Painter Girl

Front Entry Hall: Wakefield

Continuing on (finally) with the recently completed projects at the Wakefield home, today we visit the Front Entry Hall. In it's previous life (left), it was a lackluster off-white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There's not a lot of wall space because of the large opening to the living room off to the left and the stairs to the second floor, on the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I started out with a soft, orange/gold toned glaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, I used Cutting Edge Stencils, Anna Damask pattern.  This was a stencil design I had not used before, so was eager to try. What I always love about their stencils is the "topper" piece included with these all over repeat patterns, making the ceiling line much easier to stencil.  This short topper piece eliminates the experience of the larger stencil folding over and resting on your head while you attempt to stencil right up to the top of the wall.  My hair truly appreciates being glaze free!

 

 

This stencil works up quickly, as it is a one overlay.  I used a gold metallic paint, mixed with a little glaze.  Well, to be honest, I mixed it with Bella Magic, which is one of my favorite products.  I have been mixing it in with just about every product I use these days.  I may even try it in my coffee.  No, just kidding... but it does greatly improve the application of plasters when troweling and paints when stenciling.  I buy it from Kathy Carroll over at Faux by Kathy. It does not seem to be listed on her site anymore, but if you call and ask for it, they will help you.

A little side note... While I was stenciling these walls, I was very, very close to running out of the gold paint.  I kept thinning with the Bella Magic because I needed to finish these walls that day and there was no source anywhere near for the gold I was using.  By the time I finished, the jar was so clean it looked like I had washed it out! Don't do as I do.  Buy more paint than you need.  I tend to do this with gas too.  I rarely fill up until the light comes on in my car, and even then, I'll drive for quite a few miles before pulling into a gas station.  I guess I like living on the edge.

This picture really does do the finish justice, as it shows the metallic paint with it's subtle glow.  The glaze underneath is also very subdued, just giving the walls a little depth and movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are two large door openings on one side, so I wrapped the pattern around onto the face of the each opening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, when you enter this home, you are greeted by warm and welcoming walls, vs. the previous look.  It makes you want to come in and see what else is going on in this house!

 

 

 

The Milton House Foyer/Upstairs Hall Completed

In the end, I was really happy (and so were my clients!) with how this all turned out.

 

This view is from the second floor hallway, looking down to the landing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see some of the crystals on the flowers in this photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second floor hallway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the diamond wall, before the furniture is placed back.  I have about 8 layers of various gold products on this wall!  I wanted to do it using just Gold StucoLux, but it was soooo thin and watery that the layers would not build up and it did not burnish.  After four unsuccessful layers, I added layers of gold glaze mixes to get the color and sheen I was looking for with the StucoLux. I have used non-metallic colors of StucoLux before with great success, so was quite disappointed with this gold and would not recommend it.

 

 

 

 

The same crystals, in a larger size, are placed at the corners where the points of the diamonds meet (hard to see here).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This wall does have a nice glow to it now and works well with the stripes and adjacent back hall.

 

Thanks Chris, for all your help and hard work! 

 

The Milton House Foyer/Upstairs Hall Stenciling

Now it was finally time to begin the stenciling!  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I bought two Large Phoebe's Tulip stencils from Royal Design Studios, but had them reduced by 30%. 

 

 

Chris tackled all of the high walls that were on the stairs. :-)  Here she is working on one of the corner stripes, which are a pain to do!  We did a lot of hand painting to help with the transition from wall to wall in the corners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This shows you what one repeat of the design looks likes.  We used a darker metallic gold acrylic for the leaves and a burnt orange metallic for the flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

We went around and did some hand detailing where necessary.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here we have not yet done the flower placements that will be at the floor and ceiling lines.  You can see how it does related well to that back hall I did a few weeks ago.  The diamond wall you see to the right, was done with layers of a gold metallic plaster, which I will will get to later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another view of the foyer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When all the stenciling was done, we added these little Swarovski crystals to each flower!  When you see the big reveal tomorrow of this foyer, you will barely notice the gems because they just do not photograph well.  They are quite sparklie and elegant in person though!

 

The Milton House Foyer/Upstairs Hall Job Continues

Yesterday I told you how I really wanted my client to use Melanie's new stencil design, Phoebe's Tulip.  To seal the deal I really had to pull together a good presentation.  Initially I wanted to use the large version of this design, which measures 20.5" x 26.75" for one repeat, as shown in the pic to the left.   My problem was, how do I convey the large scale of this design to my client without actually buying the stencil first?  If I was skilled with PhotoShop or even owned a version of that program, I'm sure it would be a cinch.  But alas, I don't own it and have not used it in many, many years.  I know, I know... I should be up on this, but I'm just not motivated enough to spend the time it would take to learn how to use that program with any success.  So here is what I did.  I made an overhead of this very same design you see here, projected it onto a large piece of paper, and traced it.  That way, I could bring it to my client and show her just how big one repeat would be on her walls.

I also did a rough sketch, to scale,  to fool around with the layout. Oh, I see one of my "tulips" fell off from the first row on the far left.  I wanted to do alternating stripes on the wall, dark and light metallic gold.  The stripes would be wide, 36" for the light and 30" for the dark. The "tulips" are the circles you see.  I was thinking 3 in one row, 2 in the next.  The scale shows one wall, floor to ceiling 7'5".

I also did a sample board showing the stripes to bring along with this.  Well, I brought it to my client, but she did not like the very large size of the stripes or design.  She did however, really like the concept in general, so it was a GO!  All I had to do was reduce the size of the stencil and bring the stripes down to 18" and 15".   I called Royal Design Studios and ordered two of the large stencils, reduced in size by 30%. 

to be continued...

