Painter Girl

The Not So Easy Ceiling

Today I finished the last ceiling of the three ceilings I have been working on in the same client's home as the Home Office and Kitchen ceilings recently posted.  This Sun Room Ceiling was supposed to be my easiest ceiling to complete.  Well, it turned out...not quite true.  First, the height of this ceiling at the peak is 14'.  That's an extra 5' over the previous 2 ceilings, and the ceiling is comprised of 2 slanted sides.

Here's the Before shot.

Now, you wouldn't think that a few more feet would make such a difference, but believe me it does.  It means a lot more trips up and down a taller ladder, and because the ceiling is sloped,  it means a lot more moving and adjusting the ladders.  This is exhausting, to say the least, and it adds extra hours to the job. Scaffolding was not an option for 2 reasons.  One: too much furniture and no place to move it, and Two: the slope of the ceiling would have me constantly adjusting planks on the scaffolding, which is just too much work.

I have mentioned my fear of heights here before.  Fourteen feet off the floor is pretty much my limit.  I can do it, but I have to be able to grip the wall, at all times.   This room had that center beam across, which had to be wood grained, plus the stencil design ran along each side of the beam.  My friend Stacy came to the rescue and did that portion. 

The main problem incurred, which of course, was not anticpated, was the ceiling paint lifting right off the surface.  This happened mostly where the ceiling met the walls... where I was taping off for my lines.  I was using the lowest tack tape on the market.  It was not the tape... it was due to poor prep work.  This ceiling was painted about 2 years ago, by the same painters this family always uses.  Unfortunately, they are cheap, but not good.   You do tend to get what you pay for with the budget painters.  My guess is they did not prime this ceiling first, which was a new ceiling, since this room was a new additon to the house 2 yrs. ago.  So, as you can see... I had a little mess here to try to fix.

The homeowner could not find the paint that was used on the ceiling, so I ended up taking a chip that fell off of the ceiling to my trusty paint store for a match.  I presented them with a sliver of a chip, 1" x 1/4" and they did an exact match for me!

Here it is, fixed. ;-)  This is why I love a small, family owned hardware/paint store.  I never get this type of service at the box stores.  Here you see the problem fixed.  I used a Modello design for each of the 8 corners. 

It was very difficult to photograph this entire ceiling in one frame with my camera, but here is one side of the room.

This is a good look at how the design is laid out on each side of the beam.

 

The inspiration for the stencil design chosen came from the chandelier, the carpet and the other scrolled ironwork in the room.

Now I am ready for a little break from ceiling work.  Tomorrow I'll be doing some repair work in another home.

The Home Office Ceiling is Finished!

Can I tell you how much fun this ceiling project has been?  I even eagerly gave up a few hours on a Saturday to complete this project!  Normally, I reserve some time on a Saturday to do a consult or run around and get supplies, but not to actually "work" on site. 

When I last left off, I was all set to apply the Modello™ to the center panel of this ceiling.  As mentioned, I decided it would be best to have the pattern in 4 pieces, vs. the 2 it arrived it in.  With my ceiling all marked off with chalk, I was ready to go.

It took me about an hour to get the 4 quarters in place, remove the backing, burnish, and then remove the top protective layer.  It was all very easy and I am sure I will be able to cut the time down in the future. Because this was my first attempt at applying a Modello to a ceiling, and because of my history of being Contact Paper Challenged, I was taking my time.

My client was just as excited about the process as I, so she made us each a cup of tea, pulled up a chair, and kept me company. ;-)  At one point, she grabbed my camera and decided the removal of the stencil had to be documented.  So... here I am, hard at work.  It only took about 10 minutes to remove the vinyl material.  I used a small foam roller to apply 3 light layers of color and there was not one run-under to be found when I removed the stencil.

See how happy I am about it all? This method was very simple, very easy... and brought instant gratification! Oh, I see I am not having the best hair day here, but hey... it's Saturday morning.

Here is the completed center panel.

 

This design is stenciled in all 4 corners of each of the 9 panels.

A closer view of the gold and red panels, side by side, as well as the aged wood trim.

Now, just to refresh your memory...here is what the ceiling looked like before the transformation...

...and after! ;-)

Next up, in this same house... the Sun Room ceiling.

The Home Office Ceiling Continues...

I had to scrap the idea of doing a very smooth glaze finish for the gold panels because it just was not happening.  Who knows why a technique does not always work the way you know it should, but it just was not meant to be.  I did a soft ragged finish with the gold toned glazes instead, and in the end, felt this was the better choice.  It added some interest to the panels and gave them a little depth.

