PAINTING NEW WOOD TO MATCH OLD FINISH ON KITCHEN CABINETS

PAINTING NEW WOOD TO MATCH OLD FINISH ON KITCHEN CABINETS

Nine years ago, I painted these kitchen cabinets to a special old finish.  Before I painted, they were a white washed/pickled finish and the client wanted a major change.

Recently, my client called and said she had replaced her refrigerator and dishwasher cabinet fronts and they needed to be painted to match the cabinets.
Thank goodness, I keep a large notebook of clients' finishes and formulas.

On these cabinets, I used oil based products and those products age and amber, especially after nine years.  So, I had to work with the new wood, just a little bit.  After a few weeks I plan to look at them again to see if I need to age them a little bit more.  IN THESE PICTURES, I HAD NOT SEALED THEM, YET.  THE OIL BASED SEALER WILL AMBER RIGHT AWAY.   IT WILL CHANGE AND DARKEN THE NEW PAINT.  It will make the new paint match a little better.  And, over time, the oil will darken more, hopefully,  making the new cabinet fronts match the old.

When I first painted the cabinets, my client asked me to paint this stool with artwork and to match the cabinets.  She thought grapes would be nice for the artwork.

They wanted a space for cookbooks and decorative dishes.  So, they selected carefully which two cabinet doors to remove that would show and look the best.  I told them I could build them a plate rack to go on the bottom shelf and they liked that idea. So, I did.
 It's really easy to build a plate rack.
It looks nice in the middle of allll those closed cabinet doors.  So,

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HERE IS A LINK TO MY BUILDING A PLATE RACK TUTORIAL:

HOW TO BUILD & INSTALL A PLATE RACK FOR A CABINET

I LOVE MY HOME!

I was in the front yard watering and a lady in a bright yellow mustang with a black convertible top stopped and told me she loved my house and she drives by all the time, just to look at it.  That was so nice of her and especially to stop to tell me.  I know of a couple of other people who drive by, when they're in the neighborhood, just to look at my house.  That is very special to me and makes me wish I would do a lot more trimming and deadheading.  Oh, and I LOVED her car!

In this photo, you can't see it, but in that big space between the windows, I painted a pink crepe myrtle tree and a little bird flying to it. 

This is my garage door and I painted my cat, Mr. Smith and a pot of blue plumbago.  On the left, there is a kitty door in the middle of the pot plant.

I LOVE MY HOME!

HAND PAINTING ARTWORK IVY & LIRIOPE AROUND METAL URN PLAQUES (TROMPE L'OEIL)

HAND PAINTING ARTWORK IVY & LIRIOPE AROUND METAL URN PLAQUES (TROMPE L'OEIL)

Visiting one of my very favorite stores, I found some flat metal wall plaques that were shaped like urns.  I loved them and knew I wanted to hang them on my fence and paint flowers coming out of them.  Sorry, no photos of my fence, right now.  So, when a client called me and wanted me to paint something in her entry way up high over the very wide opening to her dining room, I immediately thought of those urns.  She already had the canvas painting and I could just picture urns with greenery coming out of them on either side of the painting.  

And, because it was so high I knew it needed something large like these urn plaques.

I suggested she go to that store to see if they still had these urns.  And, I told her I could paint plants coming out of the urns.  She liked the idea.  She did find the urns and when I went back to paint, they were already placed exactly where she wanted them.

Standing on my extension ladder, I painted liriope and ivy coming out of the urns and a little bit of ivy behind the canvas painting.

She was very, very happy with the way it changed the look of the entry into her home.  

I loved it, too!! 

 Of course, it was my idea, but I just knew it would look great!