Settled, side by side

Costes is a Portola Roman Clay — a hand-applied plaster finish rather than a paint — in a dusty rose-terracotta. Because Roman Clay is troweled on, the color is never flat: it moves between pale pink and deep clay across a single wall, and the surface has a soft, suede-like depth that photographs like stone.

Do not let the name fool you — Spoonful of Sugar is a deep, saturated caramel-terracotta, not a pastel. With an LRV of 21 it is a real color with real weight, and in a high-gloss lacquer it becomes something else entirely: a warm, glowing envelope that turns a library or dining room into a jewel box.