CROWN CHANDELIER IN NEW ORLEANS STYLE HOME & FLEUR DE LIS KITCHEN CABINET KNOBS

This is the CROWN chandelier that I was telling you about.  Isn't it the coolest thing, EVER!!  So appropriate for the New Orleans style house where I've been working.  The owner (to be) found it in New Orleans.

The base/canopy at the ceiling was so bare looking and I suggested a ceiling medallion so the builder asked me to paint three for the downstairs.  I'll share the others with you, later.

And, here are the fleur de lis kitchen cabinet knobs.  In case you didn't read the previous posts, I painted these cabinets with this special aged/distressed technique.

It's almost closing time for the new homeowner and the builder has me doing some rushed final touches because a crew will come tomorrow night to photograph the home.

It is really unique and beautiful.  I've worked in many styles of homes and this is the first time I've worked in one that the whole house is a total theme (New Orleans) and it's just neat and fun as can be!!

FINALLY, NEW HEAVY DUTY SAWHORSES

Several months ago, I found those black plastic sawhorses at Lowe's and used them a few times, only.  They were so flimsy and lightweight and kept wanting to fold while I was working.  Because I was cutting wood with my jig saw, it was very dangerous to be working on them.  And, I had gotten paint on them, so it was too late to return them.

A few days ago, I was walking through Lowe's and saw these very heavy duty, heavy metal sawhorses.  They were sooo heavy to lift, that I asked the Lowe's guy if I could open them, just to see if I was going to be able to lift and work with them.  It takes a little strength but, I was able and open them.  I' m really happy to find these and  it would have been great to have them when I was working on those orange pantry french doors.

Anyway, just wanted to share these with you, in case you are looking for heavy duty sawhorses.

CATERPILLAR & BLACK-EYED SUSAN FLOWERS

This caterpillar and it's siblings have been chewing on my black-eyed susan flowers.  And, they're welcome in my garden!  Remember, caterpillars will become beautiful butterflies.

LITTLE VENT-A-HOOD, JUST RIGHT FOR A PLAYHOUSE

Look at this cute little vent-a-hood.  It looks like it belongs in a playhouse.  It is 35 1/2" x 25" wide.

I asked a carpenter to build it for me, so I could make videos of me painting it, exactly the way I paint my faux "antique copper" finsh.  The video will be for sale and I will give exact instructions and exact paint colors that I use.  I will make the video as soon as I can fit it in.  

So many people have asked me for my formula and I never wanted to share it.  But, now I will.

In the meantime, if you would like for that carpenter to build one for you, just message me and I'll give you his information.  You could put it in a playhouse or you could hang it on a wall in a kid's room or playroom, just above a little play stove.

I just think it's soooo cute!!

RETURN TO THE "NEW ORLEANS" STYLE HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION

     This post is about the New Orleans style house where I painted the faux bricks and lots of cabinets.  It's about ready to "close" and I had to go by today to look at a few final touch-ups that I have to do in the next few days.

     I can hardly wait to show you the dining room chandelier that the homeowner found in New Orleans...she LOVES New Orleans.  It is a CROWN!!  It is soooo cool, especially for this style house. And her cabinet knobs are beautiful fleurs de lis and I will show that to you, too.

     In a few days, I'll be sharing all of this with you.

PAINTING OLD FRENCH DOORS FOR PATTI'S BEACH HOUSE PANTRY

PAINTING OLD FRENCH DOORS FOR PATTI'S BEACH HOUSE PANTRY

For several years Patti has asked me to do work for her.  I LOVE her taste in decorating!

She's building a beach house and found these old and narrow french doors.  

They were soooo dirty and chippy.  More chippy than she wanted.  

She told me the colors she wanted and asked me to paint them for her new pantry. 

 I'm sure she's building that pantry opening around the size of these wonderful old doors.  

The glass is old and wavy and really pretty (AFTER I thoroughly cleaned it!!).

When I was painting them in my driveway some hot pink crepe myrtle blooms fell on the orange paint and I just loved the way the two colors looked, together.

The trim inside the windows, Pattie had me paint a beigy gray and then distress a creamy color over it.  I'm guessing these colors are all around this room of her beach house.

See!  They were so dirty and chippy that I cleaned them very well with Dawn and water and then sanded them the best I could.

JANET'S NEW VENT-A-HOOD (PAINTING MY FAUX "ANTIQUE COPPER" SPECIAL FINISH)

Janet is my new client and has been doing major renovation on her kitchen and breakfast room.

She asked me to paint my "antique copper" special finish on her new vent-a-hood.

Before, she had a small vent-a-hood over her stove and her decorator helped her with a new design.  A carpenter built the new one out of wood and made it go all the way to her ceiling, making it a little more "dramatic".

Then it was my turn and I brought several stencils to show Janet.  She chose and designed the front of her new vent-a-hood.

I embossed the designs she chose and after that dried, I started the paint process, which is several layers.

Meet Molly, Chente and Buck.  Buck belongs here and is so beautiful and sweet!  Molly and Chente are neighbor doggies and came to visit.  There's a gate between the two houses so they go back and forth visiting.  I love that!!

