Painter Girl

More Ceilings On Tap

I had to take a little break today from the Big House Project.  Stacy and Chris were there holding down the fort and keeping us on schedule.  I will return tomorrow.

Today I met with a former client who has recently purchased a new/old home, had it gutted and will be moving in shortly.  I pitched a ceiling idea and I think it will probably be a go.  I'd like to get this done before the furniture is moved in, since it would be much easier to set up my ladder and supplies with no obstructions and/or furniture to move.  This is the proposed design, a Modello.  It would be done in a wrought iron black to match a chandelier that will hang from the center point.  It's a nice, clean, simple design. I'd like to see it done in about a 36" length.  I have my eye on a few more ceilings in this house, but this one will have to win them over first. ;-)

                                                      

Big House Job

You are going to see me refer to this project a lot during the next few months, so I've decided to call this one, the Big House Job.  I have only worked in this home once, 3 yrs ago, when I first did the nursery for their yet to be born, twin boys.  As luck would have it, this couple was in search of a Nanny for the Summer, and I happened to have a daughter home from college that Summer looking for work. ;-)  Sarah instantly fell in love with these little boys and was a very good fit for this family.  She continued to fill in as a Nanny through her remaining 2 yrs of college, when she was home on school breaks, occasional weekends and another Summer .  Even now that she has graduated and is working full time as a nurse, she continues to watch the boys a few hours here and there.  Since she's been with them since they were born, she really loves to see how they are developing and enjoys the fact that she can actually  have a conversation with them now. 

At first, the homeowners were going to sell this house and buy something new.  After looking around, they decided this house had too much character and a great location, so even though it lacks a yard (there is a park across the street), they would do some major renovating and stay.  This house has 3 floors, 12 rooms, plus 4 full baths, 1 powder room, and a 3 season porch. 

To start, a new heating system and central a/c have just been installed.  All the electrical is being upgraded and all of the baths are being gutted and completely redone.  A few walls are being moved and/or removed and all floors will be sanded.  The kitchen is fairly new, but in the final phase, some upgrades will occur in that room too. 
The family has moved out and are living in a nearby hotel for now.

I was offered first option to do all of the painting in this house which will include ceilings, walls and trim in every part of the house.  I don't normally take on this big of a "straight painting" job, but a couple factors convinced me to go for it.  First, I obviously know the homeowners and have a good connection to them since they kept my daughter gainfully employed during her college years.  Second, it is a quick, 15 minute commute for me. :-).  Third, Stacy agreed to share this job with me.  Fourth,  the job will be done in phases, so we can both fit in other decorative painting jobs here and there; and lastly, there will be some decorative painting in some areas.   Also, I actually like "straight painting", finding it relaxing and a nice change of pace from the various forms of decorative painting that I normally do.

So, this week we have begun.  The house is still very much under construction so there is always a bit of confusion when multiple contractors are coming and going.  We are starting on the 3rd floor since most of the rooms up there are ready.  Some tiling is still going on in the bath on this floor and some carpentry work seems to be going on in the hallway and one closet. 

This is the boys bedroom and the room I am concentrating on first. Stacy primed a couple of the walls on Saturday.  I decided to move that pile in the foreground out to another room before I did any more work in here. 

This is the door to the boys room that I painted before they were born. 

Here's one wall before it was primed.  You can see the soft blue cloud-like glaze that I did before. The 2 big white patches on the wall are from the plasterer that was in before me.  When I moved that pile in front of the wall, I discovered a hole in the wall that the electricians had made when they were running their wires.  Apparently, this pile was moved in after the electricians and the plasters only plastered what they could "see" and did not bother to move any furniture, etc. that was against the walls.  Stacy decided she would take care of all these extra repairs herself since the homeowners experience with this plasterer has been less than wonderful and we don't want any more delays. 

