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Monday, March 11, 2024

PAINTING A WROUGHT IRON BED TO A DISTRESSED RED FINISH FOR DEBBIE

PAINTING A WROUGHT IRON BED TO A DISTRESSED RED FINISH FOR DEBBIE

Debbie had a beautiful wrought iron bed.  The color was very dark.
 She decided she wanted it painted red, so she called me.
One bedroom wall was papered with this metallic damask patterned paper.
The red looks amazing!!
I needed some way to make the headboard and footboard stand so I could paint both sides at once.  I already had hooks on my ceiling, so a neighbor helped me tie them so they would stand. That made it so easy  to paint.
 Debbie wanted the finish distressed.  Here is a close up of the finish.  Besides the dark color coming through the red paint, I scraped a little harder and let the white undercoat come through in a few places.
Debbie was excited to find this comforter.  She said it was exactly what she was looking for.
BEFORE
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Original Post 12-3-2017

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

HOW TO BUILD & INSTALL A PLATE RACK FOR A CABINET -TUTORIAL

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LYNDA BERGMAN DIY BLOG

This tutorial is to show you how I built a few plate racks to install inside the cabinet spaces of kitchen cabinets that I have painted.  A plate rack really adds another dimension to your kitchen and can display your decorative plates or your every day plates.
In this kitchen my clients looked around to figure out where the open cabinet and plate rack would look the best.  Then, they removed the two cabinet doors that were on this space.  They added their cookbooks on the top shelf.
After they removed the doors there were holes where the screws had been.  You can fill those in.  If they need to be touched up, use a litte stain or craft paint that matches your cabinet finish.  But, I was there to paint one of my special aged finishes on the cabinets so I was able to fill in and disguise the holes with paint and stain.  Their cabinets were that pickled/white washed finish before I painted them.
If you don't want to repaint your whole kitchen, I think it would look really nice and decorative to paint the whole inside of the open area and plate rack an accent color.  A color that matches your decor.
First, I went to Lowe's and got trim that was about  l/8" x 1 1/2" wide and dowels that were about 3/8".  These trim pieces come in different lengths. They're usually in the section where you find other door and baseboard trim.  I measured the inside of the cabinet to see how long the top and bottom pieces of the plate rack should be.  I cut four pieces the same length.  The two racks need two of these cut pieces each, one for the top and one for the bottom to hold the dowels.  Then, I taped them together before I drilled the holes for the dowels.  You need all of those holes to be exactly the same so the dowels will be vertically straight and evenly spaced.  I drilled a hole every 2".  But, before drilling you need to go with the measurements of your cabinet space.  The space between your holes drilled may be a little more or a little less than my 2".
Oh, and, when I measured the width and height of the inside of the cabinet, I made sure I was 1/8" to 1/4" shorter so the plate rack would slide in, easily.
You need to measure the size of your dowel so you'll know which size drill bit you will need to drill your holes.  When I had everything cut exactly the same, I used Elmer's Wood Glue and pushed or gently hammered the dowels into the holes on the trim piece.
It's best to paint everything before you install these racks or you'll have a hard time getting your brush and hand in between all of those spindles.  It's just a neater, cleaner job painting before you install.
After painting everything, I got small finish nails and hammered/got them started in the bottom and top trim pieces so it would be easier to hammer them into place.  Before I hammered them to the cabinet I put Elmer's Wood Glue all over the top and bottom trim pieces where they would be touching the top and the bottom of the cabinet.  Wood glue makes a much tighter bond than nails only.
Before the final step of hammering them into place, I measured where I wanted to place the two racks and the distance between them was important.  So, I measured 1 3/4" back from the front of the cabinet because I wanted the front rack to be placed there.  I penciled a line so the rack would be perfectly straight.  Then, I measured 5" from the back where the front rack would be nailed and that's where I drew my next line.  My lines were drawn where the front of each rack would be.  You have to draw these lines on the top and bottom of the cabinet opening, so everything will be perfectly straight.
THEN, I hammered them into place.

