Painter Girl

Sophisticated Elegance

Now I am working in the last of the 3 sisters bedrooms. This young lady of 15 wants her room to be sophisticated and elegant.  Here is the "before" picture, when I just started painting the ceiling.  Very pink.

She picked out some new bedding and this was to be my inspiration. 

When the bedding arrived, it was actually black and tan, not black and white as shown in the photo.  The decision was made to keep the bedding, but go with a black and white stripe, also introducing some deep burgundy into the room.

I started out with the ceiling, ordering this Modello™ from Modello Designs, in a 42" diameter.  A ceiling fan will be installed in the center of this design.  Right now, just the wiring and base are in, leaving me more room to work.

I enlisted the help of my friend and fellow decorative painter, Susan Siefer to install the Modello.  Three coats of Ben Moore's Aura "Caliente" were rolled on with a small foam roller.

The ceiling has a slight texture, so I did have a little bleeding under the stencil in a few places, but luckily, it was minor.  I was able to easily touch up with the ceiling paint.  For a little more glitz and sparkle, I added a few crystals.  If you look closely, you can see them on the 4 points and also in the center of the 4 flowers.  They show up much better in the room! 

Next up... the walls!

Master Bath Screw Head Ceiling

For the remainder of last week, I was back on Beacon Hill working on the ceiling in this long, narrow Master Bath.  While I wish I could take credit for this awesome design concept and technique, all credit goes directly to the Queen of Creativity, Melanie Royals.  This finish, which Melanie calls "Loose Screws" is part of her Boho Modern Workshop series.

This was a finish I have been dying to do since I first saw it last summer at both the Sali Convention and Faux Event Convention.  I knew instantly that this would be the design to adapt for this Master Bath used solely by the man of the house.  It has a great masculine feel and gives this odd shaped ceiling a lot of character.  This curved, overhang part of the ceiling is at one far end of the bathroom, over the toilet.

This view is from the far end of the room, under the curved ceiling, looking toward the opposite end of the room, into the shower area.  The screws are repeated as a border on the remainder of the ceiling, with a metallic green glaze in the center.

Another view, into the shower stall.  And here you can see the curved, overhung ceiling again.

The color palette was inspired by this great sink and granite.  This was a very fun finish to do!

Quick Job

I had a very quick job to do this week, so I called Stacy and asked if she would like to join me, so we could get it done even faster.  The owner will be putting her lovely condo on the market for sale soon, so was eager to get this ceiling fixed.  Her upstairs neighbor had some water problems (twice!), so this is the 3 rd time this ceiling is getting the same finish.  Someone else originally did the decorative painting in this condo, but they were unavailable to return any time soon.  I personally, never quite understand why you would not cater to your existing clients.  I did some checking to be sure there were no real problems with the client and found none.  The client is actually a very nice young woman who works some long hours and just wants this ceiling done so she can show the place to perspective buyers!  This picture shows where the water damage occurred.  It was already patched when we arrived, so we just sanded lightly and primed.  It's hard to see because the lighting is very poor in this room, but the entire room...walls, ceiling, trim and built-ins are all done using a metallic strie. 

Because the technique was done in metallics, it could not really be repaired without being very noticeable.  We rolled on 2 layers of the base coat over the entire ceiling, up to this soffit area over the bed.  Today we will be doing the strie, which should only take a few hours.

When we first arrived, I was a bit nervous at the site of all of these paint cans in the dining room!  The homeowner had already given me the colors used, so I thought we were all set on that front.  She was just nervous that she was given the wrong information, but I did a sample on some poster board and all was fine.  It turned out that whoever did the 2nd repaint of the ceiling did not use the exact glazes that were on the walls, etc.  It was a little off.  Now we have the right match. Oh, I see my coffee got in the picture. :-)

The timing was right for me with this job, because I can really only work an half day today since I have to go home and get ready for the opening of the Holiday Tables event in Newport tonight.  Why is it that when I have to go to an event after work I always seem to be doing a ceiling, where I am sure to get paint in my hair? And of course, this had to be metallic paint to boot, so I'll probably find a big glob of it on my arm somewhere this evening!  Well, at least it is a festive silver shade.  I'll report back next week about the Holiday Tables.   Have a good weekend!

