Painter Girl

The Wall Unit: On Site Work

Last week I was in my studio working on the doors for this week's Wall Unit Project.  I originally did a finish on this very same Wall Unit a good 10 years ago!  I was amazed to see just how well it held up, but now it is time for an updated look.  When you see some of the photos from the on site work, take note of the finish on the walls, which is also at least 10 years old.  I'm trying to get the client to let me do a new finish on these walls, but she still loves it and is reluctant to cover it all up.  I may be able to convince her to do an accent wall to keep us both happy!

I found the copy (very faded!) of the blue print given to me when these shelves were being built 10 years ago.

 This is the old finish that I am going over.

And here is the selected finish on a sample board.  It's a very simple rolled on Lusterstone.

The far right side of the Wall Unit has this shelf unit.  I have it primed out and base coated now. 

It's difficult to maneuver around this room, but this shot shows almost all of the Wall unit, except for the shelves seen above.  The four doors that I still have in my studio, cover the open areas that have drawers.  The middle unit has no doors.  It is all primed and partially base coated at this point.  I'm using a Ben Moore Aura color.  I'm using the Aura for two reasons: 1) it dries very quickly and 2) I will only need to do one coat before I apply the Lusterstone.

I will also be doing the same finish on the raised panel portions of these closet doors. 

Here is one of the finished doors. I've added a little silver detailing around the inside edge of the recessed panel.  I will work on this more today and hope to finish up on Wednesday.  In the meantime, I will try to come up with something for the accent wall and a floorcloth idea for the kitchen. :-)

More Samples

When I was working on the samples the other day, trying to match my original finish, I also brought along with me, some new samples for the Laundry Room and Mudroom.  Often, my clients are not home when I am working at their house, so I leave a lot of notes and samples for them to look at when they return.  This system works well for clients I have been working with for several years now.  New clients need a little more hand holding, a little more explanation of how the finishes will work and look, etc.  With Repeat Clients, the trust has been established so there is a lot more freedom.

I taped up a Silver Moss (Lusterstone) sample for the walls in the Mudroom.  The smaller paint chip is the base color for the painter to prep the walls.

This Iridescent Gold Striae sample is for the 5 doors in the Mudroom area.  It will just be used as an accent, not for the entire door.

The Powder Room, which I just completed, is off of this Mudroom.  The electrical is not hooked up in there yet,  and the mirror and toilet need to be installed.  After I finished stenciling the Fennel, I unplugged my light and had already moved it to another area, so I took this picture in the dark.  I am surprised to see that it is pretty true to color!  The vanity in this room is awesome, so once the lighting is installed and everything else goes in, I'll take some more photos.

Next, I left some samples for the new Laundry Room.  Now, first I must say, I was very sad to learn the old Laundry Room was demolished to expand the new kitchen.  This Laundry Room was one of my favorite jobs I ever did.  Here is one photo from that room.  If you would like to see more click here.

This was all done freehand, no stencils.  The clothing replicated her 2 boys clothing, who were about 9 &  10 at the time.  Now they are both in college, so we are moving onto a new theme!

I left the samples all on the washer and dryer, with my cryptic notes! 

Back to Work

Well, here we are in 2009!  I hope you all had a Happy New Year.  I have caught up on all of my sleep and am ready to pick up the paint brushes again. 

I will be spending part of today back at my client's home where I just completed the Powder Room before New Year's.  I have a few touch ups to do in that room, but will mainly be working on some on-site samples to try to duplicate the finish I did 5 years ago.  As you may recall, I will be carrying this finish into the new kitchen space.  I have some good records of the steps I did for that finish, but I also remember struggling with several layers of that finish, so just want to try to work it all out before I actually start this portion of the work in a few weeks.  I am also presenting some finishes for the new mudroom and laundry room. 

I have been working in this particular house for 11 years now so I thought I'd share some of my past work with you.

This is a bathroom that is located in the basement level of the home.  The homeowner has a dog and cat and this bathroom is often used for grooming the pets.  I did this mural in 2003.  You know, I'm not even sure the dog is still in this home.  I didn't see him when I was there last.  He does rotate between this house and the ex-spouse, so I'm hoping he was just away, but will try to remember to check on that.

Here's a close up of the bandanna.  I did this so long ago, that I cannot remember who's stencils I used.  I believe some of the stencils may no longer be available.  I know the hooks and leash were stencils, but the grooming tool and bandanna were done freehand.  The paisley design on the bandanna is from Royal Design Studio.

I will feature more rooms from this home throughout the next few weeks.

A Quick Repair, A Short Day

It's 3 p.m. and I'm happy to report I am back at home with time to spare to get some much needed work done in my office.  This morning I had a quick repair job to do at one of my favorite client's home.  I've mentioned this client on here before, I believe referring to them as the 4 Girl Clients, since this lovely couple has 4 beautiful daughters.  I am always amazed at how organized this Mom is!  She sure has her system down, with lots of baskets and cubbies neatly organized all over this big house.  Plus, and most importantly, she seems to have these girls trained to actually put things away where they belong.  The house is not overly neat, having a warm and inviting feel to it.  The best new addition to the property since I was here last Summer, is a fantastic outdoor pool and jacuzzi, with a small pool house.  The pool is a very appealing shape, not your typical rectangle, plus it has a little waterfall. 

