I finally did it: I made flour paint!

For years I’ve been holding on to the age-old Swedish recipe, procrastinating out of fear of DIY-failure, citing other priorities as an excuse. But with winter, snow and the usual severe storms approaching I started getting worried about the four new shutters we hung on the second floor of the house. Decades of neglect destroyed the originals and Thomas spent weeks lovingly making copies, using our own cedar wood. Left unpainted, these battens and boards would go to waste. So, I got to work. And it was easy, so easy, like making soup.

Just mix simple ingredients – water, flour, soap, linseed oil, red (natural earth) pigment, and ferrous sulfate -, bring to a gentle boil for about an hour et voilà: inexpensive, eco-friendly and durable protection for exterior wood. Thomas brought down the shutters for me and put them on workbenches outside. In the glow of the autumn sun I painted them over in just a couple of hours. Again, so easy to apply and with a lovely non-toxic smell. I also needn’t have worried about the shutters ending up looking too uniform and pristine.

I love the result: a rustic, matt look of brownish red, eager to turn the same shade as the old shutters. They’re destined to age well, looking more beautiful with time, softer round the edges. Here’s dreaming the same will apply to us.