We recently learned about the work of Danish paint company Linolie & Pigment from architects Mentze Ottenstein, who utilized the brand’s Aqualinum paint on the interiors of their Dinesen country house renovation. With a focus on linseed paint and colored wood oils, Linolie & Pigment is ripe for use on historical surfaces and in restoration projects.

In fact, founder Thor Grabow took part in his first restoration project at the age of 17 when his parents restored their old farm in Blirup, a town south of Aarhus in Denmark. Thor was allowed to participate in the process, shadowing restoration architect Nikolaj Hyllestad and learning the tradition of limewash and linseed oil. It was then that Thor visited a paint factory, where he witnessed the process of dusty pigment and oil being transformed into a richly colored paint. “I was more than fascinated, and only in a way that an outspoken 17-year-old can come up with, I asked directly if I could buy the factory when it someday went on sale,” he explains. After he studied as a building designer and worked in a restoration office, that day came: Thor bought the color production and set up Linolie & Pigment, becoming a favorite source of architects in Scandinavia and beyond.

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