DRAWING & PAINTING FAUX BRICKS FOR A TEENAGE BOY'S ROOM

DRAWING & PAINTING FAUX BRICKS FOR A TEENAGE BOY'S ROOM

Kimberly was redecorating her teenage son's room and asked me to draw and paint bricks on the wall behind his bed.

She wanted the bricks and mortar to be in the gray and black tones.

I used a grayish white for the bricks.

And, she wanted them uneven and smudgy, so that's what I did.

This is Paisley.  Beautiful little doggie.

She is one spoiled baby.  She likes to be in her mommy's arms.

Is she snubbing me!

First, I painted the mortar color on the wall as a base coat.  Then, I started painting the individual bricks.  I swiped and smudged with my brush and let some of the base coat show through.  I was going to come back with a little brush and make the grout lines a little darker and more uneven.  Then, Kimberly decided she wanted the grout to be even darker.  So, I used a dark blackie gray and with a little brush I painted the grout lines.  Also, I lightly painted a second coat of  grayish white on the bricks. 

On the internet, she found the cutest large wire bear head.  

I think she's is going to get it to hang over her son's bed.

When I paint bricks a harlequin pattern, stones or stripes I always draw a grid on the wall.  It's just easier for me to follow.  It takes a couple of extra hours, but I have a guide to paint by.  Every other row of bricks has to be moved over and if I didn't have the grid I know I would have it all messed up and uneven.  I know that because the very first time I ever drew a harlequin pattern I started getting them uneven.  That's when I knew I would always have to draw a grid first.

Kimberly told me the size she wanted the bricks to be. 

 I measured at the top of the wall and drew the lines vertically.  Then she decided how wide she wanted the bricks and  I measured and drew horizontally.  I always use my level when I'm drawing lines.

She had a painter paint my gray base coat color on all of the other walls.  They were a beige.

Monday, I'm going back to Kimberly's to paint her kitchen cabinets.  I'm eager to see if she got that wire bear head for over the bed.  If she did I'll show it to you.

Thank you Kimberly!!

~

Here is a link to another brick wall that I painted and tutorial:

PAINTING FAUX BRICKS (TROMPE L'OEIL) & TUTORIAL

(Original post on August 2, 2015)

HAND PAINTED RED KITCHEN CABINETS WITH A DISTRESSED, AGED TECHNIQUE/FINISH

      HAND PAINTED RED KITCHEN CABINETS WITH A DISTRESSED, AGED TECHNIQUE/FINISH

When my client moved to a new home she asked me to paint her cabinets in her HUGE new kitchen.  Her husband loved red!  Their sofa was red and they had quite a few red accents.  So, I suggested she let me paint the kitchen cabinets red.  I knew it would look soooo good in this new house with all the wall colors, her furniture and decor.  She just could not see the red and brought in a decorator and a builder and got their opinions.  I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure they weren't in favor of the idea of a huge red kitchen, because I had to keep begging!!!  Her husband liked the idea of the red kitchen, so my client finally, reluctantly, said ok.

When I paint a distressed technique on cabinets or furniture it is always with several layers of paint.  I painted these cabinets red.  Then I distressed and sanded the paint so the brown wood would show through.  Applied and wiped off a dark stain.  Last, I sealed with two coats of clear sealer.

My client had seen my faux "antique copper" finish, so she asked me to paint her vent hood.  I did a lot of embossing with a stencil around the border and in the middle of the top.  Then, applied the "antique copper" finish.  I painted metallic copper and glazed with a dark glaze.  Last, I painted the embossed design with a tiny brush and metallic gold paint.

Her wet bar was attached to the kitchen, so she wanted the same red, distressed finish on these cabinets, too.   This was a very large kitchen and wet bar with lots of cabinets.

Well, I think I was right to keep insisting on the red kitchen.

She and her husband absolutely LOVE it!!

They entertain a lot and she told me that everybody who sees her red kitchen loves it, too.  She feels good that it is unique.  And, she knows that no one has a kitchen like her's!

This is a ceiling medallion she asked me to paint for her new living room.  They were hanging a new chandelier on the very high ceiling and wanted the medallion painted red. 

Of course, it looked great, too!! 

She has great taste and I loved working with her and her husband.

Are you brave enough to do this??  Paint your kitchen red?

You just might love it, too!

Original post 10/4/2012

PAINTING A BASEBALL WALL FOR A NURSERY & TUTORIAL

Jill and Kevin are expecting their second child in a few weeks and it's a boy.  They had his room painted a beautiful blue with white trim and the furniture is very dark stained wood.

They LOVE baseball and wanted a baseball theme in their baby boy's room.  So, Kevin Googled baseball themes and several hand painted baseball walls came up.  

They asked me to paint one wall to look like an old baseball.

When I arrived to work on the wall, they already had it painted with a basecoat and Kevin had drawn the two big curves for the stitching.  He drew them with a pencil and did a great job.

I Googled baseballs and found a picture of a dirty old baseball.  That was my "inspiration".

It looked sooo cute and they were so happy with the way it turned out.  Now, they can finish decorating and get ready for that sweet baby boy to arrive.

TUTORIAL 

As I said, they had already painted a satin finish off white base coat.  And, Kevin had already drawn the two big curved seam lines on the wall with a pencil.

First, I painted over and gently shadowed with a dark brown paint, the seams/big curved lines that Kevin had drawn. Then, with a small brush I painted the stitches a dark red.  At the end of each stitch, I painted a dark brown dot to look like the needle holes.  I used the tip of my brush handle, dipped it in the paint and touched the spot where I wanted the needle holes to be.  Then, I used a very light brown glaze that I had mixed and I faux painted the whole wall to look like an old baseball.

When I found the picture on Google, I noticed that some of the stitch arrows were pointing up and the stitches on the other side were pointing down.  I showed it to my neighbor and he told me it was a mobius strip/circle.  It's interesting, if you want to look it up.

So, when you are painting your baseball wall, remember the two-way arrows.

Have fun!  It was fun for me!

Original post was 12/17/12