Painter Girl

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.

Good progress today!

I thought I was just going to finish the trompe l'oeil window in the Powder Room today and then begin the stenciling in the hallway.  But...I decided to spend the day in the Powder Room and get as much done as I could.  This decision was brought about mainly because I did not want to move all my supplies out of the hallway so I could work.  Here is the Before Picture of the Powder Room.

This room is approximately 4' wide by 8' long, with a 9' high ceiling.  There is a toilet on the wall opposite this sink and that is all there is in this very white room.  No cabinets on the wall, just a mirror hung over the sink.

Yesterday, I glazed the walls a soft, sage green and had begun the window.  The window was done with a template I made a long time ago, and use often.  I then use tape to make the lattice portion and the sill/trim detail.  It's all done with tape and shading.  Time consuming, but very easy!  I got this idea right out of Melanie Royal's book: Trompe L'oeil Murals Using Stencils.
The orchid in the twig basket is a wonderful stencil by L.A. Stencils.  At the baseboard, I will be several types of flowers.  Today I began the Irises and some very faint ferns that I will layer over with other flowers and ferns.  That is just my blue tape you see, protecting the baseboard.

 

Another Condo w/All White Walls

Today I began Day 1 of what will be, approximately 5 days at this new job site.  This condo is my 3rd at this 55+ condo complex.  The owner of this unit is a very pleasant woman who normally lives alone, but currently has one of her adult son's staying with her.  I will be doing the Powder Room, Den, Master Bath and a Hallway.  This job is a nice break from the Commercial Job I still have to complete.  No scaffolding, very limited finishes, mostly freehand and stenciling.  The entire condo, as are all in this complex, is painted with Ben Moore's Decorator White, flat. That alone, would be torture for me!  Today, I began in the Master Bath, where I will be doing one accent wall.  I just taped out and rolled on the base coat, so nothing exciting to post about.  I also began work in the Powder Room.  In here I did a soft pale green glaze with a little pearl metallic glaze mixed in.  I am putting in a trompe l'oeil window on one wall (no real window in this room), and lining that focal point wall with an assortment of flowers at the baseboard.  I just realized, as I am writing this, that the stencils I ordered for this room did not arrive today as I had hoped they would.  Oh well, I will go as far as I can w/that room tomorrow and then begin the stenciling I will be doing in the Hallway.  I'll post pics tomorrow when I actually have something worth looking at to view.  I can't go any further with the Master Bath until I can get over to Arlington to get the metallic glaze I need for that wall.

All White Walls...End of Phase 1

Last week I completed Phase 1 of the "All White Walls" job.  The last rooms I did were the Dining Room, Master Bath, Master Bedrm and that Kick Space under the counter in the kitchen.  Here are the before and after pics for these areas:

All White Walls...Dining Rm
"Before" pic

Silver Mist Lusterstone Finish on top portion of Dining Room walls.  This finish is 3 layers, the first is rolled on, and the 2nd two layers are troweled on.  It is more green in color than pictured, w/ a silver tint.  The finish looks like a soft, metallic suede. This room was difficult to photo because the window treatments were down at the time.

All White Walls... Kick Space below kitchen counter.  "Before" Pic.

Kick Space "After" pic.  Wall was base painted, then Aqua Stone was troweled over the dry base coat.  Once that layer was dry, 2 glazes were applied and the entire wall sealed.  This is an excellent finish for this space because it is extremely durable.

Master Bath "After" Pic.  I forgot to take the "Before" pic, but again...all white walls.  The walls were first painted with Ben Moore's Cameo White.  This is one of my favorite stencils, The Trumpet Vine.  The flowers and leaves were randomly placed around the room on all walls.  You can see in the mirror, the cherub sitting on the wall. This is over the jacuzzi.  All stencils have hand embellishment added. 
The Trumpet Vine is a wonderful stencil from The Mad Stencilist, designed by Sheri Hoeger. The Cherub and pedestal it sits upon is from Natural Accents, designed by Lynn Brehm.  I love all of the stencils both of these very talented designers create.  They are well thought out and they always make me look much more talented than I really am!

Master Bedroom "After" pic.  Again, walls were all white before.  They were first painted with Ben Moore's Cameo white.  This elegant scroll design is done with a bronze metallic paint, and a soft brown paint.  Highlights, which are not visible here, were added with a liner brush, using a pearl paint.  This stencil comes from Royal Design Studios, another great source for incredible stencil designs!

I will be returning to this townhouse later in April.  The next areas to be done will be some stenciling in the foyer, a fireplace wall, and a den that is used mainly by the man of the house.  It's been a pleasure working in this home.  The homeowners are a lovely couple and it is just so much fun to see these white walls take on a whole new personality!  I also made a new friend, Shelby, their dog, who to play with her pet Iguana!

Shelby with her favorite toy!

All White Walls...follow up

I completed two of the rooms last Friday, but did not take pics because of the snow storm going on as I was frantically trying to finish up for the day and get on the road.  It took me an hour and an half to get home... (normally a 35-45 min. commute) and I was gripping the steering wheel all the way, praying I'd get home safely.  My car stinks in the snow.

Today, when I happily returned to this fun job, I snapped a few pics of the completed Home Office and the now complete Powder Room.  The Home Office has a soft, 2 color glaze on the top portion of the walls and the walls below the chair rail have a leather finish, done with plaster and a simple color wash and waxed.

Home Office... after pic

Powder Room...after pic

This room was done using 3 glazes, softly blended over a Linen White base coat.  The  ivy vines are stenciled with hand painted embellishments.  This room is tall and narrow, so hard to photograph.  The vines are randomly placed on all walls.

Today I began working in the Dining Room.  It will have a Lusterstone finish in Silver Mist, above the chair rail.  My clients are still trying to decide what, if any finish, they will put on the bottom half.  I will finish this room tomorrow, post the pic and describe the finish and products used to do this finish.

Before Pic.... More all white walls, just waiting for some color! :-)

All White Walls

I always love the first day on a new job site.  Today, I began working with a new client, a fun couple living in a new 55+ condo development...with all white walls. I have already done most of the rooms in their neighbor's unit, so I am familiar with what I will be dealing with.  All the walls in these units have been poorly prepped and sprayed with Builder's White...flat, ugh!   I will begin with three areas: the home office, powder room and a kick space beneath the counter in the kitchen.  See how white and boring these spaces now look... and see the sample boards showing the finishes that I will do.

This is the Home Office now...all flat white walls

 

The sample board on the left, shows a soft, 2 color glaze that will be applied to the wall space above the chair rail.  The sample on the right, shows a leather finish that is done using a glazed plaster and waxed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This kick space, below the counter, will have a stone finish, which will be extremely durable and hide scuff marks. 

The Powder Room, again... all white. This will have a soft, 2 color glaze and these leaves/vines will be randomly placed on the walls.  This is a tall,narrow, windowless room.

I am working on a plaster finish for this fireplace wall insert and a stencil design to go above it.

Today I taped out and base coated all of the walls in the Home Office, Powder Room, and Kick Space. Tomorrow I should be able to do the glaze finishes in the Office and Powder rooms, plus get some of the layers on for the leather finish in the Home Office and the stone finish on the Kick Space.  I plan to complete these areas by Friday.