REVISITING & REPAIRING METALLIC "ANTIQUE COPPER" SPECIAL PAINT FINISH

A few months ago, I textured and painted my metallic "antique copper" special finish on the walls of a very large/tall powder room.  In south Texas, lots of my clients like the darker colors and finishes.  This house was kind of an elegant Mexican style.  Very, very beautiful.

That little window looks out on a huge courtyard.

The wrought iron chandelier is so large and heavy that I really had to struggle with it as I was texturing and painting the metallic "antique copper" several layers on the walls and ceiling.

In the corners and here and there around the top of the walls, I painted a blue grayish patina.  I wanted it to look like the copper was tarnishing.  And in person, it really does.  My flash is making this room look very bright, but it's not, at all.  This powder room is dark and shadowy and you really can't see the metallic copper reflection unless the light is on or light coming from the window or door.  Because of the antiquing glaze, you can only see the metallic paint reflection here and there and it's a really cool look.

So, today I had to go back for some repairs on the mirror wall over the sink.  The decorator decided to change out the light fixtures/sconces so, I had to repaint that part of the wall.  I did a pretty good job, and because the room is dark and shadowy, I don't think any guest would ever notice the repairs. and touch ups.

This is her kitchen and (months ago) the decorator had me paint those very high ceiling beams in the metallic "antique copper", too.  I had to stand on that huge ladder on scaffolding to paint them.  (That could take your breath away !)

Here is the link to that post.

Painting Metallic "Antique Copper" Kitchen Beams

Today, it was fun going back and seeing the house furnished and decorated around my work.

Actually, it was amazing!

I do love my job!!

SELFIE OF SELF

One of the bloggers is asking for selfies and this is the best I could do, this time.  The last time I tried, I got mostly nostrils.  I know!  I know!  I'm not good at this!!

Have you tried to do a selfie??

There's a special talent to getting it right.  And, you have to kind of be a contortionist!

HAND PAINTED BIRD & NEST ARTWORK ON STOOLS FOR CHRISTA'S BEAUTIFUL NEW BLACK DISTRESSED KITCHEN ISLAND

Christa finally got her new granite for the kitchen island that I painted for her.  It's really beautiful with the rest of her newly painted kitchen cabinets that I painted, earlier.

And, we decided that the metallic gold highlights should be a little brighter color, so I touched up all of the gold and it really stands out, now.

Christa had two stools that they used at the island and asked me to paint them to match the island.  And, she asked me to paint some artwork on them.  Wrens are kind of special to her, so I painted a wren and a nest.

This morning, I delivered the stools to her and she just loved the new look.  That always makes me feel good.  It's always a bit stressful until I know I've done what a client will be happy with.

The stools were a brown stained wood before I painted them.

And, her switch plates around the kitchen were WHITE.  I told her I could paint those so they would almost disappear.  I usually paint the plate only, but she wanted the center painted, too.  I sealed it really well with three coats of sealer, so I'm hoping it doesn't chip.  The plates always hold up very well, but where you plug things in and out, sometimes the paint wears off.  I bet it will hold up!

(Island & Stool BEFORE)

(LINK to Christa's KITCHEN Before & After I painted it.)

MOLLIE THE TORTIE CALICO CAT

MOLLIE THE TORTIE CALICO CAT

This is little Mollie.  
Her mommy left her under my bedroom window when she was a tiny kitten.  
                                                                    

 One night, I kept hearing a tiny "meow".  I took a flashlight out and looked in the cast iron leaves under my bedroom window and couldn't see anything.  Then, the next morning I saw Charlie staring at something in the bushes in the backyard. 

 Mollie had squeezed under the back gate.  

The love began!

She and Charlie became best friends and it was so much fun to watch them play.  Kittens are just so, so cute anyway, playing and stalking everything.  I tried to get her to live in the garden shed, but she loved Charlie and insisted on following him in the doggie door.  

I could not keep her out of the house.