Remember, those off-white "beams" will be aged to match the dental molding and fireplace.

Now that the glazing is all done, onto the stenciling!  I cut my own stencil for the corner design.  It's a simple, one overlay.Here you see what it looks like, just before I remove the stencil.  I use a low tack, removable spray adhesive to adhere to the ceiling while stenciling.  That's all you are going to see of the corner stencil design for today, because as soon as I finished stenciling all four corners in each panel, I started getting the center panel ready to apply the Modello™ and I forgot to take another picture of the finished corner stencils.

I drew a chalk line  across the center of the red panel and marked the center point of the line.  Now I am ready for placement.  I will say, all this would have been much easier with 2 people, vs. just me.  It also would have been easier to do on my small scaffolding, but that desk weighs a ton, and I wanted to spare anyone the task of having to move it.  There was just not enough room to maneuver the scaffolding, so I opted for the ladder.  Also, because I do so much work in this house, I always try to keep costs down and do all the work myself, vs. hiring someone to help me.  Now, as soon as I tell you that, you will see on Monday I will have my friend Stacy helping me out with the Sun Room ceiling.  First, I am afraid of heights, and cannot reach the highest part of that ceiling, and second... we are bartering hour for hour.  I helped her do some gold leafing one day, so she would help with my tall ceiling. :-)

Here is the Modello™ I will be using... out of the box, and lying on the floor! :-)  It is the Ornamental Center, #128.  The Modello™ is comprised of 3 layers: a backing, the design element layer, and the top, cover piece.  When you order a Modello™ from Modello Designs, you also receive a burnishing tool, some smaller test pieces to play with, and complete instructions. This design is 36" in diameter and comes in 2 pieces to make the full circle.

After fooling around with it a bit and assessing my situation, I decided it would be much easier if I cut it into 4 pieces to work with.  If I had a second pair of hands, this size would have been fine.  Also... I must admit, I am a little scary when it comes to trying to use contact paper, so I did not want to take a chance with the application of this design on my nicely glazed ceiling panels!  Stay tuned....

My Modellos are here, My Modellos are here!

After an exhausting day yesterday, I was happy arrive home to find the Modello's I ordered for the current ceiling job, was waiting for me on my front porch.  I got off to a rocky start yesterday morning.  Knowing I only had 2 1/2 hours of work time to spend on the Office Ceiling job site, I thought I would be able to put the gold toned glaze on my panels that surround the center red panel.  The carpenters finished installing the wood trim on the ceiling, so I am back on this job.

Well... let's just say it was not such a pretty sight.  I had done several samples and the darker gold toned sample was the chosen one.  Of course, it is much easier to glaze a sample board on my studio table, than to stand on a ladder and do it on a ceiling.  My first panel was just horrid.  Too blotchy, quite ugly.  I wiped it all off and tried again, using different tools and methods that I thought would work.  Still ugly.  I wiped it all off again.  Thank God I have panels to work within and am not dealing with the entire ceiling as a whole!  I decided the next approach would be to roll my glaze on with a Whiz roller and softly pat it out with a Woolie.  That technique usually works well for me when I want a nice, smooth look...which is what I am after here.  Of course, I did not have that roller set up with me.  I have half my studio at this house, but not the one tool I really need.  I used my remaining 1 1/2 hours to tape out each panel and fill in the nail holes on the ceiling trim.  Then I had to leave for 2 other appointments.  I hate it when I over-schedule myself  like that and vow not to do it again each time I drag my sorry self home at the end of a day where I've been to 3 or 4 different locations, having to switched gears and adapt to each new situation I have scheduled.  It's just too exhausting.  Not to mention how much gas I use doing this. 

The site of the Modello's arriving a day earlier than expected definitely helped to lift my weary spirits. 

Today when I return to the the Office Ceiling job, I will glaze those panels and mark off my center lines for the Ornamental Center design I will be stenciling.  I hope to have this room completed by late Friday afternoon or Saturday, the latest.  Since I used Monday and Tuesday as Home Office Days, I will work part of Saturday to stay on schedule with my on site work.  I have the Sunroom ceiling to do in this house too, which I will begin next Monday.

Rethinking the Clients Needs

A few days ago, I posted about the 2 hour consultation I had with a couple who were a new referral to me.  I did not have a good feeling about what the outcome of this consultation would be.  I sensed a lot of conflict between the husband and wife over what work, if any, should be done in their home.  The husband had actually contacted me by phone 3 different times before we met, very excited to set up a consult.  The wife works full time, while the husband is retired, so he was the one spearheading a makeover for their home. 