The Boys Room is going to be painted a light blue and then I am going to add some circles in navy and white, various sized, all over the room.  I haven't worked out the layout yet since I don't think I'll get to that until later next week.

All Done!

The kitchen is done.  This is the view the homeowners see when they come in from their back entry. 

Now onto the fireplace in the Family Room.  The top picture is the Before Pic.  The fireplace was lost on this wall.  It just  blended in and had no presence. This metallic finish with gold accents made the marble pop  and the fireplace now became the focal point of the room.

For this finish, I used Modern Masters Sage Green Metallic paint for the base and stippled on Modern Masters Ivy Metallic paint, once dry.  A few accents of gold were added to compliment the fireplace insert and the framed mirror above.

Here's a closer look at the finish.

So,  my work is done here for now.  I will be returning in a few weeks to add a little interest to 2 of their ceilings.   

I'm in the Final Stretch w/this Kitchen

This morning when I arrived at my clients home, I could see the "deer in the headlights" expression on their faces.  Although I had explained about "the ugly stage" of the walls when I left yesterday, showed them the sample board of how it will look in the end, they just did not get it.  That always happens with my "newbies", bless their un-trusting little hearts.

As you may recall, this is what I left them with the previous day:

                        

Today, I added the glazes and then went back in with a liner brush and added some detail to the grapes and vines.

                               

The pictures are not doing the finish justice, unfortunately.  I think if you click on the pictures to enlarge, you'll be able to get a better look.

Thank God for drop cloths...and the fact that I actually had one right underneath where I knocked over my container of glaze. 

The homeowners now love, love their new kitchen and see the method to my madness. 

They still have that "deer in the headlights look" about their fireplace though. :-(  I will complete the finish on this tomorrow.

I'm Still In The Kitchen

Day 2 and I'm still on schedule, even with the addition of 2 more smallish areas added today to this project.  My clients decided they want this same finish in a small Butler's Pantry and Back Entryway, both of which are directly off of this kitchen.  I was able to do most of the pantry today while I was taking a break from the main part of the kitchen. 

I am adding some grape vines, randomly placed around the room.  Boy, this is one stencil I have used over and over throughout the years.  It has several combinations of leaf groupings and grape clusters.  Years ago, I stenciled each grouping on mylar, so I can tape them on the wall before actually stenciling, to get the placement right.  Stencils by Royal Designs.

After stenciling, I applied a thin layer of joint compound, which I troweled on randomly.  This is to give a more aged look...so it's not so perfect and new looking.  This will dry overnight and then I will seal and apply some glazes. 

Here is the corner all stenciled with the joint compound added.  It's the "ugly stage" of the process, the stage where I always see horror on the faces of the homeowners. :-)

Kitchen in Progress

Yesterday, I started that kitchen I mentioned last week... The one that goes with this sample board:

                                 

The first layer uses 3 glazes, applied randomly at the same time and ragged out on the wall.  I was able to do most of the kitchen in 4 hrs, much faster than I thought it would go, so I'm ahead of the game... as of yesterday.  I saved the hardest part, over the cabinets for today.  I didn't feel like being a contortionist today, stretching up over the cabinets with all the brushes in hand. 

Today I will finish the remaining walls with the first set of glazes and start in on the next layer.  This kitchen wraps around to a little breakfast area, that you can see in the next picture.  Those walls are also included in this project.

Happy Valentine's Day!

                                          

Cute card from my daughter....:-)

Running Around...

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  That is due to not too much of interest to post about!  I have some contractor delays on 2 jobs, so I am just waiting around for my turn to be able to get into those houses.  In the meantime, I had a new client call, a real estate appraiser who had been in one of the homes I have done, doing an appraisal.  I met with him and his wife yesterday and they are anxious to have me do some work in their home.  Since my schedule is so insane over the next few months, I told them I could fit their kitchen in if I could begin tomorrow.  Their walls are freshly painted with the correct base coat for the finish they selected, so this would be a nice job to slip in.  Here is the finish they've chosen:

It's a finish I call my "Tuscan Finish", consisting of 4 glazes.  They would have small clusters of grape vines stenciled randomly at ceiling height, around the room.  Not too much, just a few here and there.  This is a nice, warm finish and goes well with their cherry cabinets and dark granite counters.

