This workshop is based on a course Ms. Jablonski teaches as Columbia University, NYC. Architectural finishes record an ephemeral history of our built environment.  Finishes tell us a story about how we have over time decorated, ornamented, and protected wooden elements on our buildings.  As we record and preserve our buildings, it is important not to only consider the outer shell of the building but how people saw and expressed themselves in the finishes of their homes and public buildings.  This class will look at a variety of finishes but focus on paint and wallpaper. The course will be a mix of lectures and microscopic work.  As we examine paint finishes, we will discuss the issues of how to sample, the differences between a paint color investigation and a paint analysis and the importance of “exposure windows.”  The class will work on microscopes to perform paint color investigations and some paint analysis.  The other finish we will be looking at in detail is wallpaper which is also ephemeral and often found in fragments or badly damaged.  How to investigate and date wallpaper along with conservation issues regarding this paper thin finish will be discussed.