THE MUD HOME
  • Home
  • Building
    • Earthbag >
      • Rubble Trench Foundations
      • Earthbag in Extreme Weather
      • Earthquakes and earthbag
    • Earth Plaster
    • Using Lime
    • Cob
    • Straw Bale
    • Wattle and Daub
    • Inspiration
    • Off-Grid Living >
      • Off-Grid Prep Course
    • Mud Building Blog
  • Books
    • Dirt Witch
    • Mud Ball
    • Mud Mountain The Book
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
  • About
    • Contact
    • Mud Home Facebook Group
  • COURSES
    • ATULYA's In Person Workshops 2025
    • Perfect Earth Plaster Online Course
    • Lime for Beginners Online Course
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
    • The Off-Grid Roadmap
    • Consultation
  • Blogs
    • Mud Home Turkey
    • Barn Life in Spain
  • My Projects
    • The Earthbag Home in Turkey
    • The Barn in Spain

Want to learn the Beautiful art of clay plaster?

Creating gorgeous clay plaster isn't quite as easy as just slapping a bunch of mud on a wall. It's an ancient art and science. If you're serious about earthen plaster work, you might want to have a look at my popular online course.
Take a look at the course

Charlotte’s Exquisite Lime Decor

4/8/2023

3 Comments

 
This summer I was lucky enough to housesit for Charlotte Organ. Frankly it was a dream. Apart from being a lovely person whom I hit it off with immediately, Charlotte is also a professional chateau and castle decorator, specialising in lime works and trompe-l’oeil. Charlotte has been in the lime game a fair while. “I became interested in the beauty of surfaces as a teenager when I worked on a S.P.A.B. project [The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings] repairing a Devonshire medieval longhouse,” explains Charlotte.
 
Charlotte has decorated some illustrious buildings, including Kilcoe Castle for Jeremy Irons. She studied Fine Art at Bristol and then began working as a decorator in and around the city. There she learned various decorative techniques such as colour washing, stencilling, distressing, rag rolling, sponging, marbling, and trompe-l’oeil. The ingenious part is that she’s transferred many of these techniques to lime in a way that is truly original. So buckle up your overalls folks! This is a master class in lime finish.
Picture
Charlotte worked for Jeremy Irons to decorate Kilcoe Castle.
Why do you need to use lime?
Anyone who’s been around The Mud Home a while is no doubt bored of me banging on about lime, until they use it of course, after which they soon become a fellow lime evangelist. Lime creates a beautiful, dry, and healthy atmosphere, and if you haven’t had a go, you just don’t know what you’re missing. Lime is a natural fungicide and inhibits mould in damp climates. It creates a beautiful, clean finish, it’s inexpensive, contains no toxic chemicals, and boasts a very low carbon footprint to boot.

 
You can use lime in many ways: mortars, plasters, limecretes, and paints. I have a full article on that here. But Charlotte has used lime paint in ways I had never seen before, to create truly jaw-dropping effects.
Picture
Stencilled lime paint creating a stylish finish.
Both in her own home and in a great many of her projects, Charlotte uses natural pigments to colour her lime paints, along with some interesting methods to bring out the colour. One technique I adored was how she created stylish and elegant walls by using stencilling. I had never considered stencilling on lime paint before! She sponged the walls with a pigmented lime paint, and then used pure pigment in the stencilling. It looks simply amazing.
Picture
Above you can see another interesting technique. Here we have a base coat of pigmented lime paint with squares of pigmented lime painted over the top. The colours were brightened by going over the lime paintwork with liquid beeswax, thinned with turpentine. Proper turpentine is needed here, not white spirit.
Picture
Lime paint base coat with milk paint decoration.
Another method Charlotte used was to paint the walls in a base coat of lime paint, and then paint over them using milk (casein) paints.
Picture
Distressed lime paint.
Here we are again (above photo) in Kilcoe Castle, and Charlotte has created a distressed lime paint technique by rubbing the lime paint and then waxing it.
Picture
Charlotte’s gorgeous lime painted bathroom.
Charlotte has used lime extensively in her own home, a beautifully renovated farmhouse in southwest France. I found it incredibly inspiring on all levels. In this bathroom you can see a vibrant turquoise lime paint on the walls.
Picture
Lime-washed walls on the staircase, creating a warm and cosy feel.
Lime renders and paints adorn Charlotte’s farmhouse. She agrees with me (as does everyone living within lime walls) that it creates a warmer, drier atmosphere. Even on the eye the effect is cosy, as you can see by the lime render and warm tones of lime paint on the staircase walls.

