From Dubai Expo 2020 to the Sheikh’s Council: How Decorative Paints Dealership Built proven Business with Silk Plaster

Every decorative paints partnership has an origin story. Some begin with a formal pitch. Others start with a cold email. The partnership between Silk Plaster Factory and one of our most accomplished dealerships in the Middle East started with a handshake at Expo 2020 Dubai, the largest world exposition ever held in the region.

It was October 2021 when Expo 2020 finally opened its doors after the pandemic delay. It was our honour to be present at the Latvian Building. The event brought together exhibitors and visitors from 192 countries across a purpose-built campus in specially built Dubai South. Silk Plaster was there to introduce our full range of European-manufactured decorative wall coatings to the Global and Gulf construction market.  UAE construction market known for its appetite for premium finishes, rapid project timelines, and uncompromising quality standards.

Our stand displayed everything: Marmorino Carrara polished to a mirror finish, Travertino in raw stone and beton techniques, liquid wallpaper in dozens of textures, limewash in soft mineral tones, and the Deco Wallcovers range of velvet, silk ottocento, and suede-effect finishes. Notably our company displayed the know-how and core product, which is SILK PLASTER Liquid Wallpaper. It was the breadth that stopped people. Most brands at the expo offered one category either paints, or plasters, or wallcoverings. We had all three, manufactured in-house in Europe, under one united wall decoration brand.

Among the thousands of visitors who walked through the exhibition halls, a team of entrepreneurs with deep roots in the UAE construction and fit-out industry spent serious time at our stand. They were not casual browsers. They came with questions about substrate compatibility in Gulf climates, about VOC compliance under UAE municipality codes, about minimum order quantities and lead times from our factory in Latvia. They understood that the decorative coatings market in the UAE was dominated by Italian stucco lime plaster brands with high price points and long supply chains, and they saw an opportunity to offer something better: a European manufacturer with the same quality, broader product range, faster delivery, and a genuine interest in building a long-term decorative paints dealership business rather than simply shipping containers.

That first conversation lasted over an hour. By the end of it, we had exchanged contacts and agreed to continue the discussion. Within days, the emails started product catalogues, technical data sheets, pricing structures, and territory questions. It was clear this was not a tentative enquiry. It was the beginning of something serious.

The Visit to Riga: Seeing the Decorative Paints Factory, Building Trust

Conversations are one thing. Commitment is another. Our partners did what every serious distributor should do they came to see us. They did not expect that it would be very warm summer, so the cooling down didn’t really work.

The visit to Riga, Latvia, was a turning point. Our production facility is where raw materials: natural cellulose fibre, textile silk, mineral aggregate, high quality slaked lime, pigments, and binding agents  are transformed into finished products. Walking the production floor, our guests saw firsthand how liquid wallpaper compounds are mixed, dried, and packaged; how lime-based plasters are formulated to achieve specific textures and working times; and how quality control operates at every stage from incoming raw material inspection to final batch testing.

But the factory visit was only part of the picture. Equally important was seeing completed projects in Latvia and the Baltics, real interiors where Silk Plaster products had been living on walls for years. Restaurants, offices, private homes, and public buildings, all demonstrating how the materials perform over time in real conditions. Our partners could touch the surfaces, see how they had aged, ask the building owners about maintenance, and understand the difference between a product that looks good in a sample box and one that delivers lasting performance on a real wall.

They also spent time with our technical team. Application techniques were discussed in detail  how to achieve the beton effect with Travertino, how to burnish Marmorino to different levels of gloss, how to apply seamless microcement coatings on floors, how to navigate decorative paints market and how to tint decorative paints, how to apply liquid wallpaper seamlessly across large surfaces, and how to use limewash to create the clouded, mineral depth that architects increasingly specify for commercial interiors. These are not skills you learn from a PDF. They require hands-on training, and we provided it.

By the time our partners flew back to Dubai, the relationship had shifted from commercial interest to genuine trust. They had met the people behind the brand, seen the production, tested the materials, and understood the technical support structure that would back them in the field. The dealership agreement was signed shortly after.

Catch 22 Restaurant | Dubai City Centre, Al Zahia

We would not be able to reproduce all of the projects completed lately, but here is complete interior fit-out for Catch 22, a restaurant in Dubai’s Al Zahia district. In a city where hundreds of new restaurants open every year, the owners understood that the interior needed to do more than look attractive on opening night it needed to create a sensory identity that would distinguish the venue, photograph well for social media, and survive the daily demands of a high-turnover hospitality environment.

