PAINTING A DISTRESSED SHABBY GREIGE FINISH ON LORI'S JACK & JILL BATHROOM CABINETS

PAINTING A DISTRESSED SHABBY GREIGE FINISH ON LORI'S JACK & JILL BATHROOM CABINETS

Lori remodeled her upstairs baths.  

This one is a Jack and Jill bath.  She got beautiful new flooring, granite and tile.

Then she asked me to paint a special color finish that would tie in and bring all of the colors together.

It's hard to see her granite, but it's a creamy gray beigy color...greige?  I thought that granite was so beautiful and loved the tile backsplash.  

Those border tiles are the ones I posted earlier.  Lori's second batch of border tiles came in with an unfinished edge and she asked me to paint the edges to match the first batch of tiles.

This is a link to that post:

Painting The Edges Of Bathroom Border Tiles For Lori

I love the way they turned out.  I was a bit anxious that when the tile guy was grouting, it might wipe off my new paint, but they turned out just fine...thank goodness!!

I love the dark border and that is why I painted that tiny trim on the raised panels of the cabinets to tie in with the darker border tiles.

This is a close-up of the cabinet finish that I painted.

Lori wanted a bit of distressing, so I lightly sanded the edges.

She loved the way it all turned out and I did, too.

Meet Panda Lu and Buffy.

They are sweet sisters.  Buffy is 13 and Panda Lu is less than a year old.

She sure keeps Buffy in shape.  They play and run together up the stairs/down the stairs, then they nap together.

Really, really sweet dogs.

This is the bathroom before I painted the cabinets.  They were stained that orangey oak stain.

That is still a very nice finish, but lots of my clients are wanting to "update" their homes and ask me to paint over the older finishes.

Thank you for letting me work for you again, Lori!!

TINY WREN HIDING FROM THE SLEET & COLD

Visit my nature blog:

BIRDS & DAFFODILS

CONFESSIONS OF A SANDPAPER HOARDER

OK!!
 I'm admitting I have a problem.
 I'M A SANDPAPER HOARDER!!

If a piece has any little bit of grit left on it, I cannot bear to throw it away.

So, I just keep all of these pieces and, eventually I will be able to use that last corner of grit.

Then, I can throw it away!

Sandpaper comes in sheets.  They're too big for me to work with, so I always cut or tear the sheet into four pieces.  That way, I can use every corner and middle without hurting my fingers or hands.  And, I can get into corners and tight spaces with the smaller piece.

There are windows on three sides of my studio.  I can't have built in shelving, so I have made several individual shelves, just the size I need for paint, supplies, patterns, etc.  These shelves are in front of my windows and I have to unload everything to clean behind them and clean the windows.

Suddenly, the idea came to me to put rollers on these different shelvinhg units.  Why didn't I think of that before??  At Lowes, I found some that revolve and attached the first ones, today.  I can't BELIEVE how convenient it is to be able to roll and twist this shelf!  In the next few days, I will put rollers on the rest of the units.  

I LOVE THESE ROLLERS!!!

I have a new lease on life!

ARCTIC FRONT MOVING IN, BUT I'M WARM & COZY IN MY SWEET, COMFORTABLE COTTAGE

This blue plumbago has frozen back, now.  But it reminds me of

what used to be and will be, again.

In south Texas, we get the tail end of most of the arctic cold fronts and

we're in the midst of one moving in, right now.

A little earlier when I was on my way home, the wind chill factor was in the 20s.  Very, very, 

very cold for us.

I'm looking forward to staying home in my warm and cozy cottage.

As cold as it is, the reason I can let myself enjoy it is because, by this weekend it will be in the 70s again.

My thoughts are with my friends up north who are having to live in the brutal weather for a long time.

(20 degrees below normal!!)

 Maybe they don't mind the cold like I do.

And mostly, I'm sorry for the animals.  Especially, the homeless ones.

My heart always goes out to and hurts for them.

EXPERIMENT # 2...CAYENNE PEPPER IS KEEPING THE SQUIRRELS AWAY FROM THE BIRD FEEDER!!

Visit my nature blog:

BIRDS & DAFFODILS

SOLD!! TWO SHABBY GREIGE RUSTIC VALENTINE HEART DOOR WREATHS

Here are two more Shabby Greige Valentine Door Wreaths that I made.

By attaching the rusty bows, they're cute and a little bit rustic.

These SOLD on Etsy, today.

I decorated them so they would face each other, in case someone wanted to hang them on double doors.

