Carlton Update

I haven't done a post in so long, that it feels impossible to catch up in any sensible, easy-to-understand way. I hope the photos say more than I can.

Lots of trim!

I just recently began experimenting with homemade milk/lime paint. It's really exciting to be able to make a paint out of just 4 ingredients! The clay pigment is from the Blue Ridge Mountains (in Western NC - pretty local). The pain also has lime. And "quark" - which is the solids from skim milk, after curdling the milk with vinegar. And water. That's it!

The downside of the paint is that it must be used fresh (can only sit for about 2 days in the fridge, before separating). So you can't store up the old paint for later use. This means that I need to become skilled at estimating the volume I'll need, so that I don't end up with wasted leftovers.

I bought a scale so that I can properly measure pigment by weight (more accurate than volume for this type of thing).

Here is the middle bedroom before paint (the photo was taken at night, and looks deceptively yellow).

Mike and I have been working on achieving a more textural/gestural finish treatment with our plasters. It can go a lot more quickly than trying to smooth everything perfectly, and looks gorgeous!

After the paint (2 coats, brushed on)

I had way too much leftover paint, so I decided to use it to paint a couple murals in the house. These were both created one stroke at a time - there were not pre-visualized. This ended up being incredibly peaceful and centering for me. The photos are taken at night, but you get the idea...

And here are more photos from around the house. Painting the rest of the walls and installing the earthen floor will be the last two steps of the addition!

hallway

bedroom window

bed nook

The blue door in the photo above will eventually be removed, and that doorway will be knocked out into a big, wide, open arch like in the kitchen hallway.

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