Well, unfortunately, I was there to work, not to swim.  You may remember this fun bath I did last Summer.  All is well with these walls, but across the room, the mirror that was glued to the wall above the double vanity was removed and some new lights were installed.

Well, I think it is going to be hard to see what I am talking about in this picture.  If you look closely, you will see from the ceiling line down to about 2/3rds of the photo, there is a light pink striae.  Then, a horizontal line appears because  this is where the old lights were removed, plastered, the new lights hung.  My task was to make this vanity wall match the 2 adjacent walls that have the pink striae.  To new mirrors will be hung over the 2 sinks, covering most of this wall, but you still have to paint the wall to match the others. 

It was a very straight forward fix.  I just  painted the walls the original base color, let dry, then added the pink glaze, doing a striae technique.  The part that took the longest was removing the glass globes, crystals, and light bulbs from the 2 light fixtures, so i could work better around them.

I took a lot of pictures of this counter top, a counter in another bathroom, plus the kitchen counters because the homeowner is ready to do something with them.  Stacy, whom I often mention on here, and work with frequently, has just taken a course to learn how to resurface such counters.  We are going to get together next week in her studio to make some sample boards.  I mentioned this to the homeowner here, and she is very excited to learn more about this.  I'll be discussing this more in the coming weeks.  Stacy and I will be teaming up to do some counter work, cement floor work, and faux marquetry on wood floors.  We have been seeing a big need for this and already have a good list of customer going that want to see samples.  So... a few days in the studio for us should be time well spent!

While I was at this house, I snapped a few pictures of the 2 story foyer I did about 4, maybe 5, years ago.  This was one of the first jobs that Stacy and I worked on together.  Due to my fear of heights, she did all the top portion on the scaffolding (22' high) solo, while I stayed on the lower levels!  I like this metal wall hanging that has been added.  It's always fun to see how and where my clients add accessories.  Since the walls are still wet when I leave, nothing is hung yet.

Here's the opposite wall, with a nice painting hung!

Previous Work

When I was at the house where I did the AquaStone finish in the bath last week, I took a few pictures of previous rooms I had done some work in. 

This is a small breakfast room off of the main kitchen.  The fireplace wall (3 sides) were glazed first with a mossy green tone.  An allover repeat pattern, in a scroll design, was then stenciled with a deeper green.

In this dining room there are 2 identical niches.  Previously white, I applied several layers of a mix of metallic glazes to compliment the colors used elsewhere in this room.  The wallpaper was done just before I connected with this client.

Mural Additions

Earlier this month, I wrote about returning to one of my client's homes to add to a mural, (http://paintit.typepad.com/painter_girl/2007/11/adding-to-a-mur.html).  I returned to this home yet again this week to do some new work in the Master Bedroom and a small bathroom.  While I was there, I took new pictures of the mural with the additional work.  The last time I was there, my batteries ran out in my camera, so I was not able to get clear pictures.

Here is the mural before the additions.

Here is the mural with the new additions.  I added the dark blue pail on the right because a new grandchild was born into this family.  I also added a 2nd Golden Retriever (near the umbrella), as this was also a new addition to the family.  A white fence was constructed around the deck over the summer, so I painted that in too.  It's fun to see the mural grow and change as this family grows and changes!

Four Little Girl Family

Today I began about a week's worth of work at "The Four Little Girl Family".  I have done some other work in this home over the past 2 yrs.  I will call them "The Four Little Girl Family" because, this couple have 4 lovely daughters, ranging in ages 13 down to about 3.  Mom & Dad have this large house very well organized!  I am always amazed when I return to this house to see how they manage to have 4 kids, a lot of toys, sports equipment, etc. and everything seems to have its' place.  The house looks lived in, comfortable, neat and clean.

I am here this week and probably part of next week, to do 2 of the bathrooms which the girls use and to do the long hallway off of these baths that connects to the foyer I did previously.  For this job, I decided to just surprise you with the finished rooms when I am done and not show the progress.  All walls are just Ben Moore's Navaho White right now, so a blank canvas for me!  The older girls were allowed to pick out what they wanted for each of their bathrooms.  This is really going to be a fun job!

I thought I would show you the work I have done in this house over the past few years.

This is their 2 story foyer.  I did a Green Limestone Finish here.  I had Stacy and another woman, Karen, help me with this...because as I've said before, I am afraid of heights! I think this foyer is 18' high.  I can only take credit for everything below that tallest window!

Here's a little closer view.  This finish uses 4 glazes, all applied at once and ragged.  The predominate color is a sagey green.  Veining is added last.

With all the females in the house, Dad decided he needed his own bathroom!  His is in their finished basement and he selected the them and provided reference materials for me. It's a long, narrow room, so I can't stand back to fit the entire mural in the frame.  There is a bench mounted to the wall beneath the trees.

Here's another shot that shows the beach area of the mural.

This border design is in the breakfast area of the kitchen. The doorway opens into the family room.

Here is a close up of the design.  It is done in a sepia tone with just a little green and pin coloring.

In this play room I just did a cloud ceiling and the ribbon and stars in each of the 4 corners.