HAND PAINTED (TROMPE L'OEIL) CLOTHESLINE IN A LAUNDRY ROOM & TUTORIAL

HAND PAINTED (TROMPE L'OEIL) CLOTHESLINE IN A LAUNDRY ROOM & TUTORIAL

My client wanted to dress up her laundry room.  She asked me to faux paint the walls and paint a clothesline on one wall.  She left the artwork up to me.  This is what I painted:

 

She had a grandchild, so I painted a teddy bear.

They were huge SPURS fans, so I painted this t-shirt on the clothesline.  

My client was really happy with her new laundry room.

It's a nice surprise when you turn the corner into the room.

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TUTORIAL

It would be so easy for someone to paint this clothesline and laundry.  There isn't a lot of detail in the artwork.  You might be more comfortable drawing and cutting out patterns of  the different laundry you want to hang on your wall.  Then trace it onto the wall and paint it.  It would be really cute to paint this in a girl's room, too.  Maybe, something on a clothes hanger.  

Use your imagination and have fun!! 

PAINTED BLACK DISTRESSED KITCHEN CABINETS ~ SELL YOUR HOUSE FAST

PAINTED BLACK DISTRESSED KITCHEN CABINETS ~ SELL YOUR HOUSE FAST

Below is my post about a kitchen I painted about three years ago.  Yesterday, Shanna called me to say she sold her house.  She told me she compared their kitchen to other kitchens in houses for sale in the neighborhood and there was no comparisan.

 She sold her house in FIVE days!  That is amazing. 

 The buyers loved the kitchen.  A few times, through the years,  clients have told me when the potential buyer would see their kitchen that I painted with a special finish it sold the house.  Very  nice of them to share that with me.

So, if you are wanting to sell you house fast maybe you should upgrade your kitchen and bathroom cabinets.   Everybody loves a nice kitchen.

~

For a very long time Shanna planned to re-do her kitchen. 

 She felt the floor and the cabinet colors 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 kitchen island and she said that was exactly what she wanted in her kitchen...she thought!!  She was concerned about the rubbed edges not looking right in her kitchen, her white counters and back splash not matching the black and several other worries.

While I was painting, she got happier and happier and, even thrilled! 

 She was loving her black kitchen.

It really did turn out soooo nicely!!  

Her white counters, back splash, trim 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".  I think they did a great job designing. 

And, the carpenter did a great job putting it all together.

This is her butler's pantry.

I painted it to match the kitchen. 

 As you walk into the house, it looks really nice from the dining room and front door.

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. 

She 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!!

FAUX PAINTING WALLS WITH BLACK PAINT & CABINET CLEAR COAT DILEMMA

My client wanted me help her with her guest bath in her new home.
The walls were a beige that she didn't like, the medicine cabinet was one shade of stained brown and the sink table was another shade of stained brown.  Her window shutters, floor to ceiling tile in the shower, doors and frame were white.  I made a few suggestions.  She wasn't sure about any of them. So, I said how about a black and white bathroom.
 She thought she would like that.

With my client's approval, I used the finish and colors on the mirror frame as inspiration for the medicine cabinet and sink table.  I painted a metallic silver paint, rubbed black paint over that and added a stain over all.  (I think she's going to add wood floors.)
Notice that I painted the pipe/p trap underneath the table. 

Then, I painted the design on the table with metallic silver.  

Rubbed gold on top of that with my finger and added the same stain over all. 

 Usually, I use a satin or lower sheen clear sealer.  Because this bath didn't have a lot of light I used a glossy sealer and it made the medicine cabinet and table show up better.

The glossy finish made the metallic paint look metallic.  

A lower sheen can make metallic paints look dull and not reflect.

Reflection is what I, usually, want with metallic paints.

This picture didn't turn out well, but these are very beautiful antique purses and look so fabulous on the black faux painted walls.  The frames are gold and black.

....sooo pretty and so elegant!

She wanted me to take the door off of the medicine cabinet and is going to decorate inside.

Then, we talked about the walls and ceiling.  Nothing sounded good, so I said "well, would you want me to faux paint with black?"  I painted a small sample on the wall and I was surprised she said "yes".   She's very happy and I really love the way it turned out. 

This is her beautiful great room/family room.

The finish on the entertainment center, hall linen cabinet, laundry cabinets and the bath below didn't look good.  The finish was shiny and had lots of dull spots.  I told her I thought everything just needed to be sealed and the finish would look even.  My client thought the previous owner had done something to mess up the satin finish and wanted me to try to fix it.  Oh dear!!  Trying to figure out what someone else did is a bit harrowing.  I tried a couple of things.  One thing I tried made my water based sealer crackle and that told me I should probably use oil paint.  Then, the oil paint actually took the existing finish off in places and caused lighter spots.  OMGoodness gracious!!!  I used craft paints and mixed them to match the dark finish, touched up the spots and sealed again.  

Thank goodness it looked good and she was happy.

There were only a few things in her new home that needed to be changed.

Thank goodness I was able to figure it out, but it was VERY stressful!!  

This home was so beautiful and I really enjoyed working with this client.

Thank you!