Once the hub of a dairy farm, largely unchanged, simple and traditional, this farmhouse in rural Vermont happily embraces color used without inhibition.
How many old-house owners have glanced around their rooms and sighed, “If only walls could talk?” What, for example, could they tell us about the richest colors from the earliest days of colonial America, when paint was hand-ground, expensive, and often flaunted as a status symbol by those who could afford the very best?
Have you ever thought you’d solved a paint scheme dilemma with one of those chips from the paint store that has four or five gradations of the same hue? You put one on the walls, another on the trim, perhaps—daringly—a third for accent. Then, before the paint’s even dry, you find yourself dissatisfied?
Real milk paint is back on the radar: It’s non-toxic and offers unique finish effects for walls, cabinets, and furniture. And modern formulations have extended its applications.