Saying Carter Averbeck is a guy who paints decorative finishes is a bit like saying Picasso was a guy who painted women walking down stairs. OK, so Averbeck isn't in the stratospheric company of Picasso, but he has elevated the art of decorative finish to an awe-inspiring, often jaw-dropping experience.

Flush those thoughts you’re having of faux finishes made fabulous in the ‘80s—you know, the kind of mottled, swirly patterns created by do-it-yourselfers armed with scrunched up plastic bags and a can of glaze. Averbeck’s a decorative finisher/muralist/artist, classically trained in Spain, who can paint your children’s faces onto cherubs' bodies floating across your living room ceiling, or electrify a wall with a shimmering finish made up of thousands of translucent glass beads (he won’t tell us how he does that one). He can turn your suburban rambler into a Venetian villa with his painstaking plaster finishes or paint a trompe l’oile mural so deft it’s hard to tell where the room ends and the illusion begins.

Averbeck’s own home is a 2,500 square foot Warehouse District loft, where he paints, sleeps and listens to loud music. He loves to entertain, and he’s good at it, keeping chilled champagne and tasty snacks at the ready in case someone drops by. The whole place has a wonderful, slightly grungy, terribly arty feel—it’s not hard to imagine a ’00s version of Holly Golightly and her stylish set stopping by for cocktails.

So the big question might be: can you afford to hire Averbeck and his Trompe Decorative Finishes team to transform your walls? “People always think it’s going to be too expensive,” he says, “but the more accomplished the painter, the faster they can do the work, which means the cheaper they can do the work. And we’re very accomplished painters.” Averbeck prices his plaster finishes by the square foot, and his mural estimates are based on how intricate a scene the homeowner wants. Those mysterious glass bead finishes he’s recently perfected? “Call me,” says Averbeck. “Now I know how to do neo-classical style murals in glass beads, too.” —B.K.

Trompe Decorative Finishes 612.344.9146