Yesterday, the husband called me and apologized for not getting back to me sooner.  He explained that he had no idea what was involved in doing the various finishes they had selected for their rooms until he read through my proposal.  Now, because this couple was a referral from a neighbor and their condo is located in a development where I have done several units, I made the assumption that they had actually seen my work in their friend's unit and discussed the process and cost.  Maybe that was an incorrect assumption, but that is what has been the norm when I've done other units here.  The homeowners in this 55+ community, have seen their friends units and know a ballpark price.  This was not the case here.  This couple had only spoke on the phone to their neighbor who just told them what I had done in her unit and gave them my contact information.

When the husband called me, I was happy that he was acknowledging and thanking me for the time and effort I had already expended.  As I said, a "thank you for your time" goes a long way with me.  I had priced out their quote, room by room, as I always do.  This way, there is the option to pick and choose which areas will be done and not the feeling that it all needs to be done at once.  I do, however, offer a discount if multiple rooms are done at the same time.  It is just more cost effective.  On the phone, I pointed this out, and suggested they come up with a budget, a priority list of rooms, and contact me again if they would like to further discuss possibilities that would fit into their budget.  Here is where I had a choice.  I could easily file their folder away as an uninterested client or I could see if another approach would win them over.  I decided to go with the latter, and expend just a little more time on this couple.  My thinking is, here is a client who is interested in doing something to their home, since they were the ones who initially contacted me,  but obviously have a budget they want to work within.  Since they are not divulging this number to me, and I am not a mind reader, I will just assume the high end finishes they originally selected are out of line with their budget. 

The bulk of the work was already done for me in the first proposal, so all I had to do was plug in some less costly versions of the finishes originally proposed.  In the new cover letter, I explained the difference in labor and material costs.   

In my earlier post I wrote:

"I first either email or phone in the quote, put a hard copy in the mail, and then follow up with a phone call a week later.  If I get no response, or a negative response, then after I enter their contact info into my data base, they are filed away. "  Now I feel I have given this my best shot.  Btw... this is not an inexpensive housing development.  It is on the higher end of luxury 55+ townhouse/condo developments.  I, myself, could not afford to buy into this development.

Off to a Good Start

This year, I am making marketing and networking two key components of my business.  Now, it's not that I don't always do this, but I am guilty of some missed opportunities.  When you are the sole proprietor of your business, and often work alone, you wear too many hats and some tasks inevitably fall to the wayside in favor of those that seem to need a higher priority.  Marketing and networking both take time, and time is something that is scarce for most of us.

One of my goals for this year is to send out an e-newsletter 6 times, or every 2 months, during this year.  I am excited to report that the January/February e-newsletter is ready!  As soon as this newsletter went out to my clients and friends, I received a great response.  Clients wrote to me to say how much they enjoyed it and commented on various projects featured that they are thinking about for their homes.  They also offered to forward the newsletter to friends who were not on my email list.  So, those of you who are in business for yourselves, I highly recommend this form of marketing.  Feel free to contact me privately via email if you would like more information about creating a newsletter for your clients.  If you would like to receive this e-newsletter, you can sign up using the "Sign up for our Email Newsletter" box in the Sidebar at the right.

Another business goal for 2008, is to get more traffic on this blog site.  I am thrilled to report that Melanie Royals of Royal Designs Studio and Modello Designs, who you know I often mention on this blog, recently featured my work on her blog: http://designamour.com/2008/01/18/painter-girl/
Since I am such a huge fan of Melanie's, I am truly honored.  Here is a woman who has the art of marketing down to a science.  She has continued to grow her business, adapt and change with the times, and run not one, but two businesses at once.  Melanie recently opened a brand new studio, which she often features on her blog.  Does this woman ever sleep??? 

Other areas of marketing and networking I am working on are writing articles for 2 trade magazines and looking for a committee to serve on at New England Women's Business Owners.  More on this later...

More Waiting Time...