The paints  I used were metallic copper and metallic gold.  After painting the metallics, I aged the whole vent-a-hood with an antiquing technique.  I made it look like smoke had drifted and stained the top.  

Metallic paints "reflect" light and her lighting is just perfect for this technique.

Notice that I painted the crown molding to match, making it all look taller and like all one piece.

Janet is very, very happy with her new faux "antique copper" vent-a-hood.  She has lots of copper pots around her kitchen and they all tie in so nicely.

She has such a beautiful kitchen and I love the way it all turned out!

THE SWEETEST GIFT EVER FROM DEBBIE

Yesterday, my client Debbie called and said she had something for me.  It just so happens that I'm working in her neighborhood right now, so I told her I would come by on my way to work this morning.

She gave me this so, so beautiful umbrella.  The colors are amazing!

 Knowing that I love birds, she said when she saw this umbrella she had to get it for me.

Isn't that the sweetest gift and the sweetest thought EVER!!

Love you, Debbie 

 THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

PAINTING A SPECIAL AGING/ANTIQUING FINISH ON OLD KITCHEN CABINETS

My client thought she wanted aged white cabinets.  But, she wanted the dark aging/antiquing in the crevices.

So, we compromised and I painted them a light browny color and gave her the darker antiquing look she wanted.

Across the room, she had a desk with cabinets above it.  Above the cabinets and right above the desk, there was wallpaper and I asked if I could paint those two areas, making it look like all one piece.  Under the desk, I left the wallpaper because that is how it might look if this was one big piece of furniture.  Everything in her kitchen and breakfast room was the same height.  Her shutters, cabinets, doors, everything.  That's why I asked if she would let me paint the wallpaper in the desk area.  Just so there would be some variety in heights.

My client will be getting new granite counter tops.  And, she loves the wallpaper, but might be painting over it, a dark greeny brown color.  She has that color in her living area and it looks very nice.  Also, she loves blue so, she will be looking for new knobs, maybe crystal or glass blue.  Or, maybe, blue and white ones.  I can hardly wait to see what she chooses.

This is the finish on her cabinets "before" I painted them.

When I finished, she was very, very happy.

That always makes me happy, too!

PAINTING SPECIAL FAUX FINISHES FOR AGUIE

Aguie was ready for a change.  So, a couple of weeks ago, he asked me to paint a special finish in his dining room niche.

This time, he wanted it to be painted orange and stained to age it.  These brass metal furniture tacks were already on the wall and he wanted me to do a rust effect on them.  They were still changing as I took this photo.  I'm curious to know just how rusty they turned.

His front porch bench was a rust color and he wanted it to be black with swipes of metallic silver.  So, I painted that for him and the wrought iron on the front doors needed to be freshened, so he asked me to paint that black with swipes of silver metallic, too.  Walking up to the front porch to his beautiful home is stunning.

(That metallic wall is his niche "before" I painted the stained orange.  It was very beautiful and Aguie had done that, himself.  But, he was ready for a change.)

In his guest powder room, I painted an antique silver effect on the walls.  And, he asked me to paint the chandelier over the mirror with a metallic silver and age it.  This is a really beautiful room, too.

The vent-a-hood, I painted an antique silver.  As I was aging it, I made it a little heavier so it wouldn't look exactly like the powder room.

Every room in his home is truly beautiful!!  So glad I get to be a tiny part of that.  I think I've done work in almost every room in his home...lucky me!

KEVY'S FIRST SAND IN A SHADOW BOX & TUTORIAL

For Kevy's second birthday she and I built her a sandbox.

TUTORIAL

It's built out of 2"x6" boards and I had the lumber store cut two 8' pieces in half.  So, we had four 4' pieces. We used big nails to hammer the pieces together.  I cut two 1"x6" boards on an angle and put them in the corners for Kevy and her friends to sit on. 

 She and I had fun deciding exactly where to place her sandbox.  She didn't really understand until we poured the play sand into the box.

She was sooo happy!!

Then, I took a photo of her in her new sandbox.  When I saw the photo I knew we had to do something special with it.  So, I got a shadow box.  I used Elmer's glue and poured lots of it on the mat.  Kevy and I put lots and lots of sand on the glue.  Then, I put more glue and added more sand so it was really, really thick.  I poured extra sand in the bottom of the frame, then very carefully attached our mat to her photo.  You have to be very careful to make sure the sand stays only on the bottom and not on the glass or photo because it will look messy.

That was 21 years ago!  I've painted that wall several times and each time I'm very, very careful handling the shadowbox because I didn't want the sand to get messy on the glass and photo.

After all of these years, I still have Kevy's first sand!!

I still have her sandbox.  It's old now, but I could never get rid of it because of the fun memories. 

PAINTING A BASEBALL WALL & TUTORIAL

MY FEATURE POST FOR THIS WEEK

PAINTING A BASEBALL WALL & TUTORIAL

(click on this link to visit this post and more photos December 17, 2012)