You can see more of Charlotte’s amazing work (and there’s lots to see and be wowed by, I can assure you) on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/eneffetdecor
Her website is here: https://eneffet.co.uk

Things to take from Charlotte’s work
I often feel there’s too much worry about the rules of building works. Nowhere is this truer than with natural paints and plasters. I mean what’s the ultimate risk here? Your house isn’t going to collapse because the paint went awry. Charlotte has really proved that it pays to experiment and you can use all manner of exciting decorating techniques with lime.
Picture
Limewashed alcove by Charlotte Organ
More about lime paint (and relevant links):
  1. Basic lime wash is just lime putty mixed with water; you can read more on that here.
  2. If you have a high-quality lime putty you may not need a binder. When using lower-quality limes your lime paint may turn a little dusty, in which case you can add some wheat paste or casein to the mix.
  3. Not sure what lime putty is? Not sure which lime is which? Read this.
  4. If you want to get started using lime, take my Amazing World of Lime course which covers in detail which lime to use where, the slaking process, lime plaster, lime mortar, limecretes, and lime paint.
Look at my Amazing World of Lime course
Do you benefit from The Mud Home articles?
The Mud Home only continues because of the support of the good people on Patreon. It’s expensive and time-consuming to run. So if you believe it should stay open source and ad-free, consider making a pledge.
Support The Mud Home on Patreon
Picture
Harlequin fireplace created from lime paints.
Picture
Gorgeous lime washed walls with stencilled borders by Charlotte Organ.
3 Comments
Richard
15/8/2023 12:29:54 pm

Very interesting article. Useful tips as well.

Reply
royal decor link
4/3/2024 12:27:52 pm

"The before-and-after photos on your blog are truly remarkable. It's amazing to see the transformation that can happen with just a few design tweaks."

Reply
Kim link
14/6/2024 02:44:33 pm

This is a great article for anyone interested in using lime plaster in their home decor! The article provides a clear explanation of what lime plaster is and the benefits of using it. I especially liked the section on different techniques for applying lime plaster - this is really helpful information for DIYers. The author also includes some great resources for learning more about lime plaster, which is a great touch.

Overall, this is a well-written and informative article that has inspired me to consider using lime plaster in my own home. Thanks for sharing!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Many thanks to the Mud Sustainers supporting this site!

    List of Sustainers
    Picture
    Do you find The Mud Home valuable? Please consider supporting the blog on Patreon. For as little as $5 a month you will have access to my exclusive Mud Home Podcast where I give personal updates and answer your questions.
    BENEFITS FOR PATRONS INCLUDE:
    Email priority, exclusive videos, review copies of my books, sneak previews of courses and books, Q and As, priority for courses and more.

    Author

    Atulya K Bingham
    Natural builder and author of Mud Ball.


    Picture
    "Beautifully written and inspiring." The Owner Builder Magazine

    The Mud Building PDFs

    Want the entire Mud Home in PDF format?
    Picture
    See The Mud Building PDFs

    Categories

    All
    Adobe
    Building Codes
    Building With Wood
    Cob
    Composting Toilets
    Earthbag
    Earthbag Mistakes
    Earth Plaster
    Foraging
    Hobbit House
    House Renovation
    Insulating Plaster
    Insulation
    Laying Earthbags Faster
    Limecrete Floor
    Lime Plaster Issues
    Natural Floors
    Natural Roof
    Off Grid
    Permaculture
    Roofing Options
    Stone Houses
    Straw Bale
    Sustainable Building
    Using Lime
    Wattle And Daub
    Yurt

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Join the free Mud Home earth plaster mini course.

    Picture
    All the Mud Home How-to posts have been compiled into a PDF package with 75 articles and over 200 photos. You can still buy it now, and enjoy lifetime access to all the updates.
    PDF Contents

    My latest book is now out!
    Picture
    “Entranced! Be inspired by one who’s lived and breathed dirt.”
    Kim Fraser, Get Rugged
Disclaimer: All the content in The Mud Home website is provided for informational purposes only. The author undertakes no responsibility for any person or entity who chooses to use the information on this website. It is not intended to be a standard and should not substitute for the exercise of good engineering judgment by engineers. It is the user’s obligation to make sure that he/she uses the appropriate practices and consults the appropriate experts when building. It is the user's obligation to make sure they are following health and safety guidelines. The author is not responsible for any accidents, injuries or damages to persons or property incurred while using the information presented in this website.

Some blog articles refer to the use of lime. Please note, lime is caustic and can cause burns. Read The Mud Home guide to using lime safely here.

EARTHBAG BUILDING PDF
EARTH PLASTER GUIDE
BOOKS
Newsletter
About Atulya
Privacy Policy

SUPPORT

Picture
Picture
The Mud Home takes many hours a week to run, and costs a lot to sustain. If you find this site useful or inspiring, please consider supporting it so that it can continue.
Picture

Many thanks to all those who've already become Mud Sustainers.

The Mud Home  Copyright © 2013  Atulya Kerry Bingham
  • Home
  • Building
    • Earthbag >
      • Rubble Trench Foundations
      • Earthbag in Extreme Weather
      • Earthquakes and earthbag
    • Earth Plaster
    • Using Lime
    • Cob
    • Straw Bale
    • Wattle and Daub
    • Inspiration
    • Off-Grid Living >
      • Off-Grid Prep Course
    • Mud Building Blog
  • Books
    • Dirt Witch
    • Mud Ball
    • Mud Mountain The Book
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
  • About
    • Contact
    • Mud Home Facebook Group
  • COURSES
    • ATULYA's In Person Workshops 2025
    • Perfect Earth Plaster Online Course
    • Lime for Beginners Online Course
    • MUD BUILDING PDF PACKAGE
    • The Off-Grid Roadmap
    • Consultation
  • Blogs
    • Mud Home Turkey
    • Barn Life in Spain
  • My Projects
    • The Earthbag Home in Turkey
    • The Barn in Spain