limewash
Our classic mineral finish — aged slaked lime and natural pigment, hand-brushed into a soft, cloud-like matte with subtle tonal movement. Breathable and naturally luminous.
View limewash →Hand-applied limewash, Roman clay, and Venetian plaster for Manhattan townhouses, prewar apartments, lofts, and brick facades. Breathable, low-VOC, and full of depth. Free color consultation.
Explore our work ↓Chelsea Limewash Co. is a Manhattan studio that works almost entirely in lime: limewash, Roman clay, Venetian plaster (marmorino), tadelakt, and mineral silicate paint. We hand-apply it in thin, translucent coats across prewar apartments, downtown lofts, and brownstone parlors from Chelsea down to the Village. What lime does that ordinary paint can't is age well. As it cures it carbonates back into stone and takes on a soft, living patina that deepens over the years, where flat latex just sits on the wall as one uniform film. Most of our clients come to us after seeing lime in a friend's apartment and realizing a wall can look better in year five than the week it went on.
Lime looks its best on the surfaces it was made for: raw and skim-coated plaster, brick, and masonry. On drywall or previously painted walls we prime first with a mineral bonding primer so the finish grips and behaves. Because lime is alkaline it naturally resists mold and mildew, and because we mix pigment by hand we match the color to your actual room and its light instead of a fan deck. If you're in a co-op or condo, we work in low-odor, low-VOC materials that keep the board and your neighbors happy, and we schedule around your building's rules and hours. Every job, whether it's a single Roman clay accent wall in a one-bedroom or a full brick facade in silicate paint, starts with a sample on your own wall. The only color that matters is the one that looks right where it's going to live.
Our classic mineral finish — aged slaked lime and natural pigment, hand-brushed into a soft, cloud-like matte with subtle tonal movement. Breathable and naturally luminous.
View limewash →A smooth, troweled clay-and-marble finish with a suede-like, low-sheen surface — more movement than paint, quieter than plaster. Quiet luxury for feature walls and powder rooms.
View roman clay →Lime plaster built in micro-layers and burnished to a marble-like depth and sheen. Dramatic elegance for foyers, dining rooms, and statement ceilings.
View venetian plaster →Ancient Moroccan lime plaster, burnished with stone and sealed with olive-oil soap into a seamless, water-resistant surface — made for bespoke baths, showers, and wet rooms.
View tadelakt →We put a few samples right on your wall and ask you to live with them for a day or two. Morning light and evening lamplight read completely differently, and it's far better to learn that on a sample than on a finished room. Nothing goes on the walls until you've seen the color in your own light.
We repair the surface and prime drywall or painted walls with a mineral bonding primer so the lime adheres.
The finish is built by hand in successive thin coats, brushed, troweled, or burnished depending on the finish you chose.
Lime cures by carbonation. Where it's needed we seal (tadelakt and wet areas), then walk the finished surface with you.
They limewashed our West Village parlor and the walls have this soft, moving depth you just can't get from paint. They sampled three whites on the wall before we chose. Immaculate work.
Roman clay on our powder room and hallway. Smooth, suede-like, and beautiful. The crew was tidy and respectful of a prewar apartment. Worth every penny.
Had them limewash the brick facade on our Chelsea townhouse. It looks a hundred years old in the best way, and the brick can still breathe. Thrilled with it.
Tadelakt in our primary shower instead of tile. Seamless, warm, and completely water-resistant. A real craft that almost no one in the city actually does properly.
Chelsea Limewash Co. brings its lime and mineral finishes to homes and businesses throughout Manhattan, NY, including Chelsea · West Village · Greenwich Village · SoHo · Tribeca · NoHo · Gramercy · Flatiron · Upper East Side · Upper West Side · Nolita · Murray Hill.
Book a free color consultation and wall sample with Manhattan's limewash studio.