Sydney Harbour Paints in Los Angeles carries Lime Wash paint in a variety of colors and they can make custom colors as well. The colors can be really bright and the lime wash makes them look as if they have been aged by the sun. I believe they have a website.

Martha Stewart isn't particularly cheap, in my opinion. It only costs about $3-4 gallon less than Benjamin Moore.

MILK PAINT!! It's what colonial Americans used and it gives a rich color without the gloss. There are several places you can buy it online--and if you're feeling particularly intrepid, you can even make it.

Whoops. I got post happy before reading to the end. Apologies.

Somewhere kind of recently, I remember seeing some site or some article that talked about how to make your own milk paints.

If I was really going for the chalky look that I think I've seen somewhere, and that I think you mean, I think I would do this...

First, go to Pearl Paint (I don't think it will be in their house paint store on Lispenard, but rather somewhere within their main store on Canal) and buy some powdered pigments, which are always very intense. Buy the color you want, and then go to your favorite house paint store -- OK, NOW you can go to the their house paint store.

Pick a color that's as close as possible to that pigment color, and paint the wall with it. Actually you might want to experiment with some illustration board first.

Then, mix some of that pigment into some of that paint, but add some water. Try small amounts of each of these, but make notes of what proportions you use. I'd guess that if you tried 2 parts paint; 2 parts pigment; 2 parts water that might be a good starting point.

What I think that would do is that the paint in that mixture would still give you enough binder, but that the extra pigment might end up being chalky, but that the water might keep that chalky aqueous enough to avoid being doughy when you apply it.

Then, I THINK that once it's dry, it might still be KIND of chalky. Also, I think that since the pigment and the paint won't QUITE be the same color as each other, even the combination fo the two will be a slightly different color from the just-paint coat below. So, I think you'll end up with something that has a little bit of depth, and possibly look kind of old, too.

But seriously, this sounds like something you might want to do to an accent wall or something. And I'd make sure that accent wall is NOT the one that's right beside an entryway, because you probably won't want to be touching that wall very much if it IS kind of chalky, because it might get dirty, and it might get on your hands.

If, by the way, you can't get your hands on any pure pigments, you might try powdered tempera paints like they use for elementary schools. Those come in some pretty big buckets, and they're bound to be inexpensive, and it seems like they're pretty intense, from what I remember, and TRUST ME -- they're pretty chalky.

I think the key to those weathered finishes is lime. The chalky stuff. Not the Vodka Tonic stuff.

If you end up buying pigments, go to Kremer Pigments on the LES. They are a better bargain than what they sell at Pearl and the people there can even help you out with your paint project (with advice, that is). They know A LOT about pigments. They also have classes and they also have recipes. In their catalog I have seen a milk paint recipe.

Here's their web site - www.kremer-pigmente.de/englisch/homee.htm
I had forgotten about these guys - they are great and extremely helpful. You can make your own acrylic paints and just go crazy. This is a good bet.

Note that the paints of the world LOOK chalky, but they don't come off on your hands.
(I just got back from Mexico)

For those of you in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn General Store--www.brooklyngeneral.com @ 135 Union st-- carries Milk Paint. I've never been to this store, so I can't say anything about them, but I thought locals might be interested.

There is a great paint company down here in Australia called Porter's Paints (www.porterspaints.com.au) who do a large range of traditional and innovative paints, including french wash, fresco, milk paints etc. If you visit their site and follow the stores/distributors links they have a couple of distributors in the US.

Is anyone in SF able to recommend a good shopping sources for these things, or similar effects here?
(a weathered old house, bright blue "baked" and kind of chalky looking near the corner of Day and Sanchez in Noe Valley is exactly what a friend wants help with inside his apt.)

In response to:
"vibrant paint colors and a chalky texture" from above...

I found a book on faux painting which described what you are asking about. It talked about putting a plaster skim coat (actually thinned drywall joint compound) and then painting on top of that. There are specific paint or color wash techniques available, depending on the desired effect you are looking for.

In short, it sounds to me like you are talking about using paint for a "color wash", which means keeping the intensity of the pigment,but diluting it with water or glaze(for acrylic latex paint) or diluting with a mineral spirit of some type (for oil based paints). Diluting the pigment means you are spreading it out over a greater wall area, whereas if you added white paint you actually get a lighter paint color (not as intense).

I am studying these paint techniques for my master bedroom, so I'm still working out the details myself.

Good luck onyour project.
Susan