And, I painted the backsides white, just in case someone wanted to hang them on glass doors.

It was fun seeing those TWO SALES this morning!!

RED VALENTINE WITH CHERUB DOOR OR WALL DECOR

Just finished this

 VALENTINE DOOR WREATH.

Add flowers and ribbons for a festive look.

You could use it as wall art, too.

I cut this valentine out of wood, textured and painted it.

Then, I added the cherub and decorative hook.

YOU CAN FIND THIS CUTE VALENTINE IN MY

MY ETSY SHOP

(or, contact me at

lynberg@prodigy.net)

Then, I painted red on the back side of the heart, just in case you want to hang it on a glass door.

Here is my link to cutting hearts out of wood:

Making Valentine Heart Wreaths

SOLD!! "BLACK GODDESS" VALENTINE WOODEN HEART DOOR DECOR OR WALL ART

This is that time of year.  Time to create and make valentines.

I've been working on several and this is one of my favorites.

I'm calling it "Black Goddess".

I love black and gold together.  I've painted several pieces of furniture, bath and powder bath cabinets in black and gold distressed.  It's a rather dramatic look.

I've cut several valentines out of wood for door decor, wreaths and wall art and will be sharing them with you as soon as I can.

Here is my link to cutting valentines out of wood:

Making Valentine Heart Wreaths

I was having fun twisting and bending this wire for hanging.

Here, I used my flash.  With paint and metallic paints, I can't seem to ever get exactly the picture of how it really looks and the flash really reflects too much.  The first two pictures, I didn't use a flash and they're really dull.

I painted a very low sheen clear sealer on it to protect the surface.

Are you making valentines, yet?

PAINTED BLACK & METALLIC GOLD CRACKLED CABINETS FOR CAROLINA'S GUEST BATH

PAINTED BLACK & METALLIC GOLD CRACKLED CABINETS IN CAROLINA'S GUEST BATH

Carolina was redecorating her guest bathroom.

She had gold fixtures, so she approved

 a black crackled and metallic gold special finish.

I painted the cabinets metallic gold, used crackle medium and painted black over all.

There was a niche high up on the wall.  She and her husband wanted it to look like you were looking out at the sky.  So, I painted the sky and tree tops.

Later, Carolina found this nest and sent me a picture of it in the niche.

 I love the way the nest looks with the sky.

This is a closeup of the metallic gold and black crackled finish.

My flash made the pictures look really bright but,

the bathroom is, actually, very dark/very little light and this metallic gold and black finish looks really nice and soft.

I always feel proud when I see my work as a permanent part of a beautiful home.

Thank you, Carolina!

(Lucky me!)

TROMPE L'OEIL HAND PAINTED BISTRO FOR LAURIE'S PATIO & POOL AREA

TROMPE L'OEIL HAND PAINTED BISTRO FOR LAURIE'S PATIO & POOL AREA

LAURIE WANTED A BISTRO ON HER PATIO

So, she asked me to paint a mural of a bistro on the wall behind her patio bar.

She showed me some pictures of what she thought she wanted and left the rest up to me.

This is one of my most favorite jobs EVER!! 

I LOVED painting the red door and steps.  And, I always enjoy painting gardens and flowers.

I think I painted my signature close to the red door but don't remember where, exactly.

Or, maybe at the base of the small tree on the other side of the bistro.

I drew the outline where I wanted the bistro and stone wall to be.

Then, I painted a beigy color as my base coat.

I had to look at a picture of awnings so I could get the angles correct and just drew them on the wall with a pencil.  Then, I drew the shutters.  Those were the most important parts of the structure to get accurate dimensions.   

Ha!  There's me taking a picture, reflecting in the (real) window.

Laurie's home surrounded this pool area with huge glass windows on three sides.  

So, the bistro was very visible and a major part of her patio. 

This is the long, flat wall as I was getting started.

After I was working on the outline and the awnings, Laurie came out and told me they were watching as I worked.  They were amazed and couldn't believe my perspective, that I could just look at the small pictures and draw what I saw.

To tell you the truth, I feel the same way when I'm finished with most of my big jobs.

I believe that special someone is always with me and guides my hand.

I always say that it was "me and God".

Laurie LOVED her bistro and I'm so glad I took good pictures.

She gifted me with a beautiful book of bistros around the world.

Not long after I painted this mural, Laurie's husband was transferred and they moved.

I wonder if that artwork is still there!