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Friday, July 27, 2012

HAND PAINTED CHAIR SEAT COVERS & TUTORIAL PAINTING ON CANVAS CLOTH

HAND PAINTED CHAIR SEAT COVERS & TUTORIAL PAINTING ON CANVAS CLOTH

My client had four very white chairs at her table in her breakfast room.  She brought the chairs to me and asked me to paint them a darker color.  She only wanted me to paint two of them and gave the other two to me.  This picture is one of the chairs that I kept.  
 I painted the arms, part of the back and front legs a faux dark stained brown wood.  I painted the back and back legs an off white, distressed it a bit, painted some ivy on it and aged it with an antiquing glaze.  Then, I painted this pot of pink flowers and ivy on canvas cloth and covered the chair seat.  I put it for sale in a neat shop that sold lots of my things.  After a while, shop owner told me that the pink  really wasn't working and asked me if I could paint some blue on it. 
 I certainly could do that!!
So, I took my paint and supplies, sat on the floor of the shop and changed the pink to blue.  Right after that someone bought it.  I think  they were going to use it for a desk chair.
Oh, and that is a table that I painted and distressed.  I love that finish!  
The other chair, I had fun with and painted it green with grape vines and painted the canvas chair seat with grapes and wine glasses.
These pictures are for a client who wanted me to paint duck cloth/canvas for her chair back slip covers.  She wanted them to be like ancient roman frescoes.  After I painted the ladies on the canvas cloth, she had them attached/sewn to a soft white linen fabric with a special trim.  The chair seats were made from the soft white linen.  The headbands, parts of the flowers and jewelry are painted with metallic gold leaf.  They do reflect the light.
The chairs turned out sooo beautifully and I am so proud of them.  But, I forgot to take pictures.  Maybe someday I will be able to go back and take pictures.  
This is another ancient roman fresco I painted for a chair back. 
These are patterns I drew and cut out for the chair covers.  For this project, it was easier for me to have these patterns.  I traced them onto the fabric and painted them.  By making the patterns, I was able to draw exactly the right size and place them exactly the way I wanted them on the fabric.  
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TUTORIAL
If you want to change your chair seat covers, it's very simple to do.  At your fabric store you will find canvas cloth.  You need to choose the strength you think would be good for a chair seat.  It's usually 100% cotton, so if you wash it, it will be very, very wrinkled.  If that's the look you want, wash it and hang it up to dry.  Otherwise, don't wash it and paint right on it like you were painting on any canvas.  If you don't want to paint a picture you can use a stencil or paint stripes or plaid, anything you can think of.
My chairs, I turned upside down and unscrewed the chair seats.  You can remove the existing seat covers or just fold your canvas cloth right over (without removing the existing seat cover) and staple.  BUT, BEFORE I STAPLED THEM, I cut the canvas cloth to the size I needed, leaving lots of extra to fold under.  I folded the cloth around the chair seat, placed it back on the chair and put blue tape on the edge of the area to be painted so I would know my boundaries.  Next, I took the cloth off  the chair, placed it on a table with cardboard under it so the paint wouldn't get on my table.  At this point, you can stencil or paint and have fun with your colors and design.  Craft paint is inexpensive and comes in sooo many colors and it's ok to use craft paint, if that's easier for you.  I always use Textile Medium to thin the paint a little and make sure it penetrates the fabric.  It is fabric, so be sure it is totally dry before you start trying to put it on the chair seat.  Before you staple, make sure your design is exactly where you want it to be.  Then pull it very, very tightly around your chair seat and staple very, very well on the back side.  LOTS of staples!
It's sooo easy to do.  Have fun!!

Friday, July 20, 2012

HAND PAINTED CASTLE MURALS & LITTLE GIRL ARMOIRE

HAND PAINTED CASTLE MURALS & LITTLE GIRL ARMOIRE

A long time ago, I got this antique armoire from an interior designer.  He was changing his studio and wanted to get rid of it.  It fit perfectly in my playroom.  It was brown stained wood.  So, I painted it pink and green.  I used oil based paint, even for the trim.  For the bows, I used my finger...just dipped my finger in the paint and drew the large and small bows.
I found the cutest wallpaper and border and papered the ceiling.
   I found this "Rapunzel" figurine at an estate sale and just had to have her,  I knew she would fit beautifully in my playroom.  As soon as I saw her on that table I knew I would paint her a castle. 
I found a little basket and painted it.
I attached it to her castle so she would have a balcony to go outside.
This is Rapunzel's castle and I painted her a prince.  Kevy decided the prince needed a castle, too.  So, I painted a rock path from his castle to Rapunzel's castle.
It all turned out sooo cute!  And, all of the colors looked so nice together.
A couple of times I've wanted to repaint the playroom walls and the girls will not let me paint over the castles!  So, for now, we still have castles.

