PAINTING A BLUE PLUMBAGO CANVAS FOR KAREN'S FRONT PORCH

PAINTING A BLUE PLUMBAGO CANVAS FOR KAREN'S FRONT PORCH

Remember, I painted artwork on Karen's front door and garage door?

Well, she was looking through my stash of "getting started" canvases and she came across this one.  She told me what she wanted and asked me to finish it for her front porch.

A large piece of plywood is a sturdy backdrop.  

I hang my canvases on a nail and it's a perfect height for me to work.

Karen and I hung this painting on her front porch.  She has blue cushions in those wicker chairs.  When they bloom, her arch is covered with pink roses.  

She wants blue, blue, blue everywhere and it's looking really beautiful.  

She is going to paint those brown porch rails blue, too.

Recently, Karen had the front of her house landscaped with tons of pink, purple and blue flowers.  It really does look nice.  The stair rails and pots will be painted blue.

HERE IS A LINK TO HER FRONT DOORS THAT I PAINTED:

PAINTING BIRDS & NEST ON KAREN'S FRONT DOOR

SPRUCING UP LUZ'S FRONT PORCH WITH MATCHING PAINT COLORS

SPRUCING UP LUZ'S FRONT PORCH WITH MATCHING PAINT COLORS

Luz asked me for suggestions on improving her front porch.

Her beautiful red front doors were the first thing I noticed. 

 She was wondering about painting blue somewhere and I told her how beautiful that shade of red was with her house colors and I thought she should keep it.

What I did notice was that WHITE wood trim above her doors and suggested she let me paint it red.

I was going to paint that tiny white sunburst trim, too, but when I got up there on my ladder I realized it was in between the window glass.  Then, when I stood back and looked at everything, I noticed that her two front windows had white sunbursts, too.  So, everything matches, now.

To me that looks so much better.  It looks really nice walking up to her front doors. 

 It makes it look "grand".

The other thing I noticed and the first thing I suggested to her was to paint her rain gutters the brick color to make them disappear.  They were painted the dark gray of her wood trim.  So many times I notice that gutters are painted like the trim on a house instead of matching and blending in with the house color.  To me, when they're a different color than the house, it looks like they're "featuring" their gutters and that's all I see.  Once Luz painted her gutters, they disappeared and my eyes went straight to her beautiful red doors. 

She asked me to paint a scrollie design on each door.  She decided she wanted less metallic gold and more of the darker color and I forgot to take a picture of the re-do.

These are the wreaths she had on each door.  Aren't the colors scrumptuous!!  

They look absolutely beautiful on those red doors.

This is Luz's beautiful home.  I really like the shade of browny gray she painted her shutters and trim.

Notice how the gutters match the house.  Before, they were the shutter color. 

PAINTING LISA & BRAD'S KITCHEN CABINETS A GLAZED OFF WHITE FINISH

PAINTING LISA & BRAD'S KITCHEN CABINETS A GLAZED OFF WHITE FINISH

Lisa and Brad asked me to paint their kitchen cabinets.  

The cabients had an older pickled/white washed finish on them.  

Lisa and Brad saw some cabinets I painted at their friends' house.  The finish was a dark glazed finish.  I showed them a sample of that darker finish and they thought that's what they wanted on their cabinets.  

Then, Lisa asked me to paint some samples for her that were off white and glazed.

After seeing the lighter samples, she decided to go lighter in her kitchen.  She has lots of white woodwork and thought everything would look better.  

It was a really good choice because her kitchen is really beautiful, now.

Notice the painted switch plate.  It looks so much better than the white switch plate. 

They pulled the refrigerator out so I could paint the cabinets behind and above it.

Since they really liked the darker finish, they decided they wanted me to paint their island that color.  It's such a nice contrast to her lighter cabinets.

They are going replace the tile with a butcher block counter top.

Also, Lisa was looking for hardware for the cabinets.  

I know it will all look beautiful when she's finished.

This is sweet, sweet Belle.  She was a rescue from a long time ago.  She's afraid of the sounds of rain.  Probably the thunder.  So, one day it rained when I sitting on the floor working on the lower cabinets and she kept trying to get in my lap.  Poor baby!  I kept telling her no and she finally laid down beside me until it stoppped raining.  Paint and lap dogs do not mix.

Her switch plates were white and I painted them to match her tiles.  She had some extra tiles and I took them and the switch plates home with me to work on them.  It's better for me to work at home because I'm never quite sure which colors I will be needing and alllll of my colors are in my studio.  Lisa got new wooden switch plates and I painted them with craft paints.  

Then, two coats of sealer for protection. 

This is the glazed finish I painted on her cabinets.  I primed them and painted an off white finish.  Then, glazed and sealed.  Notice that I painted the tiny trim at the top of her upper cabinets and the tiny trim around her door panels, a little darker for an accent.  A subtle accent.  Lisa thought she wanted a "creamy" color and I suggested a more very light browny gray for the glaze.  I've noticed if you don't have a lot of natural light in a room, the "creamy" color looks really yellow.  

So glad she's very happy with this color.

A couple of years ago, I stained her stair railings.  These were pickled/white washed, too.

Remember the kitchen I painted for Kathryn and Sean a few months ago?  Well, they are Lisa and Brad's friends and that's where they saw the darker cabinets.

Here is a link to that kitchen:

PAINTING A DARK GLAZED FINISH ON KATHRYN & SEANS'S KITCHEN CABINETS

Here are the "before" pictures of Lisa's kitchen and butler's pantry.

I love that she mixed the lighter and darker colors in her kitchen.  It really does look beautiful in the layout of her kitchen, breakfast and family room all open to each other.

Thank you Lisa and Brad!