster barrel ceiling
  • A painted desert mural of red rock and blue sky behind two mounted zebras.
    Safari room · desert mural. The zebras are the owner’s. The desert is ours.
  • A kitchen ceiling in gold leaf with an ornate gold fretwork band.
    Kitchen · gold leaf ceiling
  • A basement wall mural spelling BELIEVE in bold, brightly painted letters.
    Basement · BELIEVE mural

Your sample is the standard.

Dave’s rule: “I can’t read your mind.” So we start with yours, and we don’t touch your wall until you’ve approved a sample.

A crew member on a ladder troweling a warm plaster finish onto a wall.

  1. Tell us about the room.

    Send the form or call. Photos, the feel you’re after, your designer’s name if you have one.

  2. Dave comes out.

    He looks at the space, the light, and what’s already there.

  3. We make samples.

    Real samples of your finish, in your colors, at $100 each. confirm: credited to the job?

  4. You approve one.

    If we’re not there yet, we run it again. The approved sample becomes the standard for the whole job.

  5. Written price, then the work.

    The same crew of three, from first coat to final walk-through.

What affects the price

  • Size of the surface
  • How many passes the finish needs
  • The materials
  • Access (ceilings, scaffolding)

No price list, because no two jobs are alike.

Before the visit, gather:

  • The feel or theme of the house
  • A few reference photos (magazines, Pinterest, Architectural Digest)
  • Fabric, tile or paint samples to match
  • Which rooms and surfaces
  • Your designer’s and builder’s names, if you have them

You lead. We follow.

We’re not decorators. We’re the hands that make your design real. We work to your spec, your colors and your references. Your client hears from us only when you want them to. Nothing gets posted without your OK, and you get the credit.

Send us a project
For designers & buildersLiquid Tapestries
Samples
Signed samples, so the finished wall matches what your client approved
Billing
Billing your way: to you or to your client
Builders
Problems solved (beams over ductwork, stone where stone won’t fit, trim that won’t match, a hood that needs to look old)
Insurance
Insurance certificate on request confirm
Timing
Book us early. Most of our designers call when the house breaks ground.

He wrote the book. Literally.

Dave Schmidt, smiling in a paint-spattered T-shirt, beside a bold painted dog on a polka-dot and harlequin background.
Dave Schmidt

Dave Schmidt has been painting walls that fool people since about 1985 confirm. In the ’90s he co-owned Prismatic Painting Studio, a decorative-painting school in Cincinnati, and taught the craft on stage and on video. In 2001 he co-wrote Marvelous Murals You Can Paint with muralist Gary Lord. Today he works with a crew of three on homes and restaurants across the Indianapolis area, mostly for designers and builders who’ve called him for years.

The book

Marvelous Murals You Can Paint

Dave Schmidt and Gary Lord · North Light Books · 2001

“Make the room exciting. Make the room what they want.”

Dave, in his own words
Dave on a ladder brushing wood grain onto a ceiling beam, turning it into rich oak.

What partners say

“[Two-line quote from Jennifer O’Connor, Dare 2 Design — requested]”

Jennifer O’Connor, Dare 2 Design confirm

“[Two-line quote from Brad Bowman, Homes by Design — requested]”

Brad Bowman, Homes by Design confirm

“[One-line quote from Gary Lord — requested]”

Gary Lord, muralist and co-author
Two crew members on ladders troweling pale plaster onto a tall chimney wall.

Easy to have in your home

  • The same three people every day
  • Floors and finished work protected; clean at the end of every day
  • Private clients welcome. We never post a home without permission, and we’re happy to sign an NDA.

Start the conversation early.

Most of our projects are planned months ahead, often when the house breaks ground. Tell us a little, and Dave will call you within one business day. confirm

Call Dave(317) 201-4953
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