Passionate about luxury finishings, Elio Mauro and his business partner Anthony, had an idea to create a company based on creating luxury finishings for walls and ceilings. Venilux specializes in unique luxurious finishes for residential or commercial spaces. Creating beautiful spaces using lime-based product directly made from the stones of the Brenta River in Italy.  Applied in the same tradition as its masters, they transform regular walls, floors, and ceilings into something unique and truly exceptional. Here is their story.

Mauro, which means wall is the last name of the Co-founder, Elio Mauro. “It was written in the stars”, he recalls about his fate of becoming an entrepreneur in this industry. Having gained momentum over the last few months, their company is something of innovation, design and timeless added value in a home. They both credit their success to their wives who have been avid supporters of their company since the very start. 

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Do you have a success formula? What do you credit to that?

I think it’s our partnership. We work very well together. We are very open minded people.  The goal is to make a team of everything. From myself and Anthony, the client, and also the designer, the architect. It’s important to work together to get the final product so everybody’s happy at the end. People love [the product]. I think it’s a new way, instead of regular paint, it gives a little accent, a little ‘je ne said quoi’, a little extra in your home. 

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So it’s custom work, you can deliver around Canada?

Basically, we distribute all over Canada. We have the 100% rights in Quebec and also in Canada. There is already a distributor in Canada, but we help each other out, and when people need product, we distribute it. 

How long have you guys been in the game? 

For three years we’ve been doing venetian plaster. Anthony, he’s going on ten years of regular plaster walls. He was looking for something different than just all this plaster. This is more fun. You’re basically taking a wall, and turning it into a canvas. 

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Was that a new concept?

What I’ve heard from people is that this was popular in the 80s, and it really faded out. The more I researched this and I saw this approach, the more I noticed that it’s very popular in Europe, Morocco, Italy, Greece, and also the states. You’d be surprised, in Miami there’s a lot of Venetian plaster. I think it’s an up and upcoming, and people are looking for it now.

Where do you see it going? What is a big goal? Last time we spoke you said you can see you guys being all over the world.

All over the world, I wish.The goal is to educate people about this product, the value of it, what it brings to your home, to your restaurant, to your work space anywhere. To apply it, and also to distribute it at least nationally to Canada, and then who knows what the future holds, right? 

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When you say educate the people, is it because they don’t naturally know about it and they don’t know the value added?

Exactly. Basically, it’s a new product. Like anything new, at first people are hesitant, they’re like “Do I? Don’t I want it? It’s really cool on pictures, but on the wall in my house is it too much?” So, it’s basically to show people “okay look” the different options, how custom it could be to be put in your home and your workspace, and you can basically enhance anything. It’s also a line-based plaster, which is also Eco-friendly. Most resistant, environmentally safe. It’s really, really a cool product as well. 

What are the benefits of having that over regular paint?

It’s a natural product. You’re getting a little movement in your walls, it’s not just flat, matte paint, your eye is going to go towards it. It has that WOW! Factor. People automatically are going to say, “oh, can I touch it?” And they’re going to be feeling the wall like you’re on mush. It’s a Jeffrey in Get into the Greek. It has that texture, that movement, that wave. What’s good about it is that you have multiple options from metallic sand paint, to get that sandy metallic look. You get that old school, European stone finish. You can get a concrete finish. A Venetian high gloss as well.

The ideas are endless. Like I was saying, we work together, with the client. They come to us with a picture or an idea, and we work with them, we try to take the right avenue, and we’ll go back and forth, we’ll do some samples for them, until the sample is approved. That sample is basically custom to the client, and I know the formula of the client, the Color-coat, and we apply them. We can also do floors as well. Basically, it’s called mixed cement, it’s very popular in the UK, very popular in Italy. It looks like all one flat. It can go onto of tiles directly, so you don’t have the hassle of breaking your tile in your home. You don’t have the hassle of dust, ordering the container, the expense of that. It comes directly on top of your tile. 

We really pride ourselves with our service, and people are really happy, so far so good. The only thing is being in the restaurant business for 20 years, that was always key, the client is always right, make the client happy. I brought that into the construction business as well. 

As business owners too, always being on, how would you find balance or what are the things you do to kind of not bring it home? 

I get the axe from my wife sometimes when I always answer the phone. My way, I’m lucky that my wife is in fully commission work as well. She works for herself as well. She’s a mortgage specialist. She understands because every sale is an income. We have to be on the phone. Honestly for my family, I try and prioritize at least Sundays. I won’t go answer my phone for business. It does happen obviously. That’s pretty much the only time. 

You literally started a business at the same time, right? 

It’s been a crazy couple of years, I won’t lie and for my partner as well, his wife is in her own business. She does clothing, lingerie and baby clothes. 

What advice would you give yourself back before you had your business?

I told myself, because I owned the restaurant before, I told myself I’m never owning a business again. Then I’m like “You know what? Let’s do it.” The advice I’d give myself, wow. Just go with it. Keep an open mind and the path will open up for you. You’re always working. I don’t even call it work, because when you like what you do, the time just goes by so fast.

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Is there something trending or something that you’ve seen more of in the last few months?

A lot of concrete. A lot of the concrete look over here. It’s really cool here, a lot of people are always asking for it. Also some Venetian plaster as well is becoming more and more. At the Starbucks and Westbury’s that’s what we did, we did two plaster walls. 

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To book Venilux for your next residential or commercial project, visit veniluxquebec.ca

For inspiration, Follow @VeniluxQuebec on Instagram!

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All Corporate Photography by ImageMarketing.ca