They also have a white fireplace surround that needs some interest in the Family Room.  They picked out a nice finish and are looking at these design elements.  I'll have to do this job at a later date, when I can fit it in.  Also, these designs will have to be ordered.

Whenever I am not out working in someone else's home, I am staring at my own walls wondering what I can do to them next.  I love this wallpaper pattern that you are seeing in all the magazines and design blogs these days:

Of course, "wallpaper" is a word that is forbidden in my house/world, so I designed my own take on this.

I want to do this on one accent wall in my living room.  I'll do the trees, floor to ceiling, like the wallpaper. This is my base color of my living room walls.  I used an off white tinted Venetian Plaster, and dragged  a stiff brush through it while wet to form the bark.  When dry, I added the brown. It will be easier to do the bark with a graining tool that I lent my friend Stacy, so will wait until I get that back.  I may lay it all out on the wall, in the meantime.

More snow, rain and freezing rain here in the Boston area today.  I need to go out in this yucky weather to meet with a client to finalize some colors for next week's job.  Hope you are all staying warm and dry!

Floor Lamp is Done!

I can now cross off another Home Project on my "To Do List".  The lamp is done.

Here are the before and after pics, hopefully side by side, if I can get them to line up!

Ok, I'm not going to push my luck with the alignment here, so I will post my text down here, below.  I had to go to 3 different fabric stores to find the trim and I will admit it is not exactly what I wanted, but that tan fringe had to go.

I love the way the Ginkgo leaves look with the light on.  This is a stencil I made myself, but you can purchase one from Lynn Brehm at Natural Accents.  Since the shade is silk, I used a fabric paint.  The pom-pom fringe is o.k, but is just not doing it for me. 

I found this great "eyelash fringe" over at jcaroline creative's web/blog site, so I am going to order some and see if I like it better.  The fringe is just hot glued on, so easy enough to replace.   Janet at jcaroline has some very fun fabrics, so I am going to order a few samples for my next project.

Obviously, this green is not for everybody and definitely not for the faint of heart, but it is the green I happen to be currently fixated on, so it works for me! ;-)

Floor Lamp Makeover

This is probably the oldest household item I own.  It dates back to the days when I was married and a good 5 years before my daughter was born, so I'd say I've had it almost 30 years.  I believe it belonged to my former husband's grandmother.  It's the only thing I kept from my marriage, save my daughter! ;-)  It's been many colors,  has had several different shades, and lived in various rooms over the years.

The reason I've hung onto it, is because it has great lighting options.  There is a huge, 3 way bulb underneath that glass dome.  You can turn all 4 lights on at once, adjusting the 3-way as desired; or you can use just the up-lighting from the 3-way light bulb; or the smaller, candle lights work individually as well as in several combinations with the up-lighting!  I'd say this light fixture was way ahead of its time back in the day.

I've tired of this aged copper look, but not of my beloved lamp, so it's getting a makeover in the next few days!  Today while I was out getting some supplies, I found this great spray paint, Montana Gold, in the perfect color for my living room, Pepperoni Mild. This color is close to the green you see in the picture to the left on my floorcloth.  I'm working at Stacy's studio tomorrow, so I am bringing my lamp and can of spray paint along because she has a spray booth set up. ;-)

This lamp is hard to fit for a shade, and this one cost me $100 several years ago, so that's getting a makeover too!  It's silk, so I bought some silk paints today and will come up with some idea.  The beads and trim are going to have to go.  I had added those myself, at some point.

I only had a few hours in the Office today, but I did manage to enter "October" in my spreadsheet... so a little more accomplished on the tax front. :-)