PAINTING YOUR BATHROOM MEDICINE CABINET TO MATCH YOUR WALL COLOR

This photo didn't turn out very well.  I will post photos, later, when my client is finished re-decorating this powder room.  But, I wanted to share something with you...

These cabinets and the medicine cabinet had a pickled/white-washed finish on them.  My client saw a neighbor's cabinets that I painted a few months ago and wanted me to work on her's. 

When I went by to look at her powder room, I asked if she wanted me to paint the medicine cabinet the color of the walls to  make it disappear and she said yes.  I usually ask my clients the same question.  Sometimes they want to paint it the wall color and sometimes they want it the same as the new cabinet finish. 

Some clients have the medicine cabinet removed and patch the wall.  But, if you use and need the medicine cabinet, it looks really nice to paint it the wall color and make it disappear, kind of.

Also, I'm painting mirror molding for this powder room.

If you want to frame your plain mirror and would like to look at my tutorial on painting and installing mirror molding, see my post in June, 2012.

Soon, I'll be going back to this home to do more work and and I'm sure the powder room will be completed.  I'll take better photos and post them.

PAINTING FOR KACI & HER MOMMY

Last week, I was painting for Kaci and her mommy.  I painted the walls in their living room and kitchen.  Also, I painted two ceilings.

This is little Kaci.

One of the days, while I was painting, she and her mommy were watching the game and guess which team they favored!

This master bedroom is decorated beautifully.  My client wanted to paint the ceiling this medium green.  A color she had around the room and it looked really, really nice.  The bedroom is very open to her landscape and a greenbelt, so the green tied in nicely.

And, she wanted to do something special to her dining room ceiling.  I suggested my metallic "antique copper" finish.  It doesn't reflect in this photo, but it looks so nice with her new wood floors and the rest of her decor.

I really enjoyed working in this home.  The living room and master bedroom have very large windows and I was able to see deer and lots of birds.  Oh, and some squirrels running around on her very large deck.

But, my favorite thing was playing with sweet, little Kaci!!

DRAWING & PAINTING APPLE GREEN & CHOCOLATE BROWN STRIPES IN AN ENTRY HALL & TUTORIAL

     DRAWING & PAINTING APPLE GREEN & CHOCOLATE BROWN STRIPES IN AN ENTRY HALL & TUTORIAL

Patti's house is just amazing and she does all of the decorating, herself!!  When she was building her home she started bringing things for me to paint for her new home about a year ahead of completion.  Then, when it was nearing completion I worked there for about three months doing all kinds of special wall and ceiling finishes that she came up with.
 Her taste is AMAZING!!

     Last week I had to go back to do some repair work on the stripes that I painted in her entry hall.  The walls/stripes are about 16' high and about 12" wide.

The brown and green shades that she picked are just beautiful, together. 

The walls were painted that apple green and was the base coat for the brown stripes.  With my ruler and a pencil I measured the width of each stripe carefully around the room, remembering these stripes had to end somewhere.  While measuring and drawing stripes you might need to start adjusting the width of the stripes so it won't look wrong where they meet at your final stripe.  See all of those corner angles in the entry?  That is where I adjusted the width of the stripes-a little less wide or a little wider.  I can't believe anyone would ever notice that every single stripe is not the same width.  After measuring the width carefully I used my level to draw the height from ceiling to floor...a straight line.  I'm always amazed when I'm using a level.  It's such a smart/handy tool.  I measured, drew these stripes and had to hand paint every single one of the brown ones!  I painted only one coat of brown over the green so the green would show through.  That is the look Patti likes.  

This is the chair that was in the entry hall with those green and brown stripes...isn't it beautiful!!

You can see the dining room from the entry hall.  See that HUGE chandelier...this is one of the things she wanted me to paint way ahead of time,  It was so large, they couldn't fit it through the double doors of my studio.  So, I had to go to the warehouse where it was stored to paint it.

Soon, I will be posting more of the work I did for Patti's new home.  One thing for sure, she wasn't afraid of color or design and she turned it into a really unique and 

very, very beautiful home!!

PAINTING BLACK & AN "ANTIQUE COPPER" SPECIAL FINISH ON KITCHEN CABINETS

PAINTING BLACK & AN "ANTIQUE COPPER" SPECIAL FINISH ON KITCHEN CABINETS     

 I love!! this kitchen.

My client is a great decorator.  

He was remodeling his kitchen and asked me to do an

 "antique copper" special finish on his kitchen cabinets.

The cabinets were stained wood and he wanted to leave a lot of it showing.  He showed me the areas he wanted to paint the "antique copper" and some areas he wanted me to paint black. 