I'm a painter and my studio is big and open.  She would climb on my shelves and knock paint off.  Twice when I was painting a bench and a table, she jumped up on the wet paint.  I know she was just trying to be with me, but it JUST COULD NOT WORK!! 

 Too frustrating for me.

When she was smaller, she would sleep in this bowl.  So cute!  

She was a sweet, beautiful tortie calico, but I had to find her a new home.

For a whole year, I searched and looked for the perfect home.  

I felt sooooo guilty, but just could not have her inside my house.

Finally, my friend Monica found her a WONDERFUL home.  They had three other cats and just loved Mollie.  Their cats were "inside" only, so that was perfect for her.

That was three years ago, but I still remember her and every once in a while, I have a little guilt feeling, but she's wonderfully happy, now.  Marty is the new mom and she has shared photos and let me know how happy Mollie is and how happy they are to have her.

Slowly, I'm getting over it.

PULL OUT DRAWERS ON SLIDES FOR MY KITCHEN

For a long time, I've been wanting to add these pull out drawers on slides.  Last week, a carpenter friend came by and measured my cabinet, so he could build the drawers in his shop.  I had recommended him to one of my clients and when I saw her's, I knew it was time for mine!!

Yesterday, he came by and installed them.

I am so, so happy with these drawers.  One of these days, I will get around to painting them.  But for now,  I cleaned them really well and put in shelf paper.

I just couldn't wait to put my pots and pans in their new special places.  

Why did I wait so long??

I LOVE these pull out drawers that slide!!

PAINTING, PAINTING A STRIPE & DISTRESSING FURNITURE FOR PATTI'S BEACH HOUSE

Patti has brought several pieces of furniture for me to paint for her new beach house.  She just has the neatest taste and it's always interesting to see what's next!  And, her ideas are usually a bit challenging, but always turn out beautifully.  Such a cute idea this was!!

This chest was brown and she wanted me to paint it to match one of her new bedrooms.  A stripe!!!  Oh no, that's never easy.  Anyway, I did it!

The chest started out like this.  And, it's the HEAVIEST wood I've ever worked with.  She and I brought it into my house and, even with the drawers out it was unbelievably heavy.  Like it was made out of concrete!!

Anyway, she was real happy when she saw the way I painted it.  I kept telling her I might have distressed it too much and as she was coming into my house, she kept turning her head away so she wouldn't see it.  Like "oh no, I don't want to look!".  It was funny!  Then, when she saw it she LOVED it and said it was exactly what she was envisioning.  Whew, that was a relief because I really did think I might have done too much distressing.  But if I had, all I had to do was touch up the places she wanted covered.  

It's only paint!!

MY FANCY, BEAUTIFUL MOSAIC GUTTER DRAINS

A few months ago, I decided I needed gutters on one part of my house.  There was just too much water coming down in that one area.  Gus is the guy who helps me a lot and I asked him to install the gutters.  I went to the hardware store and got some of those roll out bright green water diverters to attach to the bottom of the downspout.  I kept looking at those and knew I just could not live with such a plain, common downspout.  I knew this was an opportunity to create!!

Gus and I designed these and I just LOVE the way they look.  I already had the rocks and the decorative tiles.  As he was building the drains with concrete, I placed the tiles and rocks.

And, I had several metal birds and thought they would look so beautiful on my downspout that looks like a river or waterfall.  They are bright metallic gold and I smeared concrete on them to make them look messy and old.  (Old is what I do in my work and love things to look old.)

This is the other one.  Over time, it will get more and more stained and I'll love that.  I might even paint some stain on the areas that are not getting naturally stained by the water off of my roof.

Gus dug and put a pvc pipe under my rock walk to divert the water.  Look who now calls it his/her home.  That big ole toad frog is always in there during the day and comes out at night

While the concrete was still wet, I asked Gus to put a few of these tiles along my rock walk and I added this little cement dove.  He was wiping and cleaning the concrete from the tiles and I asked him to smear and smudge the concrete ON them.  I think that looks old and when they finally get stained from weather, they'll look really nice, (to me).