An Extra Pair Of Hands

Monday I helped out a lovely and very talented decorative painter, Susan Siefer of
MadPatter Production.  Susan is working in an absolutely stunning home that has enormous rooms with a lot of architectural detail.  She has just begun leaving her mark in this home with her beautiful finishes.  Susan asked if I would lend her a hand installing a large modello in the dining room.  We had only met very briefly, a few years ago, at a fundraiser, but I am so glad she remembered me!

Here's Susan burnishing the modello, which was custom ordered from Modello Designs.

We first cut the modello in half and applied one side to the ceiling.  We struggled with that a bit too much, so decided to cut the 2nd half, in half again.  That proved much easier!

A rare photo of me working, since I so often work alone and no one's snapping my picture!  Susan had already done a beautiful Lusterstone finish on the ceiling.

I only spent about 2 hours with Susan, since she just needed my help to get this design up.  It was so much fun working with Susan and getting to know her that I hope we will have another project to work on together again soon!

After I left, Susan was able to get quite a bit done.  Here she has almost all of her gold layer done.
 
She returned the next day to add some black and remove the modello. She will shoot this job again, once the lighting is installed and the furniture is put back. Great job, Susan!

Back Room Salon Ceiling

Stacy and I returned to the salon we have been working on this past Sunday and Monday to complete the back room ceiling.  This room is a little bit smaller than the front room we did the previous week, so seemed like a breeze to get this one done!

Again, we used the hammered/brushed steel.  In this photo, you can barely see the 2 horizontal 10" wide faux brushed steel strips.  One is in the foreground, the other just beyond the medallion.  The medallion also has some black rubbed onto it, which is not visible in this shot.

  These 2 photos show the "riveted" brushed steel band a little better.

We will return to the salon a bit later to do a few more finishes.  If you are in the Boston area, stop by Anthony Pino's Salon and tell Anthony I sent you!

Tomorrow, Stacy and I will return to the Beacon Hill job and put the final layer on the hammered/brushed steel ceiling in the bathroom that we did last week.  That will complete our silver ceiling series for a while, I think!  We have had a lot of fun with this finish, and of course, a fair amount of neck pain!  As we have been doing this finish, we can envision a copper and brass version too and may have just the client coming up. :-)

Hair Salon Progress

I was able to get 2 of the 3 ceilings done, with the help of Stacy, Sunday and Monday.  Those were 2 long days, but we are very pleased with the results!

We divided this front room ceiling into 3 "panels".  To the left and to the right of the medallion, we placed a 10" riveted brushed steel band, which runs from one wall to the opposite wall (all done with silver paints/glazes).  The only lighting in this salon is the ceiling lighting, so it was difficult to photograph. 

Here is another angle that shows one of the riveted bands a little more.

Oh, you can see how different the silver tone appears in all of these pictures!  The true color is somewhere in between all of these.  The last picture shows the reception area, which has a small, lower ceiling in the back and another higher ceiling in the front.  The walls in this space will hopefully be having a shimmered rust finish.  Still working on selling that finish to the owner. 

Stacy and I will return again next Sunday and Monday to do this same finish on the ceiling in the back room, plus something on the walls in the bathroom.

Yes, really, the room is done!

Sorry for the delay in posting, but time just got away from me.  I returned to this job site today for some minor tweaking and to pick up all of my supplies, ladders, scaffolding, etc.

I had originally planned to put a 3/4" silver border, coming 1/2" from the edge.  The more I thought about it and tried to visualize, the less I liked this idea.  I felt it needed something a little lighter, but I wanted to bring in some silver.  Finally, after a couple of days of avoiding this and working on other things in the room, it came to me.  I would add a silver beaded border.

Using a circle punch and one of the 2 remaining halves from the circle template, this stencil was easy to make.

Here I am adding a little tape and stenciling away. This went very quickly.

And...it's done!

Next, on to the 2 fireplace walls.  Stacy had already rolled on the first coat of plaster the previous day.

I did a little measuring and a little taping.  Then, troweled on 2 thin layers of the Amethyst Portofino plaster, x 2, since I had 2 walls like this.

The tape gets pulled off... and it's done!
 

Here's a far shot that shows one of the fireplace walls with the ceiling and chandelier.

And the very best part of this job is the fact that the owners will be hanging 2 fantastic pieces of artwork on MY walls!...a signed Renoir sketch and a signed Chagall.  Look how great this chandelier looks.  This is the dining room side of the room.

And this is the Living Room side.  The two fireplaces are solid marble and original to the house.  They just need to be cleaned up now and some screens for in front to hide the bricks.

