Happy Accidents

Not everything goes according to plan.  (That should be this year's motto.) With this job I had a major "oops" where the finish I was supposed to do on the ceiling didn't quite turn out as planned.

I had completed the walls last year with a glazed plaster texture and the client wanted to do something on the ceiling that complimented but didn't upstage them.  I also had glazed the trim in her kitchen to match the cabinetry and she wanted to do the same in these rooms too. Normally when I do samples I keep notes and swatches of the different paint colors and mixes that I use. For some reason I didn't do that this time. Don't ask me why. I'm usually good at remembering my process but this time I don't remember what I did. I tried guessing but that didn't quite work. I was about to pull the plug and start over but thankfully my client talked me off the ledge. We came up with a solution that turned out to be even better than the original plan.

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I have to say that normally I would be mortified that the job went south but with a client like this, who is very creative and flexible, was absolutely amazing.

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Its so hard to capture the subtlety so I pumped up the definition a bit. If you'd like to see the finish in person give me a call, I now have a sample that matches!

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The final result is what to me looks like what could be a deteriorated plaster with hints of old wallpaper discoloration on a Parisian apartment salon wall. It has a very subtle crackle with gold peeking though. The colors are all slight variations of taupe, grey, and tan. I am absolutely in love and have tried doing this type of finish several times with no success. I guess you could say it was a happy accident!

Art Underfoot

Good Morning!I just wanted to share with you some exciting news...Royal Design Studio, the maker of incredibly cool stencils, featured my floorcloth that I created for my studio!! Melanie has an awesome blog that is viewed by tons of people so I am very honored to have my work showcased along many many other super talented decorative artists. A big thank you to Melanie Royals and Regina Garay for the feature.  I am sooo excited!!

Click here to view the feature!

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Also, you can vote for my floorcloth that has been entered in a contest held by Royal Design Studios, I could win a shopping spree!  Maybe a stencil for your next project...?

Royal Design Studio Stencil Contest

Thanks everybody!!

Kitchen Facelift

This post has been long overdue... A few months ago I finished a kitchen cabinet redo.  The clients wanted not only to freshen up their 90's oak cabinets, but also take advantage of the 9 foot ceilings.

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Enter Gael Summerhill. Gael is one half of Summerhill Cabinets.  They do amazing things with wood.  Gael came out with me and helped design some upper display areas and dress things up with some crown.  They also added trim and base molding to the island and added a little shelf unit to the end of one of the rows of cabinets.

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After their work, I painted everything.  I sprayed the doors and drawers in my shop and then set up my equipment to spray on site.  Setting up is the biggest pain in the butt but what a difference it makes when you are painting.

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The after is to die for.  If I do say so myself. :) It helped that the clients updated their appliances and installed a new backsplash and counters. Notice the new lighting under the cabinets and inside the display areas? Summerhills.  Yeah, they rock.

Its much more economical than ripping everything out and replacing them.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!