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Sunday, September 25, 2016

CHILDBIRTH AT 65

CHILDBIRTH AT 65

CHILDBIRTH AT 65: 
"With all the technology regarding fertility recently, a 65 yr old friend of mine was able to give birth. When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, I went to visit. 
"May I see the baby?" I said. 
"Not yet" she said. 
"I'll make coffee and we'll chat for a while first." 
Thirty minutes had passed and I asked
 "May I see the baby now?"
 "No, not yet" she said. 
After another few minutes had elapsed, I asked again,
 "May I see the baby now?" 
"No, not yet" replied my friend.
 Growing very impatient, I asked,
 "Well, when can I see the baby?"
 "WHEN HE CRIES" she told me. 
"WHEN HE CRIES" I demanded! "Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?" 
"BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM, OK??"
(author unknown :)

Thursday, September 22, 2016

PAINTING A DISTRESSED & AGED TURQUOISE FINISH ON XOCHITL'S ANTIQUE DESK

PAINTING A DISTRESSED & AGED TURQUOISE FINISH ON XOCHITL'S ANTIQUE DESK

Xochitl asked me to paint this desk for her.
It is a really old desk and had that big crack across the top.
She asked if I could paint it a color in her rug.
And, asked if I could distress it to hide that crack.
I made some samples to show her and this is the color and technique she liked.
Look at all of these pockets to organize desk things.
Close up of the distressing and aging technique.
Getting started.
No one in the world sweeter than Xochitl!
(You pronounce that something like "Sochee".)

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

SURPRISE FOR CARLEE ~ PAINTING NEW GRAY & WHITE BEDROOM COLORS

SURPRISE FOR CARLEE ~ PAINTING NEW GRAY & WHITE BEDROOM COLORS

Kym wanted to surprise Carlee by redecorating her bedroom.
She asked me to paint Carlee's walls and ceiling a wonderful browny gray. 
Kym found some crystal sparkle lights and asked me to paint a frame for them.
She said Carlee could hang photos on the light strands.
Look at this rug!
Look at this wonderful! chair for Carlee's desk.
These are the family's new puppies, Penny & Paxton.
They are toy Aussies and the most beautiful little dogs!!!
I love this quote!
Kym told me the size she wanted the frame to be.
With my level and a pencil, I drew the lines, then painted the soft white color inside the lines.
Room "BEFORE".
Very different, now.
Carlee was thrilled with her new room.
"THANKS MOM!"

Sunday, September 18, 2016

PAINTING CABINETS FROM STAINED OAK TO A BLACK DISTRESSED FINISH FOR SUZIE & MIKE

PAINTING CABINETS FROM STAINED OAK TO A BLACK DISTRESSED FINISH FOR SUZIE & MIKE

Mike and Suzie wanted all of their downstairs cabinets to be black distressed.
When they moved into this house, all of the cabinets were stained oak.
Earlier, they had someone paint their entertainment center in the great room.  
The painters painted the cabinets black and distressed the edges.  Their kitchen cabinets are white, distressed and glazed.  This is a large open area, so you can see the white kitchen and black entertainment center at the same time and the contrast is really sharp with beige walls. 
They called and asked me to paint the rest of the downstairs cabinets. 
Also, the cabinets in Mike's home office.
This is their wet bar.  As I was priming and painting the cabinets, they asked if anything could be done to the small textured beige wall that separated the top and bottom cabinets.  I told them I could paint it black and make the bar look like one big piece of furniture.
They liked that idea.
Suzie was looking at my blog and found some pictures of design embossing that I had done on other furniture.  I showed her several stencils so she could pick the design she wanted. 
 Then, she asked if I could do embossing on that little wall. 
 She drew the "H" and created the design for me to paint.  
I think she did a great job!
She didn't want the inside of the cabinet to be black.  
I suggested she let me paint metallic paint inside the cabinet and the same metallic paint on the embossed designs and edges of the drawers.
Above is the pool bath cabinet.  (different technique from the others)
Because the great room cabinets were already painted black, I asked if I could paint each of the other rooms with a little different technique. 
 All of the cabinets would still be black, but different. 
 I knew my painting and distressing would be different from the other painter's technique.
It's hard to match someone else's painting.
This is very sweet, beautiful little Macy.  Such a nice doggie.
In Mike's home office, there were two very large cabinets. 
 LOTS of shelves!
I painted the cabinets black and gently rubbed the black off of the edges.
He had a beautiful stained wood desk...oh my goodness!  
So pretty and looked so good witht the black cabinets.
See this box of soccer balls...
they were given to Mike by a friend who had collected from every World Cup since 1970! 
 Mike found clear acrylic shelves and will place each ball on a shelf on one of his walls.
Then, they noticed the stair rail. 
 I think it was the only piece of stained oak wood left in the downstairs area.  
So, I painted it, too.
This is the cabinet in the downstairs powder room.  Love! the copper sink.
The metallic paint that I used for the embossing and trim was a coppery color.
A very nice touch on the black.
Hall Linen Cabinet
Wet bar "before".
Downstairs powder room "before".
No design on doors "before".
Pool bath cabinet "before".
I really love the way Mike and Suzie's home looks with the new black cabinets.
Thank you, Suzie and Mike!

Sunday, September 11, 2016

GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME

   GOD BLESS AMERICA,
Land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above
From the mountains to the prairies
To the oceans white with foam
GOD BLESS AMERICA, MY HOME SWEET HOME
Image may contain: plant, tree, sky, flower and outdoor

Saturday, September 10, 2016

OLD TO NEW & WONDERFUL ~ PAINTING A SPECIAL STAINED TECHNIQUE FOR PHYLLIS'S NEWLY DECORATED POWDER ROOM.