 It looks great!!

Because of my camera flash the copper is reflecting a little too much, but in real light it doesn't reflect like this and you can see how well all of the colors blend.

The tile backsplash and the saltillo floors are just wonderful with the cabinet colors.  

He added an antique copper farm sink and an antique copper faucet.

I love!! this kitchen.

REPAIRING & PAINTING A BROKEN VINTAGE STAINED GLASS LIGHT FIXTURE

REPAIRING & PAINTING A BROKEN VINTAGE STAINED GLASS LIGHT FIXTURE  

If you have a vintage decorative glass light fixture and one of the glass parts gets broken, don't panic!  You can repair it.  Here is how I helped repair this one.

The large globe on this fixture was broken. 

 My client felt fortunate that she found a replacement globe that fit, exactly.

  It's a globe for the kind of light fixture that fits against the ceiling.  You probably recognize it. 

 You can find the replacement globes at hardware stores.

I brought several colors of paint with me and sat on the floor beneath the fixture, so I could see and match the colors exactly.  This new globe was a milky white opaque, not clear, so I had to work on the outside of it.  I primed, painted a base coat and used a rag and a brush to work the colors.  I sealed it with a low sheen clear coat to match the finish on the other pieces of glass. 

Also, the sealer helps protect the new finish.  

We, carefully, put it in the fixture.  And, it matched!! 

This is the ceiling above the light fixture.  Faux painted/trompe l'oeil bricks.

I love this house!!  It's one of my most favorite houses that I've worked in.  

The landscaping was sooo special and the interior was, too.  So unique!

One of the glass sections of this candle fixture was broken.  My client brought to me the fixture and a clear piece of glass already cut to fit.  I worked with my brush and a rag to match the colors and existing technique.  This time I worked on the inside of the glass because the other indvidual pieces were shiny glass on the outside.  My finished colors are a little lighter than the other pieces.

Once the soot from the burning candle starts staining, the colors will match even better.

If your decorative glass fixture gets broken, look at it carefully and try to figure out how it was painted the first time.  Choose your colors and technique, then start painting.  If you think you've messed up, use a razor blade, scrape the paint off and start over.  You can do it!!

PAINTING WHITE BATHROOM CABINETS TO LOOK LIKE STAINED WOOD

PAINTING WHITE BATHROOM CABINETS TO LOOK LIKE STAINED WOOD

My client remodeled her bathroom and asked me to paint a special finish on the cabinets.

The cabinets were painted white and she wanted them to look like stained wood.

She wanted the edges and insets of the doors to have metallic paint on them to dress them up. So, after I painted the cabinets I painted metallic gold to outline the inset of the doors.  And, I painted metallic silver on the outer edge of the doors.  It looks very, very nice and was a nice touch.  My camera flash makes the silver look like a white line around the doors, but it really doesn't look that way.  It is much more subtle and does look like transparent metallic silver.

This is a close up view of the finish on the medicine cabinet.

This is a view of the new finish on the cabinets with their new granite.

To finish off this great new look of their brand new bathroom they had me paint some molding to match the cabinets.  They used this molding to frame the two mirrors that went over the two new rectangular sinks.  The clients were very, very happy with their new bathroom!

REPAINTING MADI'S ROOM AND ONE WALL WITH CHALKBOARD PAINT

     This is the fourth time I've painted Madi's room and she's only 14!!  The very first time was just before she was born.  They just love to decorate and I'm really happy about that!
     This time, she got a little more sophisticated with her colors.  She chose a beige for her walls and ceiling, which took two coats over what I had painted before!!  I'll show you those (really cute) colors, below.  And, she wanted one wall to be chalkboard paint.

Madi's mom found this brightly colored chalkboard paint online at hudsonpaint.com.  They have lots of really nice, intense colors.  The company told me the colors were more intense so the chalk would show up.  The paint didn't turn out to be the color they thought they had ordered, so, I worked with it a little bit to lighten it, so it would match Madi's bedding.

Hudson Paint told me that, after you've been writing and erasing with regular chalk, a patina would form that would lighten the paint a bit and look really nice.  I haven't seen it since I finished, but am looking forward to seeing Madi's "writings on the wall".

This is how Madi's room looked before:

They chose and I painted all of the walls and the ceiling different colors, to match her bedding.  Her mom looked online and found a company who would cut the black vinyl circles.  And, Robin and I attached them to the ceiling.  Madi's room looked sooo cute, but it was time for a change!

Just in case you want to make your own chalkboard paint, Martha Stewart  has a formula on how to make it at marthastewart.com.

Oh, and while I was working at Robin's house, Mitsy was watching me from a very safe, secret place!