Excuse me!! I'm trying to take a photo, here!!!

Charlie and Punkin started playing in my way.

I live on a hill and am always working to divert water from going under my house. So, I asked Gus to build this rock border to keep excessive rain water from flowing under the studio part of my home.

I just took this photo and am very proud and happy to say it rained last night and this morning as a cold front was coming through.  We have been in a horrible drout and really appreciate any rain that comes our way.

HOW TO CLEAN MY SPECIAL PAINT FINISHES

Trisha asked me how to clean these special finishes:

Trisha FlahertyOctober 5, 2013 at 11:22 AM 

Hi Lynda: You are a wonderful decorative artist! I do have one question, when you spend all that time painting the cabinets/range hoods, how do you tell your clients how to clean the grease buildup off without destroying the finish/hard work? Thanks, Trisha

Decorative ArtisanOctober 5, 2013 at 11:57 AM

Thank you, Trisha! I always recommend light soap and water and treat the finishes like you would a nice piece of furniture. Never, never use a solvent or spray chemicals on them.. It could soften and remove the finish.  And, never leave water on the surfaces or let them stay wet.  I think this can apply to any painted or stained furniture or wood.

CHRISTA'S NEWLY PAINTED KITCHEN VENT-A-HOOD WITH METALLIC "ANTIQUE COPPER" SPECIAL FINISH

CHRISTA'S NEWLY PAINTED KITCHEN VENT-A-HOOD WITH METALLIC "ANTIQUE COPPER" SPECIAL FINISH

Well, I just couldn't resist putting Cody's photo at the top of this post.  He is funny and has the cutest personality.  I just love him!!

I just finished painting his mommy's vent-a-hood to go with her newly painted kitchen.

His mommy, Christa, wanted the vent-a-hood to be my metallic "antique copper" finish.

Here it is!

  The pictures never do justice to how beautiful metallic "antique copper" really looks.  Metallic paints reflect and look different, depending on how the light is bouncing off of it.  

It looks sooo nice in Christa's newly painted kitchen.  (The kitchen I showed you a few weeks ago, with the stenciling on doors and the black island.)

This vent-a-hood was always beautiful as the builder designed it.

But, when Christa saw her newly painted kitchen all put together, she decided she, for sure, wanted the metallic "antique copper" finish on it. 

 And, it does look amazing and ties in beautifully with the rest of her decor.

SHANNA'S NEWLY PAINTED, BLACK DISTRESSED KITCHEN CABINETS

Shanna had planned for a very long time to re-do her kitchen.  She felt the floor and the cabinet colors kind of ran together.  She said you couldn't tell where the floor stopped and the cabinets began.  She didn't like that!  For a while, she had been dreaming of black cabinets in her kitchen.

So, she called me.  I had painted her mother's island and she said that was exactly what she wanted...she thought!!  She was concerned about the rubbed edges not looking right in her kitchen, her white counters and back splash not matching, and several worries.

While I was painting, she got happier and happier and, even thrilled!  She was loving her black kitchen.

And, it really did turn out soooo nicely!!  Her white counters, back splash, woodwork and shutters looked just beautiful with her new black.  They were a wonderful contrast and kept her kitchen from looking like a black hole.

This was her kitchen island "before".  She and her husband designed a new look for it and called a carpenter to build their new design before I painted the kitchen.  And, she added a new granite top.

This is her island "after" and I think they did a great job of designing and the carpenter did a great job putting it all together.

This is her butler's pantry and I painted it to match the kitchen.  It looks really nice from the dining room and front door, as you walk into the house.

And, this is Charlie in front and he was FULL of personality and just had fun doing his own thing, getting in trouble (a lot).  He was so cute.  And, that is Little Bear and he's very old and Charlie just couldn't keep from pestering him.  They were so cute together.

Shanna's new black kitchen turned out so, so nicely and she just couldn't stop saying how happy she was with the major transformation.  The black and white really did look like a "show" kitchen.

Thank you, Shanna!!