PLASTER PINKS Calm & soothing

Fresh plaster has a perfect, silky quality, like a freshly laid pale brown hen’s egg. It’s smooth to the touch and has a watery, elemental and painterly look, which gives it depth and movement and can be more interesting than a flat, painted wall. However, it is less flexible than paint if you want to change your decoration. You can add pigments to alter the colour, and a matt glaze to make it more robust, but paints in plastery shades offer a less expensive and more accommodating alternative.

1 1 An earthy shade is teamed with old-fashioned brown gloss and natural textures in a Suffolk cottage 2 Walls finished in raw gypsum plaster, sealed with clear varnish, let the chalky texture come through 3 Walls in Flint from Little Greene, a very subtle grey neutral, intensify in the shaded areas of this rustic beamed kitchen

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