The Milton House Foyer/Upstairs Hall Job

I am well underway with this job and hope to have it completed in a few days, but will start from the beginning to show you the transformation.

Here is the "Before" picture, taken from the top of the stairs on the second floor.  This floral wallpaper was everywhere, right down to the foyer.

When I was pulling together design and finish options for this area, I had in mind that it would flow with the adjacent back hall I had just completed.

 

The carpet was staying, so I had to work the small floral, diamond pattern in with whatever I came up with.

The ceilings are low, 7'5", so I felt I needed a design that would give this space some visual height and not close it it, as the wallpaper did.

I had come across this wallpaper pattern online somewhere, and I'm sorry to say, I don't know where.  I liked the way the flowers were in vertical rows.  I saw Melanie Royal of Royal Design Studio was posting some new pics on Facebook of her latest stencil designs, so I sent her this pic and asked if she had anything in an over scale, vertical floral design coming out.  Well, lo and behold...Melanie to the rescue!  Ask and it shall be yours! 

This new stencil is one the Hearst Castle designs Melanie has been working on.

It is called Phoebe's Tulip and comes in two different sizes. This photo is from the Royal Design Stencil website. 

I showed it to my client and she said "no flowers". :-(   Well... when I looked at the Tulips and then at her wallpaper, I could see her point.  But, there are floral patterns everywhere in this house, so I new she loved flowers, but just wanted a change from the all over repeat pattern she now had with the wallpaper. 

I was determined to make Phoebe's Tulip work! 

To be continued...

 

 

 

 

More at the Milton House

Continuing on with my adornment of the Milton House walls, this week I will show you the back hall project I just completed.  Here you see the "before" picture, with that "w" word I hate to use, wallpaper.

My favorite painter, Warren, was on the scene before me to strip off this paper and apply the base coat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first layer was a soft gold metallic glaze.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That was followed by this great stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils. I have been drooling over their selection of stencils for some time now, so was delighted when my client picked this one!  I had them enlarge their original design by 20% because I wanted an over-scaled look here.  The stenciling was done using a metallic green.

 

When I ordered the stencil, I also ordered this great new tool... a clip on level!  For those of you who use these all over repeat patterns, this is a real time saver and I highly recommend spending the extra $10 for one.  I did not want to use spray adhesive on this stencil, so that is why you are seeing so much blue tape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a closer look at my little level at work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This design works up very quickly.

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, I did all the easy sections first. :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This stencil is a very good weight and was easy to wrap around the corners.

 

More tomorrow...

Slipping in Some Small Jobs Solo

Susan and I both had some miscellaneous small jobs to attend to, so we split up for a bit to get these done.  We will team up again shortly for a funeral home job and some larger residential projects. 

One of my quick jobs was to return to the home where Susan and I recently did some updating to the foyer.  The new chandelier still is in the box, waiting for the electrician to erect some scaffolding and install, which will truly complete this grand foyer!  My last task here was to put a dark stain with a sheer metallic stain over the once light banister.

       

before                                                            after

It's a much more elegant look now! 
 

Hallways Completed

Wow, this painter was fast!  The homeowners report that he came in, corrected the paint problem with the wall, and was gone in a flash.  Susan and I had no problem at all when we applied the glaze the next a.m.  Working on stairs is never fun and Susan bared the brunt of this work by taking on the high part, while I did the lower sections.  We used a Little Giant ladder that is great for working on stairs.

             

Here are a few shots of the upstairs hall.  There was another section downstairs that we did also, but I did not take any photos since it really is not that interesting!  Extending the finish from the two story foyer into the hallways did warm up the spaces and made for a much better flow.

Our homeowners have now left for a little vacation, but we shall return soon to do another ceiling project or two, plus some great new panels for the blue sitting room we recently did. 

Adding the Halls

Remember this Foyer from February?

 Well, Susan and I are back...

adding the same, simple, one color glaze to the upstairs and downstairs halls that connect to this grand foyer.  We were almost done, and actually would have finished today...but we ran into a little problem with one wall that goes up the stairs.  I forgot to take a photo of the problem, and it will be painted over when I return tomorrow, so you will just have to take my word for it, that there was definitely something strange going on under the base coat!  When Susan applied the glaze, all these large, blotchy rectangles appeared on the wall.  The homeowners have had trouble with this wall in the past and it was recently painted.  The painter will come in and put a stain blocker down first and then re-base.  The homeowners are leaving for vacation, early Wednesday morning, so we hope the problem will be resolved and we can finish up in the morning!

Updating a Foyer

Yesterday,  I mentioned that I am working on some ideas to update work I did in my clients' Dining Room several years ago.    In the meantime, Susan Siefer and I teamed up to give their Foyer a little makeover.  I first did work in this foyer about eight years ago, give or take a year or two.  I've added on, here and there over the years. 

So, here's the before shot.  I had done an allover repeat stencil design on the background and then added the word "Benvenuti" above the door, to look a bit cracked/aged.  It was time for this to go. 

This area was done with a brown Lusterstone.  Also, the doors had been painted a light brown, so they were glazed with a deep brown/gold combination.

Here's a close up of the finish on the doors.  It has a nice gold glow to it.

There are closet doors to the right and left of the entry door you just saw.  In this shot you can also see the cracked plaster panel with trompe l'oeil framework I did years ago.

The closet doors were dressed up a bit with this scroll design.

A closer look shows some detail liner work that helps to give the design some dimension.

Gee, I don't even know if I could replicate this cracked plaster again, so good thing we just had to darken them a little with some glaze!   The stencils I used for the for the framework came from Royal Design Studios.

Next post will feature a new canvas panel we created for this foyer, as well as some changes to some columns.