The flooring in the room was the one thing that could not be changed (at least, not budget-wise) and it was a pretty strong blue-green with silvery taupe overtones. I found a few fabrics that blended beautifully with the flooring that the client loved – one in particular she adored. However, when I went to call up to order it – it was no longer being made. Darn. So, back to the drawing board.
The floor color was a very difficult color to find a fabric for. Either it was too blue or too green. It was maddening! But, I finally found a gorgeous fabric at Robert Allen that fit the bill. After that, I started to create some sample boards for the wall finish.
I was happy to finally have a fireplace and mantle in my home – yippee, something else to decorate! (And that tree was supposed to be on our deck then – sorry about that one). But having the mantle so stark white really wasn’t doing it for me. I had done a nice sueded plaster on the walls in a cinnamon hue – very Ralph Lauren-ish kind of look and feel (without it being Ralph Lauren material!)…and I loved the warmth of it.
So – what’s a girl to do to make it all come together? Add some decorative onlays, gold leaf them and then antique the entire mantle.
Happy Painting!!
I am thinking of doing a weekly column called “Sample Saturday…or Sample Sunday.” So, please comment below and let me know if you think you’d like to see something like this weekly!
In the column, I would show you a faux finish or a furniture finishing idea – with a recipe. I’m going to start out with a troweled faux finish that I love – it’s a little difficult, but I will show you how you can make it simpler.
EMBEDDED STENCIL LAYER
4) I used the Rinceaux Fruit stencil from Royal Design Studio, but you can used any design that you’d like. I used some spray adhesive on the back of the stencil – but I also taped all the sides. I mixed up several different colors for the fruits – some yellows, greens, plums. One thing that’s great about using the LusterStone is that it comes in many different colors – but they also have a tinting base (which I used here as well). You can add tints to the tinting base to get the color you want for the plaster. So, instead of buying many different quarts of the metallic plaster to do the raised designs…you can buy a quart or so of tinting base and create your own custom colors. You can use Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore tints (yes – the same ones they use for their paints). Just ask your paint dealer for a quart of tint only…not the paint. Put a few drops into the plaster – and build up to the color you want.
5) You want to have the stencil on very well because you don’t want any leakage from underneath the edges of the design. For my “trowel” I cut a small square of a piece of styrene board and then I lightly sanded the edges to soften and round them a bit. Pick up a small amount of your tinted plaster onto your “trowel” and trowel lightly into the design areas of the stencil – green for the leaves, purple for the grapes and plums etc. You will have to place some tape over the areas you don’t want “green” for instance. If you are doing a multi-overlay stencil, you have to make sure each layer is dry before you put the next overlay on. If you are doing the above stencil or something like it, you can give it a little more realism by adding shading to the leaves and fruits.
Tip: If some of the plaster has seeped out a bit – don’t worry! Use a Q-Tip to remove the plaster that leaked out. It doesn’t have to be 100% perfect because you will be suffusing the design with another layer of plaster.
THE FINAL LAYER
6) Once your stencil design is completely filled in with the plaster and dry, you then do one more layer to “embed” it. You can use the same color plaster you used in step two (the watered down version). But I used a lighter, more neutral color – Champagne Mist. I just put maybe 5-10% water into the plaster. I put it on first with a brush – and then I took my stainless steel trowel to move the plaster around. It’s like you are “frosting” the finish.
So…give it a try. It’s a beautiful finish for just about any room. You can even use it on furniture. A single motif embedded in the center of a cabinet door would look gorgeous!
Happy painting!
My kitchen was featured in HOUZZ!
