Lime, Clay & Velvet: A Specialty Finishes Workshop with Eileen O'Dea — July 23

Thursday, July 23 · 3:00–5:00 PM
Rebuilders Xchange, 1299 East 53rd Street Cleveland, Ohio 44114
$95 per student · Light refreshments included · Limited seats

Join us for two hands-on hours with Eileen O'Dea, traveling in from Los Angeles, for a small-group workshop in three of the most beautiful specialty finishes in the trade: lime, clay, and velvet. You'll get your hands dirty, and that's the point.

These techniques are older than almost anything else in your house.

Lime and earth plasters are among the oldest surface treatments humans have ever made — Neolithic builders were burnishing lime floors roughly nine thousand years ago, long before written language. The same materials carried through Roman frescoes, Moroccan tadelakt, and Venetian palazzos. What we're teaching isn't a trend. It's a craft that has simply never stopped working.

The three finishes

Lime. Slaked limestone, water, and mineral pigment. It cures by absorbing carbon dioxide from the air and literally turning back into stone on your wall. Light refracts into the translucent mineral crystals rather than bouncing off a film of plastic — that's the glow, the movement, the depth you can't fake with latex. It's vapor-permeable, so moisture passes through instead of getting sealed behind an acrylic skin. And because lime is strongly alkaline, mold and mildew struggle to take hold on it at all — no added biocides required.

Clay. Earth, minerals, and natural pigment. Clay finishes are quietly remarkable: the material actively absorbs and releases humidity, buffering the moisture in a room rather than trapping it. The surface is a deep, chalky matte with soft tonal variation — warm where lime is luminous. Zero plastics, zero off-gassing, and a color palette that comes straight out of the ground.

Velvet. The softest of the three. A fine, suede-like finish that absorbs light instead of reflecting it, giving walls a subtle nap and a quiet, tactile richness that shifts as you move past it. Where lime performs and clay grounds, velvet whispers.

All three share the same virtues: mineral pigments, no acrylics, and surfaces that patina with age instead of peeling.

What you'll learn

• The fundamentals of lime, clay, and velvet finishes — what each material is, how it behaves, and where it belongs
• Hands-on time with professional tools and application techniques
• The confidence to start using these finishes in your own projects

Who it's for

Designers who want to specify these finishes and know what they're talking about. Painters and tradespeople adding a differentiated skill. And curious DIYers who saw a wall like the one I saw and haven't stopped thinking about it.

Your instructor

Eileen O'Dea is a designer, artisan, and specialty-finish expert with over a decade of experience transforming interiors through texture, depth, and old-world technique. She is the founder of The Wooden Palate and co-owner of Studio E&R and 11•11•11, restoring Cleveland homes while honoring their original character. Her work bridges the design worlds of Los Angeles and Cleveland. She has taught thousands of people through her online tutorials and hands-on demonstrations, and she is exceptionally good at making an intimidating craft feel entirely within reach.

Good to know

All materials and tools provided. Wear clothes you don't mind getting messy. Light refreshments served. Seats are strictly limited — once they're gone, they're gone.

Cancellation policy: Tickets are non-refundable. If your plans change, you're welcome to transfer your seat to a friend — just email us their name before the workshop so we can update the roster. hello@rbxhub.com