Canvas Art

Something different for me to share! I painted this for my niece to hang in her office. After receiving her Masters she is working as a Middle School Counselor. This is a favorite saying of hers.

Painted Distressed Cabinets

This is a new look! Painting the frames a different color than the doors and draws. I love it! I've distressed the doors and drawers with a crackle finish and roughed up the profile edges to give it that refined worn feel. Both colors have been hand rubbed with a antique glaze and clear coated for protection. The work surfaces are stained and polyurethane. Perfect work station and great place to hide some stuff!

A Few Small Jobs Completed

New Corbels Finished with several colors to compliment tile in a Master Bathroom

Complete redo of this old Picture frame

Cabinets and Shelf Faux Finished over an ugly painted gray



2013 Color of the Year!!

 

EMERALD....I might get excited and write a little more about this color and using it in your home. Meaning using it as a paint color!  I'll be doing some research for sure!

 

Ouch!! while previewing this blog post, I see it really clashes with my blog header!!

Christmas project

 

 

 

After

 

Holy Family "before"

"Family Tree" Tree

 

I painted this tree on the wall; then the client will hang family pictures to represent the family tree. This is painted above chair rail and is probably about 10 feet wide. Plenty of room for the family!!

Faux Wood Grain Columns

Before

 After

A little trip

I traveled a little further for work last week. This project is in Lee's Summit Missouri. The decorator on this project is one I've worked with in California, Missouri and asked me to do this job. I'll head back up for more of the project.... after the holidays! I mingled a metallic and a paint for this texture.

Just Finished..... another ceiling! I'm smiling about it too!

 Close up of ceiling.... Colors a little off. The above is true to color.

In the last year and a half I've done more ceilings than my whole 14 years of faux finishing! This is by far one of my favorites. There's a rich burnt brown (custom) as my base that makes the crackle technique work perfectly. There's a gold metallic mixed in there with another stain and seal of gold and ebony. Just what the happy customer wanted!

Next up is a set of cabinets that I'm just painting the trim pieces for the cabinet maker.... but I'll have to show them off; they are the most unique set of cabinets I've ever seen!

Ceiling Faux Finish

The homeowners have a "old world" style and had me finish this center section with a veined metallic faux finish.

Exterior Door

Before

After

Wood Grain Door

A little "Show and Tell" "Before and After"

Finished Door to match cabinets

After

During

Before

How to paint "Red"

No Faux Finish in this bathroom; just RED painted walls! I do like red, but I always cringe when a client wants it! Pittsburgh color 433-7 Bordeaux was the perfect color for this guest bathroom. It needed color; it had great texture with the concrete sink and counter top. Tiled floor and back splash were all monochromatic.

 

Red is one of the most difficult colors to paint. So if you don't have much experience in the painting field go paint a few other rooms a nice neutral before tackling a red! I'll share a few tips to get you started. All paints have tint or pigment mixed in a base paint. Because the red pigment is translucent a large amount is needed to achieve a deep dark solid color. For those reasons reds are more expensive and not so user friendly!

 

You will want to start with a quality tools, my favorite brush is a Corona Chinex 2 1/2" angled brush. It'll lay the paint down nice and smooth when dipped correctly.

 

Also use a quality roller cover and plan to toss it when done (no cleaning out red roller covers!) Do not buy the cheapest one and make sure you get one that the nap is correct thickness for the surface you will be painting. Before using it, wrap it completely in tape then remove to get rid of loose lint so it won't roll onto your wall leaving pieces in your painted surface.

 

Here's where I remind you that painting is NOT a quick job, it takes time and patience! Before you even put that red in your paint tray plan on first priming the whole room with a good grey tinted primer. I used Zinsser 123 Deep Tint Primer with black pigment shot in to make a black/grey. The primer gives the red pigmented paint a backer to fill in and even out your translucent red. This is major in getting it right!!

 

Now for the red.... When you purchase the red make sure you specify "flat" finish rather than eggshell or semi-gloss. All that pigment it takes to make a red will give you a sheen equal to eggshell. As I mentioned earlier use a quality paint brush, roller cover and paint. My favorite paints are Pittsburgh, Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams. Get their good stuff. (it's not cheap...sorry)

 

Always cut in first using your brush then roll. You'll have to figure out your own "groove" for the brushing; just make sure you brush it out well. Dark colors can get away from you and start to sag usually after you've cut in a good amount so always look back to where you've been to catch any developing paint sags. Next is rolling the paint,  remember to get rid of roller lint with tape. Fill your roller evenly, be consistent with the roller and dipping the paint and applying to the walls. DO NOT push the paint hard against the wall and see how much you can get out of one roller. That's way too much work as well as being incorrect. Just fill your roller with an even amount of paint, roll one roller width area, then dip again overlapping an inch or two and then keep moving forward with that process. Make sure you never push paint, just let it glide. Spread the same amount of paint in equal widths to ensure that the paint is applied evenly on all areas of the wall.

 

My project took one coat of grey primer and two coats of red.

 

By the way; I love this sink done by Jerry Sandbothe, Tile and remodel construction by Brian Stahl

Master Bedroom Chevron Stripe Ceiling

This master bedroom make-over is finally done. It was worth the wait. It took me longer to mark and tape the ceiling than it did to paint! I also did the finish on the "oak framed oak" above the headboard. It is highlighted with random gold leaf.

 

 

Faux Finished Walls

These walls turned out really nice with a soft faux finish. The adjoining kitchen looks great too with new cabinets and floor!

Another Ceiling!

This "over 100 year old" house is getting new life!! I believe every square inch of this home has been cleaned and brought back from the past! I've started the faux finishing on the ceiling in the hallway. The finish has 3 different glaze colors which really brings out the colors of the old brick. This is the main level then I will start on the upper level next week. The original brick walls will stay exposed. It will be quite the home when it's complete!

Chevron Stripe

Half way done!!

These are cell phone photos... I couldn't wait to share these though! This room is just getting started with the make-over. The decorator has beautiful fabrics selected, new carpet, light fixtures and wall color too!
Here's the low-down on the approximate amount of time it took to complete these Chevron Metallic Stripes.

Cut-in and paint base coat ~ 6 hours
Mark and tape for Chevron ~ 22 hours
Paint Metallic Chevron 6 hours
Clean up and tear down of equipment 3

All that on a ceiling!!

Faux Marble Panels

Here's a few pictures of a project I've been working on this week. The cabinet is new and the client had it lacquered the brown color. He wanted me to add the marble finish on the panels and desk top. I painted a very thin metallic pin stripe around each marble panel. It still gets a coat of clear!

Statue

After

Before

My Client just wanted a little color added to this statue.

Ceiling Fan Blades before and after

Before fan blade

Faux Burled wood fan blades

The fan and blades have been totally transformed. The blades were just a unstained wood. Now with the help of paint and glaze the blades look like burled wood. I'll get a picture of the complete room soon!

Sharing

I want to share a few pictures of a house I've been working in on and off for several months. The house is going through a major facelift!