OLD TO NEW & WONDERFUL ~ PAINTING A SPECIAL STAINED TECHNIQUE FOR PHYLLIS'S NEWLY DECORATED POWDER ROOM

Phyllis wanted to redecorate her powder room.
She got new granite, new faucet, and a new paint color for the walls.
She saw an "inspiration" cabinet online and asked if I could paint a finish like that on her existing cabinet.  (It was a VERY expensive cabinet.)  I never want to copy anyone, but it just so happened the finish on the "inspiration" cabinet was exactly what I have painted for clients on other jobs.  I knew how to do it.
Cabinet "after".
Her cabinet was stained and no trim on the doors.  I suggested that she have someone put trim on her doors.  She really liked rope trim, so I suggested she go to Lowe's.
 She didn't know what to do so she asked me to go with her.
She picked out three pieces to go on the door fronts.
Her carpenter attached the trim, then I painted the cabinet and mirror to match.
Phyllis found these beautiful knobs for the doors.  I swiped a little metallic paint on them to match the cabinet and mirror.  Isn't her new granite just wonderful!!
I love the shades of browns and creamy colors.
This is her new light fixture.  When it's on, it really sparkles.
After I painted the basic technique on the cabinet,
 I painted a metallic paint on all of the trim pieces that her carpenter attached.
Here you can see the metallic paint on the trim.
You won't see a sheen unless the metallic paint is reflecting light.
Cabinet "before".
If you want to change the look of your cabinets, adding this trim would be really nice,
 even if you are painting them white, black or any color.
These are the three different trim pieces Phyllis chose.
You can find these and other beautiful decorative trim pieces in the lumber section.
Phyllis's new powder room is really beautiful, now.  I think she's looking for an oriental rug to go in front of the sink and a large painting for the wall.  

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

FABULOUS & AMAZING HOME RENOVATION ~ KITCHEN, FAMILY ROOM & WHOLE HOUSE

FABULOUS & AMAZING HOME RENOVATION ~ KITCHEN, FAMILY ROOM & WHOLE HOUSE

This is one of my most favorite homes, ever!  You will not believe the transformation.
Paula and David found this home in a very nice neighborhood and it happened to be
 on a greenbelt.  They made major changes in the whole house.
They did some MAJOR renovations.
This is the family room.  That's Hank lounging on the floor.
He's a very large Maine Coon and the sweetest cat.
Notice over to the left there is an entertainment area.  They removed some cabinets and built a smaller cabinet.  Notice the fireplace, too.  It's very different from "before".  Below, you will see "before" and won't believe how pink and outdated.  Lots of pink, even the tile.
I'm sure it was really beautiful at one time, but desperately needed to be updated.
Here is their wonderful new kitchen.
I applied a very thin dark glaze on the, already painted, gray island and entertainment cabinet. 
This is sweet, sweet Gabby.  Her passion was playing ball.
She was very focused on that tennis ball in her mouth.
Gabby watches the deer in the greenbelt.  There were several tiny fawns in the spring.
The new wood floors were covered with a heavy paper while we were working.
This is "BEFORE"...can you believe the difference!!
Notice the fireplace and mantle and how different it is now.
Notice the entertainment cabinets "before".
This island was removed and it really opened up the kitchen.
Also, the light box and all cabinets were removed.
The new colors are shades of gray and white/off white.
Soon, I will show you a couple of other projects Paula asked me to do.
Don't you just love, love, love this home!!


Saturday, September 3, 2016

HOW TO DECORATE A VERY LARGE "GREAT ROOM" IN A HOME

HOW TO DECORATE A VERY LARGE "GREAT ROOM" IN A HOME

Remember this HUGE open living area I showed you last fall?
This was Patti's new home.  I promised to share pictures with you.
She's not finished with her decorating, but I'll share what I got to see, recently.
Last fall I walked into that HUGE room and wondered what in the world she was going to do with that huge open space.  This room is the entry, living room, dining room, kitchen all in one.
Well, below is what she's done, so far. 
 (She's still working on it.)
Isn't this absolutely beautiful!!
She had that huge pine cabinet in her other home in the dining room.  She knew she wanted it to be a divider/defining rooms piece in this new dining room.  She had the back removed from the top so it would be open and the light would come through. 
 On the left of this picture is the fireplace and,
on the other side of the fireplace is her living room.  In her other home she had dark tuscany colors.  In this home, she wanted everything to be peachy, light and airy.
This is her  "daddy long legs" clock.
I love it!
Isn't this copper pot beautiful on this tall pedestal against the peach wall color!
She hung her clock collection on the dining room wall.  That white cuckoo clock is cuckoo!  It never cuckooed at the correct time.  It kept me a little confused :)
This chair is one of her dining room chairs.  She had them in her other house and they were a dark stained finish.  Patti had them reupholstered and asked me to paint them a bit distressed metallic silver finish.  I painted a tan base coat.  Then, as I was brushing on the metallic silver paint I wiped off with a rag in some areas.  
Other areas I gently dry brushed the silver so the tan would lightly show through. 
 The design of the chairs is so beautiful and the metallic silver paint looks really nice.
This is the entry to her home, so far. 
Patti loves flowers and yard art and is in the process of major relandscaping.
Yesterday, Patti sent this picture to me.  
Before, you stepped off of those brick steps above, onto the grass.  
They've just poured this new-extended patio and these new steps. 
 It looks like her guy is going to lay the bricks on these steps to match the existing steps.  
That green mirror is going to be hung outside, somewhere.  
She asked me to come by and seal it for using outside. 
 I can hardly wait to take pictures! 
 I know she won't mind if I share them with you.  And, 
I know it will be beautiful!