Recently,  I met with new clients, a couple referred to me by a friend of theirs who is a good client of mine.  When I get a referral like this, I do not charge a consultation fee, because it is almost a given, that I will do some work for this referral.  The consult took way too long.... 2 hrs.  I typically do a 45 minute - 1 hour consult.  This couple was very new to decorative painting, and did not have a clear idea about what they wanted.  They did know they wanted something for their kitchen back splash, a finish in the powder room, and a finish in the master bath, oh...and a finish under the counter in the kitchen, where the stools are.  There was a lot of disagreement with the selection of the finishes between the husband and wife. The wife was very concerned about spending the money to do this work and seemed quite un-enthused about all of the finishes I suggested.   The husband, on the other hand, was very interested, enjoyed placing the various sample boards around the room to view,  and was excited to have the work done.  Finally, finishes were selected and I went over the process, which would be for me to price it all out and get back to them.  At my home office, I spent about an hour pricing everything out.  I phoned the clients with my pricing, on the day promised.   The wife was the one who took my call, and again, very non responsive to it all, just stating she'd get back to me.  No "thank you for the time you spent at our home "; no questions about anything.  This is one of those jobs that I feel will not happen at all, and I am just kicking myself for not charging a consultation fee.  Two hours of my time on a busy Saturday, not to mention the gas to get to this clients home and back, and my time pricing everything out.  I do feel my rate covers all of this, but when the consult results in no work at all, it's a loss.  With the high price of gas right now, I think I am going to re-institute my consultation fee for all new clients.  A "thank you for your time" goes a long way with me.  I don't think that is too much to ask, do you?  I will do a follow up call to this client later today.  That is my process.  I first either email or phone in the quote, put a hard copy in the mail, and then follow up with a phone call a week later.  If I get no response, or a negative response, then after I enter their contact info into my data base, they are filed away.  You never know, some clients contact me a year or two later, some never, others will pass my name along to a friend.

The Waiting Game

"The Waiting Game" is what I refer to as that period of time when I am waiting, impatiently, for a client to make up their mind whether or not they are going ahead with the proposed work.  Sometimes I have a good sense of  what the outcome will be, other times...I am clueless.  For the 2 ceilings recently proposed, I knew this would be a go, just not so certain 'when' work would begin, or if both ceilings would happen at once.  This client was supposed to call me the next day after I met with her so I could place the order for the Modellos ™.  No call came.  I did not want to keep bugging her, so waited it out through the weekend.  Still no call.  To keep my own schedule on track, I really need to get in there and do the prep work, while I am waiting for the Modellos™ to be made and shipped.  This way, the ceilings will be all ready, and I will fit in another job while waiting for the arrival of the Modellos™ and installation of the beams.  Finally, I gave the client a call yesterday and she told me she was just waiting for me to come over and begin!  Grrr....

Both ceilings are a go, so I placed the order for the Modellos™ I will be using for each project, this morning on line.  Over at the Modello Designs website, ordering is all so very easy!  I had already picked out the designs I wanted to use for the 2 ceilings and stored them in My Design Library on this site,  so just had to click away and request confirmation for the quote.  I did that around 7 a.m. (EST) this morning.  Then, I went out for the day, returned at 4 p.m. and had a message waiting for me from Michelle at Modello Designs, asking me to give her a call to finalize the order.  Very quick, responsive, and pleasant service!  Michelle went through the order with me and answered any and all questions I had.  The order will be shipped out Thursday.  Since I am not in a huge rush for this, having to get my prep work done first and also have the beams installed, I had the order shipped Ground UPS.  Michelle says some sample pieces for me to do sample boards with will be included with my order, so I will get a few boards prepped for their arrival.  This will be great, because I have not totally worked out the colors I will be using for the Modellos.™

Here are my client's 2 ceilings again... just waiting their transformation! ;-)

The Office Ceiling, pictured on the left, will have "beams" installed to form 9 panels. I will paint the ceiling first and do the glazing, before the wood is installed.  This will be easier than working around all the wood.  The Sunroom Ceiling, pictured on the right, will have that center beam darkened and wood grained, plus a corner scroll design in each of the four corners .  The Ceiling in this room is a nice shade of tan, so all work will be done directly on this color. 

Floorcloths

While I await the start of my next ceiling project, the home office previously mentioned, I thought I'd come down off the ladder to talk about Floorcloths.  Floorcloths have been around since the 1700's, when people used them on their dirt floors.  They go in and out of fashion, like everything else, over the years.  I have not had a request for a Floorcloth in over ten years now, but they are still very much in fashion and in use in my own home.  I love them for three reasons.  One, they are both pieces of art and functional.  Two, they are great if you have kids and/or pets.  Three, they can be made in any size or shape, to custom fit your needs.  Are they durable?  Take a look:

This Hopscotch floorcloth has lived in this same hallway for over 12 years.  I made it when my daughter Sarah was 9 or 10.  It looks as good as the day I put it down and I have never resealed or touched it up.  I simply clean it with a damp mop.  Whenever Sarah's friends stop by to visit, they always "hop" down this hall to the kitchen, even though they are all out of college now.  Many of them recall playing Hopscotch in this hallway on rainy days after school.

