Painter Girl

Small job completed

I am finally posting the pics from the small job I did last week.  This was at the same house I did the additions to that lakeside mural. 

Here's the "Before" shot of the blank wall.

This is the sample board I made to show the client what the design would look like.  I only did half of the design on the board, just enough to get the idea and colors across.  The board is base painted with her wall color.

                                                                                 

Here's the "After" pic. I used parts of 3 different stencils for this design and added some hand painted embellishments.

Let's see if I have a good close up shot, so I can separate out the 3 designs used...

The center spray of flowers, with the roses is from Royal Designs, as well as the ivy, which is done in white.  The trumpet flowers come from  the Mad Stencilist.

Next, I did the 2 doors to the vanity in a small bathroom off of this room, as well as the oval mirror.

Here's the "before" shot, with my blue tape already in place.

 

Here are the doors, "after".  I used the leaves only, from a large stencil that had lots of flowers. I outlined the leaves, very loosely, with white.

Here's a close up of the leaves.  I stenciled through a piece of screening to give the leaves a little more interest.

And lastly, here's the matching mirror.  This was a quick, easy, and inexpensive way to give this room a little personality. 

Kitchen Cabinet Job Completed Today

Today I was able to finish those kitchen cabinets.  I almost finished them yesterday, but because it was so humid here, the glaze on the bottom cabinets just would not dry, so I couldn't seal them.  That meant I had to make the 45 minute trip, each way, one more time today, just to seal those base cabinets. :-(  I really like the way they turned out and this quick fix gives the homeowner a new look at a fraction of what it would cost to replace these cabinets.

The lighting is very poor in this kitchen, so getting good shots was difficult.  The top cabinet panels are done w/a multi-plaster finish and have a gold tinted wax sealer. The bottom cabinet panels have a copper metallic glaze over a black background.  These panels were sealed with an oil based varnish.

More top cabinets.

Here's a close up of the top cabinet panel finish.

Here's a close up of the bottom cabinet panel finish.  Big glare :-(... varnish is still wet and poor lighting.  It looks much nicer in person!  The look is almost a metallic leathery look.

How Did I Get Paint THERE??!!!

Today I began the Kitchen Cabinet Panels job.  I almost forgot to take the "before" picture!  After I began the taping out of the door panels, I remembered...

I will not be doing the drawers.  Those will remain white.  The top cabinet door panels will have one finish and the bottom another.

These are the cabinets at the other end of the kitchen.There are a few on the other side too, surrounding the fridge.

Today I just sanded each panel a little and did the taping.  (Have I used enough blue tape this week????  I put a coat of primer on all of the panels and then the basecoat on all.  The bottom cabinet panels now have a black base coat of paint and the top cabinet panels have 1 layer of tan plaster, rolled.  All had to dry, so that's as far as I could get today.  Even though I don't like to work on Saturday's, I feel I am getting too behind with some upcoming projects, so I will work a few hours tomorrow... 9-1. 

Can I tell you how nice these clients are?  Today they handed me a menu from their local pizza place and told me to order what ever I wanted.  I had a delicious veggie calzone.  Both the husband and wife were home and they have someone else there doing a mural in their living room, so we all sat down together and had lunch!  This is very RARE for me. I do have a few clients who always make me lunch when I am in their homes working, but for the most part.... I eat while I work, resting my sandwich or yogurt on my ladder. 

It is a bit awkward for me, having this other painter there, doing the mural.  The client had told me she already hired this guy to do this castle mural because supposedly that is what he specializes in and that's what she wanted.  The guy is doing a very nice job, but I still am a bit hurt that I was not even considered for this mural when she knows I do murals.  She did say she saw his work some place locally and it was exactly what she wanted, so I should just suck it up and let it go, but gee.. I could have done that damn mural.  Also, in 1999 I did her entire bedroom in a stone block look w/a faux arched window... and she claims she still loves it.  Ok, ok... I'm letting go. ;-)

When I got home today and jumped in the shower, I discovered a big streak of white paint on my thigh!  How on earth did that get there?!  It's not like I was wearing shorts today. I had on my bib overalls.

Cabinets/vanity work completed.

I forgot to take before pics for this job, but the cabinets were just a medium color oak, with most of the clear finish worn off.  The homeowners had the counters replaced with this nice granite, which instantly upgraded the bath.  They replaced the old gold toned faucets with these new silver ones and have picked out a great grey tone for the walls, which will be painted soon.  The ugly green carpeting that is found on the floor in the dressing room area of this room will be replaced with a neutral tone carpeting.  For now, they will live with the tiles, which already look so much better.  For a few thousand dollars this Master Bath has been given a face lift! The homeowners had struggled with tearing everything out and starting new in here, but the cost was too high.  They would like to move in a year or two, so a major renovation was not something they wanted to undertake at this time.

The new finish is black, rubbed back to reveal some of the bare wood, then waxed.

Here is another view, which shows the ugly green carpeting that is found in the dressing room area of this master bath.

This desk is found in the dressing room, built in.  The chair was unpainted pine, so I finished it to match the desk.

Completed Shimmered Suede Cabinets

When I went to retrieve the "before" pics in my digital camera of the commercial job I am presently working on, I realized I did not post the "after" pics of the vanity/cabinets I completed last week for that Master Bathroom job.  This couple are still mulling over what finish they want on their walls in the adjacent Master Bedroom, so I hope when and if I return to this home, I will be able to see the cabinets in the Master Bath with the new counter top, hardware, and walls painted.  I gave this couple a few more options for their accent wall in the Master Bedroom.  They are mulling over the bamboo ideas, some horizontal stripes, and some panels of leaves.  Here are the before pics of the cabinets:

Here are the "after" pics:

Shimmered Suede Vanity

One of the jobs I am currently working on involves doing a finish on a rather dated vanity and jacuzzi surround in a client's master bath.  This couple are in the process of updating this bath but did not want to incur the expense of tearing out the double vanity and jacuzzi base.  They were custom built with the house and it would be costly to replace.  They will be replacing the counter top, so now that the counter is off... is a great time for me to get in there and do the base unit.  I removed all the doors, drawers, and miscellaneous panels so I could work on those in my home studio.  That's what I've been doing, on and off, for the past few days.  Here is a pic of one panel, before and after:

The wood is in good condition, just a bit worn in spots, but the overall look was dated. This is the inside of the door panel.

This is the finish.  Not such a "wow" look in this picture, but trust me... when all the doors are installed and the base units completed... it will be a "wow". :-)  The finish is done using Perfetto's Shimmered Suede, in Red Sable.  I will take pics of the finished installation and post in a few days.  Hopefully, the finished photos will show how the light plays with this product.  The finishes that are light reflective often do not photograph well. :-(  I am going to the client's home tomorrow and Friday to do the base units and install the doors, drawers and panels.  Shimmered Suede is a very durable product and should hold up well in this situation.  I do have a rubbed wax finish on everything for extra protection.  The wax is tinted with gold mica powder.