Our dealership team proposed a specification that combined two contrasting textures to define different zones within the restaurant:

Soft Touch Ricci Velvet a decorative wallcovering that produces a rich, velvety surface with a subtle, light-catching shimmer. Applied across the main dining area feature walls, Ricci Velvet gave the space a warm, intimate atmosphere. The tactile quality is what sets it apart from conventional paint or wallpaper guests instinctively want to touch the wall, which creates a memorable, multi-sensory dining experience. Under the warm restaurant lighting, the velvet fibres pick up and scatter light in a way that flat-painted walls simply cannot replicate.

Lime-based Intonachino (Travertino) in beton technique  a mineral plaster from the lime-based plasters range, applied using a concrete-effect technique that produces a raw, industrial-modern texture. Used across bar areas, columns, and transitional zones, the beton finish provided a deliberate contrast to the softness of the velvet walls. The tension between the two materials one warm and textile, the other cool and mineral  defined the spatial character of the restaurant without the need for additional decorative elements.

As a lime-based plaster, the Intonachino is inherently breathable, naturally antimicrobial due to its high pH, and carries a European fire classification  all critical properties in a commercial food-and-beverage setting where health, safety, and building code compliance are non-negotiable.

The project was delivered from A to Z by the dealership: initial design consultation with the restaurant’s interior designer, material specification, procurement from Silk Plaster’s factory, surface preparation, professional application by trained applicators, and final quality inspection. The result was a venue that stands out in Al Zahia’s competitive dining scene and a proof-of-concept project that opened the door to larger, more ambitious commissions.

Penthouse Residence at the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai

The second covered project today took the dealership from commercial hospitality into Dubai’s most exclusive residential market: a penthouse on Palm Island (Palm Jumeirah).

Palm Jumeirah is not merely an upscale address. It is a global symbol of architectural ambition. The residents who choose to live there expect interiors that match the extraordinary setting: premium materials, flawless execution, and a level of personalisation that off-the-shelf solutions cannot provide. The penthouse project required a full interior wall treatment across multiple rooms, living areas, and utility spaces, each with different functional and aesthetic requirements.

Four Silk Plaster product lines were specified and applied throughout the residence:

Art Design liquid wallpaper one of Silk Plaster’s most popular liquid wallpaper collections was applied seamlessly across bedrooms, the main living areas, and children’s rooms. Art Design combines natural cellulose and silk textile fibres with decorative mineral flecks to produce a surface that is visually rich yet understated. The material is zero-VOC, which matters in a family home where indoor air quality is a genuine concern, not a marketing checkbox. Liquid wallpaper is also self-repairing: if a section is damaged  by a piece of furniture, a child’s toy, or a renovation you simply wet the area, smooth it out, and let it dry. It returns to its original texture with no visible patch, no colour mismatch, and no need to repaint an entire wall. For a family living in a premium penthouse, this practical resilience is as valuable as the aesthetic finish.

Nappa Trowel a trowel-applied decorative finish from the Deco Wallcovers range was used on accent walls in the master suite, home office, and entertainment areas. Nappa Trowel produces a smooth, leather-like surface with a refined sheen that closely mimics the look and tactile quality of natural leather, without the maintenance challenges, cracking risk, or cost of genuine hide panelling. The trowel application technique allows the applicator to control the depth and directionality of the texture, creating a bespoke finish that is unique to each wall. In Dubai’s climate, where temperature and humidity fluctuations can be extreme, a decorative coating that delivers a premium aesthetic while remaining dimensionally stable and easy to maintain is a genuinely practical specification.

Sabbia a sand-textured decorative plaster from the Deco Wallcovers range  was specified for transitional areas, hallways, and secondary living spaces. Sabbia produces a fine, granular mineral texture that evokes natural sandstone fitting for a Dubai residence where the desert landscape is part of the architectural dialogue. The material is subtle enough to complement the more expressive finishes used in the primary living spaces while adding its own tactile warmth. Like all Silk Plaster decorative wallcovers, Sabbia is breathable, low-VOC, and carries full European fire classification documentation.

Matte washable Primecolor5 paint  Silk Plaster’s professional-grade architectural paint was specified for corridors, utility areas, staff quarters, and surfaces requiring frequent cleaning. Primecolor5 delivers a deep matte finish with full washability: it looks premium but can withstand daily wiping, cleaning products, and the kind of incidental contact that utility spaces endure. Low-VOC, available in a custom-tinted colour range, and compatible with all standard substrates, it provided the practical workhorse counterpart to the decorative finishes used in the primary living spaces.