But…I couldn’t make up my mind which backsplash I wanted. Nothing seemed to go with the granite (oh, it probably did…I was just very picky). So, I finally took the plunge and created my own backsplash (which you’ll see a better picture of soon). Because the backsplash was very old world, textured and rustic, it made my range hood look too new, too light and out of place. So – that had to change. I took out the trowel…
I used a product called PlasterTex from Faux Effects. It’s a wonderful texture for old world effects – plus it takes a glaze well. I stippled the texture on first with an old brush, then I troweled it, giving it that “been there forever” type of look. In the smaller and straighter sections where I couldn’t use a trowel, I stippled and then I “mushed” with my fingers (very technical faux treatment!!) Then, after it was dry, I took out a large brush and glazed the entire range hood with some Mahogany Stain and Seal (also from Faux Effects). I threw in a little bit of chestnut brown and brown glaze as well. Where it was too dark, I just wiped it back with some cheesecloth. For the onlay on the top of the range hood, I just wiped back a lot of it because I wanted it to stand out…otherwise the depth and definition of that feature would have been lost.
Above, not the best cropping job, but you can see the range hood a bit better. I then used the same glaze and wiped it over the lower molding on the hood. The question I have for all of you reading this – should I also do the same glaze on the top molding? I left it cream – like the rest of the cabinetry. I’m not sure…so I would love some suggestions.
While I am awaiting the news of my new granddaughter’s birth (it should happen within a few hours…I can’t wait!!), I thought I’d share a project that I did in my home recently…my dining room moldings and some metallic plaster and decorative pattern on the ceiling. Here are some before shots…
Above, you can see that adding new window treatments, artwork and carpeting helped a lot. It was very nice…but it wasn’t “me.” You know that feeling you may get about a room in your house that you’ve decorated – but you hardly ever sit in it? Well, that’s because it doesn’t speak to you and I believe every room should speak to its owner! I had done a lovely faux finish a few years back and I loved it…but it wasn’t enough. The lace curtains were not me – so I changed them. The ceiling and the moldings were just “so-so.” Adding a small crown molding and decorative base – and antiquing them helped a lot.
I love my dining set (love it but it needs to be updated with some new upholstery and some paint and antiquing still! Another post perhaps!) But…something was still missing. It needed more cohesiveness and extra intimacy (every dining room needs this!).
So, I went to my favorite stencil designer, Melanie Royals’ Modello Designs, and I ordered the largest stencil (a special, one-time use one) I had ever seen – and got to work! Here it is laid out on the floor – Yikes!
Above, the first part of the stencil is adhered to the ceiling. That only took about an hour to get put up correctly!.
Then I added 2 layers of Brown Metallic Plaster for the first part of this process.
Once the plaster is dry, you put up the next part of the stencil.
That only took about 2 hours!!! Eh, maybe longer!
For the scrolled part of the design that was on the Brown, I troweled an antiqued metallic gold plaster and then I threw some large Mica flakes onto it while wet so there’d be a bit more bling! More bling than this?? For the scrolled parts that were on the lighter part of the ceiling, I alternated between the Brown and the antique gold plaster being troweled on.
I love how it came out. When you sit at the dining room table, the design helps to make the room more intimate. Now when I go into this room, I’m happy! I’ll even sit there and pay bills! It was hard to do (a lot of measuring, which is not my forte) and you do need an extra set of hands to help you place it on the ceiling (and to give you a rest when your back and neck are aching!).
I have done many different stencil designs on ceilings before – but they were smaller and easier to do. This takes more time, patience and skill…but it is well worth it! Melanie has a lot of helpful directions on her website – so if you are thinking of doing something like this – you’ll have some help along the way. Start out with something small (like a design in the four corners of a ceiling). Do something manageable before you tackle something like this!
If you would like to read how to do a somewhat simpler version of this technique, click here
Baby update: My daughter had the baby while I was writing this post. Little Peyton weighed in at 7 pounds 13 ounces and mother and baby are doing great!
Thanks for reading. I welcome all your comments and questions!
Jess lives in California and, of course, I’m here in New York. I will be going out there to help her with the baby next week but I was wishing that I was there to help her through this.
I just fell in love with the orange, green, pink and a dash of yellow color scheme. It’s such a happy combination. It says spring plus warm weather ahead for me.
I am going to do a tablescape tomorrow, in preparation for the weekend festivities. But I thought I’d show you some of the things that inspired me this year. I love vibrant colors – I’m not the pastel type at all. It started with my friend Debbie who owns Honeysuckle and Roses florals in Westhampton Beach, NY. She gave me a few roses…which were beautiful.
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