a lime studio, not a paint crew

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.