The combination of liquid wallpaper, decorative paints, textile wallpaper, and architectural paint four distinct product families, all sourced from a single manufacturer  simplified procurement for the penthouse owner, ensured colour consistency across the entire interior, and eliminated the coordination headaches that inevitably arise when sourcing from three or four different suppliers with different lead times, different colour-matching systems, and different technical support teams. One dealership, one manufacturer, one logistics chain and a cohesive interior as a result.

The project was managed end-to-end by the local dealership: from initial colour and texture consultation through to final handover and client walkthrough.

Sheikh’s Council of the UAE showing the Government-Level Trust

The third project is the one that defines the trajectory of this dealership and demonstrates what a decorative paints dealership business with Silk Plaster can ultimately become.

A commission for the Sheikh’s Council of the UAE, a government institution where material selection is subject to the highest standards of quality, safety, fire performance, and aesthetic authority is not an opportunity that comes to new market entrants. It is earned through a documented track record of successful project delivery, verified product compliance, and the kind of professional reputation that institutional procurement committees take seriously.

The specification called for the MS Collection of liquid wallpaper Silk Plaster’s premium textile wall coating range. The MS Collection combines natural silk and cellulose fibres to produce surfaces with exceptional depth, colour richness, and a refined tactile quality that conventional paint or wallpaper cannot replicate. The material carries European CE certification, fire classification to EN 13501, and full material safety documentation the kind of formal compliance paperwork that government procurement requires and that many decorative coating brands operating in the Gulf region simply cannot provide.

Being selected for a UAE government project validated everything the dealership had built since that first conversation at Expo 2020: the product knowledge, the application expertise, the project management capability, and the confidence to propose premium European materials to the most demanding clients in the market. It was proof that the business model works and that the right product range, backed by genuine manufacturer support, can take a dealership from a trade-fair handshake to institutional trust in under four years.

What This Decorative Paints Partnership Demonstrates

This story from a sight to liquid wallpaper leading to the meeting at Expo 2020, through a factory visit in Riga, to three landmark projects across Dubai illustrates what a decorative paints dealership business with Silk Plaster can become when the right partner meets the right product range.

The factors that made it work are worth noting, because they apply to any entrepreneur or contractor considering a Silk Plaster dealership in their own market:

• Product breadth from a single manufacturer. Marmorino, Travertino, suede washable limewash effect NAPPA, liquid wallpaper, textile coatings, and architectural paint coming all from one source. This means one logistics chain, one technical support contact, and consistent quality across every product category. When a client’s project requires both mineral plaster on feature walls and washable paint in the corridors, the dealership does not need to source from multiple suppliers. Everything comes from one factory, with matched documentation.
• Full technical compliance. UAE compliant documents, CE marking, European fire classification, VOC testing, and complete material safety data for every product. In markets like the UAE where government and institutional clients require formal compliance documentation as a condition of tender  this is not a nice-to-have. It is the entry ticket. Without it, you are excluded before the conversation begins.
• Training and technical support from the manufacturer. The factory visit in Riga was not a courtesy tour. It was a structured training programme that gave our partners the application skills and product knowledge to deliver projects confidently from day one. That support continues: when a new technique is required, when a substrate presents challenges, or when a client asks a technical question that needs a manufacturer-level answer, the Silk Plaster technical team is available directly. Silk Plaster has thousands of recipes fully working to reproduce all design and architecture colours in specifications.
• Scalability across market segments. The same product range that finished a restaurant in Al Zahia went on to serve a penthouse on Palm Jumeirah and a government council chamber. The dealership did not need to reinvent its supply chain or seek new product lines for each client segment. The range already covered hospitality, residential, and institutional 3 very different markets, all served by the same European manufacturer.

Build Your Own Decorative Paints Story

Silk Plaster is actively expanding its distributor and dealer network across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. If you are a contractor, interior fit-out company, paint distributor, or entrepreneur looking to build a decorative paints dealership business with a European manufacturer that supplies everything from lime-based plasters and limewash to liquid wallpaper, textile wallpaper, and professional architectural paint we want to hear from you.

Every partnership starts with a conversation. Ours started at Expo 2020. Yours could start today.

SILK PLASTER Dubai is available. Please find Silk Plaster approved contractors in the UAE here.

Apply to become a Silk Plaster partner or contact our commercial team directly at silkplaster.eu/contact-us to discuss territory availability, pricing, and how we can support your growth.