This is a free standing plate rack that I built and painted artwork on sides and top.
First, I built the box (like the inside of a cabinet).  I attached four drawer pulls for the feet.  Then, I put it together just like the instructions above.
This would be such a nice gift for someone.  You could stain the wood or you could paint and crackle. You could stencil all over it, decoupage all over it.  
Paint all one color or different coordinating colors to fit your or someone's decor.
Just a suggestion:  when you put your plates in the plate rack, if you put them straight in that's ok and you can get one more plate in it.  But, if you have decorative dishes and want them to show, angle one spindle over in the back when you're putting the plates in and that little angle will show off your dishes. If you angle there will be space for one less plate.  But, the angle looks really good.
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HAVE FUN BUILDING YOUR PLATE RACK!!
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Original Post 12/16/12

Friday, March 1, 2024

HAND PAINTING MIRROR & PICTURE FRAMES FOR PAULA'S NEW HOME

HAND PAINTING MIRROR & PICTURE FRAMES FOR PAULA'S NEW HOME

Remember that  
I posted back in September?
Paula is still working on her decorating and asked me to help her change the colors on a mirror frame and a picture frame.  They were both metallic gold and very beautiful, but she thought they no longer looked good with the gray tones she picked for this new home.
Thank goodness she has this huge island in her kitchen.
It was a perfect work table for the painting.
This is the very large picture frame.  On the right you can see the "before" metallic gold.
 Paula had several colors of paint from her renovation and asked me to use a dark greenie gray for this frame.
I painted on and rubbed off the greenie gray.  On the smooth areas I rubbed more off, leaving the paint a little heavier around the decorative design.  That gave it an "antique aged" look.
This is where Paula plans to hang the painting.  Those walls are gray and my camera made them look kind of greenie blue.  The new color on the frame looks really nice.
And, this is wonderful Hank.  He's a huge Maine Coon Cat and a really cute personality.  When I laid down my bags, he immediately sniffed around and then laid on top of them.
His mom says he likes me...I LOVE him!!
Last night Paula sent this picture to me.  
He's so funny!
This is the mirror frame.  Paula wanted it to be a soft gray.  
When I finished painting it she thought it didn't look dark enough with the walls in the dining room, so I rubbed a dark blacky brown on top of the soft gray.  It was a good contrast.
This is how it turned out.  Looks really good on the soft gray walls, now.
In the first picture above you can see Paula's kitchen light fixture.
This is the light fixture she chose to go across the room above her breakfast table.
Here is another post to some frames I painted last year:
If you have any questions about painting frames, please feel free to message me.
Original Post 12/5/16

Friday, February 23, 2024

PAINTING SHUTTERS METALLIC GOLD & LEOPARD SPOTS

PAINTING SHUTTERS METALLIC GOLD & LEOPARD SPOTS

Patti is one of my favorite clients.  
I love the projects she has asked me to paint for her home through the years.
She had a small window in one of her hallways.  She found these shutters that were just the right size and asked me to paint them metallic gold and leopard spots.
She asked me to paint this curtain rod and finials black and metallic gold to go in an adjoining bedroom.  The colors matched the colors in the shutters.
First, I painted the inside shutter part a solid black.  When I painted the metallic gold over the black shutter part, I kept touching/blotting it with a rag.
That's why you are seeing the black coming through the gold.
 The undercoat for the outer frame where the leopard spots are, I painted a beigy off white.  Then, painted the metallic gold over that.  Next, I started drawing black squiggly lines with an opening. I painted a different color of metallic gold inside the squiggly lines.
 It's ok that they're not perfect.
 I used a black craft paint for the black and craft metallic paint for the two golds.
I did not seal these shutters because they were on a high window, so not a lot of traffic.  Sometimes, when you seal a metallic paint it dulls the finish.  Once I painted a lot of metallic paint in a dark bathroom, knowing it wasn't going to reflect a lot.  Then, I thought to use a high gloss water based sealer and it turned out great in the dark bathroom.
The metallic paints did reflect really well.  
Remember, metallics "reflect" light.  Without a light source it's just a color.
The high gloss in that bathroom was perfect for that dark area.
The carpenter separated the shutters and put one on each side of the window.
Such a great idea, Patti!
They looked really, really cute/great/wonderful!!
Original post 9/14/17.
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Thursday, February 8, 2024