I have the runner pictured below, in my kitchen, although it was in my front hall for many years.  This is a fun project to do with your children.  I remember when I created this with Sarah, I rolled paint on the soles of her feet, which brought on much giggling.  After each step, she would hang onto me, while I re-rolled a foot.  When she got to the end, I had her sit down on the floor so I could wash off the paint on her feet.

This Floorcloth was created about 5 years ago for a Trade show Marc a I participated in.  I was hoping it will sell there, but since it did not, it came home with me.  I had it rolled up in my basement for a 2 years and then one day after throwing out yet another rug my 2 cats had damaged beyond repair, I decided this was the answer for my living room.  I don't know why I didn't think of using this sooner.  I do like the warmth of a rug in the Winter months, but right now, with these 2 cats, it is just not practical.

The first 2 Floorcloths pictured above were done using a heavy, primed artist canvas.  This last Floorcloth pictured was done on the back side of a scrap piece of linoleum I bought at Home Depot.  The picture below shows the underside.

My inspiration for the Hopscotch Floorcloth came from a wonderful book by Kathy Cooper and Jan Hersey entitled, "The Complete Book of Floorcloths".   This books gives an introduction to the history of Floorcloths, a step by step guide to making Floorcloths, as well as complete instructions for 8 different designs.  It is very well illustrated.  For more information about Floorcloths and books by Kathy Cooper, visit her website at http://www.kathycooperfloorcloths.com/about.html.

This has me thinking that I really would like a new, big Floorcloth to hide my ugly kitchen floor!

Office Ceiling Design

I am in the process of working out the final design and color scheme for my clients Home Office.  Here is what the office looks like at the moment:

As you can see, I already have had my hands on this room. :-)  Last year, I did a brown Luster Stone finish on either side of the fireplace; a red glaze on the center wall where the fireplace is, and the remaining walls were done with a gold tone glaze mix.  The finish on the fireplace is a crackle finish with some bronze stenciling and highlighting.  That was done several years ago.  The Dental Molding was glazed last year too.  But... see how out of place this white ceiling looks?  The homeowners are ready for something more appropriate.  First, the carpenters will return and add some wood beams to the ceiling, forming 9 panels.  I want the beams to run inside of the 4 recessed lights, so the lights are not inside the center panel. The beams will be painted and glazed to match the Dental Molding.   We are wavering back and forth between doing the same red glaze that is on the fireplace wall, on the ceiling panels.... or painting and glazing the ceiling in a much lighter, antique white tone.  I am going to work up some samples in my studio today.  Regardless of what the background ceiling color ends up being, there will be a lot of gold/bronze stenciling involved! :-)  For the large, center panel, I will be using a Modello™ Design from Melanie Royals.  I will have it sized to 36".  The design is from the Ornamental Collection, Centers.  It is #128 on that page.  Once our colors and the design have been finalized, I will place my order.  This will be the first time that I will use a Modello™ on a flat surface.  I have to say, I have not been 100% sold on this method because I like the idea of being able to re-use my stencils.  A Modello™ is a one time use application.  I have used a similar type of 'one time use' stencils, for lettering on a column,  and for my beloved cow project, The Dictionary Cow. 

Because the stenciling on both of these projects were on curved/uneven surfaces, the use of an adhesive, disposable stencil was the only way to go.  The lettering for The Dictionary Cow was done by Merchant Signs.  Stencils were made on low tack adhesive backed vinyl which easily conformed to the bumps and curves of this fiberglass cow.  I stenciled the letters, then pealed off the stencils and threw away.  You can see more pictures and read more about this project on my website.   Hugh Hoeger of "Say What" lettering provided the lettering for that project and photos of that job are posted on their website, which you can see by clicking on the link (I did that job a good 10 years ago and I see my email addy is incorrect on that site).  Here on this office ceiling, I also feel this method is the answer.  This design is intricate and would be difficult to layout with stencils.  I will chronicle my step to step use of this Modello™ when that part of the job begins. 

Each of the four corners of the 9 ceiling panels will be done with a corner stencil I will design myself.  I will need 36 reps of the stencil, so to keep the cost down on this job, I have opted to design and cut 3 stencils of the same pattern, to rotate in use.  I will show that piece too, when I get to it.