Great Progress with Border Today!

I was able to stencil the entire border design in this room today.  This scroll design is from Royal Designs Studios. Tomorrow I will add in my highlights and make a few minor adjustments...oh, and I do still have to clean up some chalk marks.  Adding some highlights to the scrolls will really make them pop against the background. 

This picture shows a good portion of the longest wall.  You can also see the highs and lows of the off white plaster finish next to the border.  I am hoping to complete this ceiling by the end of the day.  The border details and clean up should take no longer than 2 hrs., which will leave the remainder of the day to complete the medallion.  I will be getting a later start than usual because I have an 8 a.m. dentist appointment, but hope to begin by 9:30 a.m.

Both clients, husband and wife were around today, a rarity, and both gave the project a big thumbs up!  I may end up doing a modified version of this border around the 2 fireplaces in this room.  I believe that decision will be made tomorrow. 

My shoulder still hurts today, but not as much.

More Border Work and New Pain

 This is Week 2 on the Beacon Hill Ceiling Job.  Today I was there by myself since Stacy had some other appointments to attend to.  With no one to talk to, I reverted back to my trusty iPod Shuffle.  I had not used my iPod in a few weeks, so had several hours of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell" episodes from NPR to keep me happily entertained!  My right ear plug keeps falling out, so I am going to have to invest in a new set of head phones that actually will stay on while I work.

I worked mostly on the border today, but also laid out the background for the ceiling medallion.  I cut two half circles out of a heavy duty plastic to form a 42" diameter circle above the chandelier (wrapped).  I have it attached to the ceiling with a repositionable spray adhesive and also some blue tape for extra precaution.

I troweled the first layer on, hoping I could get away with 2 layers of troweled Amethyst tinted plaster, but did not like the way it was covering.  After I completed this 1st troweled layer, I let it dry and worked on the border some more.

I then rolled on a 2nd layer, let dry, and troweled a final, thin, 3rd layer.  That's as far as I got with this today.

Back to the border... I added a 3/4" silver stripe to both sides of the Amethyst border.  In each of the 4 corners, I added a Fleur de Lis design in silver and gold.  If you look closely, you will see how neatly I mitered my corners. ;-)

Here's a close up of one of the corners.  This Fleur de lis stencil is from Royal Design Studios.  I am highlighting with an iridescent gold which looks much nicer in person!

As I mentioned in an earlier post last week, there is always some pain associated with ceiling work.  I'd say the hardest physical part is done - troweling on the 3 layers all over the ceiling.  Now it's all detail work.  Not that it is not physical, but it is just not such wide, sweeping motions.  I noticed a few days ago that my left shoulder was hurting.  Hurting to the point where I was trying not to use my left hand/arm.  I think I pulled something when I was trying to pry the lid off of the giant bucket of plaster, or from pulling myself up on the scaffolding.  I was not thinking too much about it and thought it would go away over the weekend, but it's still hurting.  I've been taking a few Bayer Extra Strength Back and Body and that seems to be doing the trick.  I have no idea when or why I picked these up, but they have not expired yet, so yay!   I only have 4 left, so I guess I better pick up another bottle to get me through this job.

Tomorrow I will probably just have time to work on the border stencil design.

Adding the Border

With Stacy's help, the border is all taped out.  One wall in this room has a lot of nooks and crannies with 2 fireplaces jutting out, 2 built-in bookcases, and just some odd boxed in support.  This was throwing the entire border line off on that side of the room.  The first attempt at taping, had us following these nooks and crannies, weaving the tape in and out.  Well, once all taped, when I looked at it with fresh eyes the next morning, it just was not working for me.

Here you can see one of the recessed nooks.  I decided it would look much better to have one clean line for the border, since all of the recessed areas are different sizes.  We peeled all the tape off, and snapped new chalk lines.  Stacy is working on another project in that little bathroom I did a few weeks ago in this house (the pearls, so I spared her the 2nd taping and we worked in separate rooms most of this day. 

For the border background, I am using the same Portofino plaster that I used on the ceiling, only in Amethest,  with some Gold Irredescent Bella Fresco mixed in.  I rolled on the first layer, and will trowel on the 2nd layer once dry.

I decided to miter all corners with the plaster.  We'll see how this looks when I get the 2nd layer on, but I think it will give it a nice, clean look.