PAINTING ARTWORK ON A HUGE CANVAS TO COVER A HEADBOARD

PAINTING ARTWORK ON A HUGE CANVAS TO COVER A HEADBOARD

This is a link to a past project that I thought some of my friends might be interested to see.
My client showed me a photograph and asked me to paint something similar on a huge canvas.
She wanted to cover her headboard with it.
She and her handyman stapled this huge canvas onto a large piece of plywood.
This canvas cloth was very inexpensive.  I think you could paint just about anything on it for a headboard or wall hanging.  You could paint castles, ABC's, handprints, a panda bear, ANYTHING!! and it would be so cute or cool.  Big squares or big triangles and stars.  Stripes.
To read more about it, here is a link to 

Wednesday, January 24, 2024

PAINTING FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER" ON VERONICA'S DINING ROOM CEILING & TWO NICHES

PAINTING FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER" ON VERONICA'S DINING ROOM CEILING & TWO NICHES

My client asked me to paint her dining room ceiling.
Her home was the perfect style for my "antique copper" special finish.
I showed her a sample and she loved it.  There were two niches in the entry next to her dining room and she asked me to paint the same finish in those, too.
When you walk in the front door you see the niches and dining room together.
 They look really nice.
Imagine what you are seeing is a metallic copper shining back at you through the antiquing.  I always have trouble taking pictures of the metallic paints.  Either they shine too much or not at all.  She found this wonderful santos "The King" and it fit perfectly in the space.  
She said that she will be adding more art above Him.
This is her 14' high dining room ceiling.  I used my 8' ladder, but it was still lots of work.  I painted the antique copper as the base coat and used a dark blacky brown to antique over it.  I painted on the brown and wiped it off with a rag.  The texture on her ceiling was just perfect for antiquing the ceiling.  At the base of her chandelier I did some smudging, added metallic gold and some red.  It looks like the copper might have aged and has a natural patina.
Her husband really liked it and said it looked like a ceiling in Vegas.
There's sweet Veronica dusting her chandelier. 
She said she and her decorator are going to add more crystals.  It will really sparkle!
Oh my goodness!!!  
This is their tiny little kitten that her son got for Christmas.  I bet he doesn't even weigh a pound and they named him BORIS.  He's a fluffy gray and white long haired kitty.  He was sooo tiny.  One day while I was working, they couldn't find him.  They looked and looked for at least 30 minutes panicking.  thinking he might have gotten out the front door.  There happened to be a tiny tear underneath this upholstered chair and Boris had climbed up in it and was taking a nap. 
Here are the two niches in Veronica's entry.  Because of all of the light coming in her front doors, the "antique copper" looked beautiful with the subtle metallic sheen (which you can't see in these two pictures).  Oh, and last week they added a granite shelf inside each niche.  
I didn't catch the light in this picture either to make the metallic paint shine but trust me, it is really beautiful.
These pictures are "before" the special finish.
Veronica's home is where I recently painted the black distressed kitchen island and here is a link to that post VERONICA'S KITHCEN ISLAND & WINE CABINET .
I might be going back in March and will get to see everything put back together.  I'm sure it will be amazing and I'll share it with you.  (Veronica said I could.)
Thank you Veronica!  
I loved working with you in your beautiful home.
Original post was 1/25/15.

Sunday, January 21, 2024

PAINTING A 1930'S TELEPHONE TABLE TO A FRENCH COUNTRY CREAMY CRACKLED DISTRESSED FINISH

PAINTING A 1930'S TELEPHONE TABLE TO A FRENCH COUNTRY CREAMY CRACKLED DISTRESSED FINISH

Recently I painted kitchen cabinets to a french country crackled distressed finish.
The colors were so creamy and soft.  
I wanted to paint a piece of furniture with similar colors and technique.
A while back I found this 1930's telephone table and decided it would be perfect!
In case you weren't around back then, that open space was for a telephone book.  The phone sat on top of the table and had a permanent wire coming from the wall.
  You couldn't move the phone around the house like you can today.
I stenciled the top with a soft glaze and painted parts of the legs in the same glaze.
When I found this table, the handle was missing.  In my studio stash I found this knob with a backplate and it was just the perfect size to cover the original holes. 
 I drilled a new hole in the middle for the new knob.
It would have been nice to have the original handle, but really like this one.
I am very happy with the way this antique table looks now.
Original post on October 22, 2016.