Friday, July 13, 2012

PAINTING A BLACK & GOLD DISTRESSED & AGED FINISH ON A KITCHEN ISLAND

    PAINTING A BLACK & GOLD DISTRESSED & AGED FINISH ON A KITCHEN ISLAND

 Last week, I finished painting this kitchen island and two other pieces of furniture in my client's kitchen.  They designed this island and had a cabinet shop build it.  So, it was totally new wood when I started.  My client chose one of my stencil designs that she wanted me to emboss on the island.  Priming the new wood and embossing the design were the first two steps.  
Then, I painted a multi-layered old and distressed finish.  
This kind of finish takes several days to complete, but I finally finished it.      
I used a metallic old gold to highlight the design and other areas.
 My clients are very, very happy!!  I am, too!

    

  As far as the other two pieces of furniture in the kitchen that I painted...my client asked me to paint a built in desk/bookshelf and a china cabinet in the same colors as the island, but different techniques.  All three pieces, newly painted, really made her kitchen look sooo nice and tied in very nicely with her granite counter tops and other decor in her kitchen.

TUTORIAL ON PAINTING & INSTALLNG A CEILING MEDALLION FOR A LIGHT FIXTURE OR FAN


     A few minutes ago, I was painting all the detail on this ceiling medallion.  We were in the midst of a wonderful storm with thunder and suddenly the lights went out.  OH NOOO!!  I have to finish this and take it to a client tomorrow.  Thank goodness the lights were only off for about five minutes.  I painted as fast as I could to finish the gold and silver.  Done!!  If I have to, I can seal it with the clear coat in the dark. 
     This ceiling medallion was white and my client probably got it at Lowe's or Home Depot.  I painted the dark brown, then the gold and silver.  It will look really nice after I seal it and I'll post another picture.
     If you want to paint a ceiling medallion you don't have to do all the detail.  Paint a base coat and  sponge metallic paints or any colors you want all over.  You can leave it white or you can paint it a solid color like your ceiling or wall color.  Then, seal it with a dull or satin clear coat. 
     It's most convenient to install a ceiling medallion when you are changing out your light fixture or fan.  If you have an electrician he will have to take your fixture down, attach the ceiling medallion to the ceiling and reattach the fixture.
     If you want to do it the easy way...there are medallions that are a little smaller and are in two pieces.  Once you paint the two pieces you attach them to the ceiling around the base of your light fixture or fan.  Sometimes, to get it to fit properly, you have to unscrew the fixture canopy at the ceiling.  That is the part of the fixture on the ceiling that hides the wiring.  All you have to do is loosen the canopy with a screw driver, lower it, attach the ceiling medallion and then re-screw the canopy at the ceiling.  One thing that might be important is to measure how wide your canopy is.  Some are three inches and some are four inches, etc.  You need to make sure it will fit in that middle part of your ceiling medallion.

                                                        Have fun and Happy Decorating!!

HAND PAINTED MIRROR MOLDING AND NEWLY RENOVATED BATHROOM

     A few months ago, I was painting the cabinets in this bathroom and I suggested that they put the moldings on their mirrors.  They selected the moldings and I painted them to match the cabinets.  Just wanted to show you another option for moldings and color.
     In the background, you can see the textured wall.  They did have outdated wallpaper and had it removed.  I textured the walls with sheetrock mud, kind of a Santa Fe style texture and then, I painted the walls and ceiling.
     My client got a new chandelier to go over her large bathtub and I painted the ceiling medallion to match the cabinets and mirror moldings.

  This is the ceiling medallion and some of the molding I painted.  They're always so detailed, but worth the look!

     And, these are some of the cabinets.  I embossed a design on the linen cabinet, only.  The rest of the cabinets, I just painted black and rubbed the edges.
     The black looks so nice with the creamy colored walls!