THE BARN ~ ELIZABETH COATSWORTH

THE BARN ~ ELIZABETH COATSWORTH

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OF MY FRIENDS
(BEAUTIFUL PHOTO FOUND ON PINTEREST)

FOR TUTORIALS & HOME DECORATING PROJECTS

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PAINTING ANITA & GERALD'S FRONT DOOR FROM STAINED DARK TO AN OFF WHITE DISTRESSED FINISH

PAINTING ANITA & GERALD'S FRONT DOOR FROM STAINED DARK TO AN OFF WHITE DISTRESSED FINISH

Anita's front door area is so beautiful with a very tall arched window over the door.
A grand entrance!
Her door was a stained dark brown finish.
She asked me to paint it off white, the color of her shutters.

When I painted the off white, she said it needed a little distressing to fit in with the entry and rooms on either side of the front door.  So, I scraped and distressed it.
This is her painted front door.

Here is lovely Anita.
While I was working on the door, she and Blondie watched and talked to me.

Front door "before".
It was beautiful "before", but the lighter color lightens the entry area a lot.

Her grand entry "before".
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A couple of years ago, Anita asked me to paint the exterior of her door blue.
Here is a link to her blue front door:
PAINTING ANITA'S FRONT DOOR TO BLUE ~ EXTERIOR
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And, here is a link to Anita's kitchen and projects during November & December:
PAINTING ANITA'S KITCHEN CABINETS
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PAINTING & STENCILING ANITA & GERALD'S LIVING ROOM ARMOIRE TO DARK GRAY

PAINTING & STENCILING ANITA & GERALD'S LIVING ROOM ARMOIRE TO DARK GRAY

So, we move from Anita and Gerald's kitchen to their beautiful living room.
Their living room is a large area open to the kitchen.
The huge tv armoire had a natural finish on it.
Since Anita was changing her decor colors, she asked me to paint it a dark gray.

I just love Anita's home and the way she decorates!

After I painted the armoire dark gray, she said it needed something else.
Because she leaves it open most of the time, she wanted artwork on the drawers.
I showed her several stencils and she chose this one.

Such a good idea to add the artwork on the drawers.
 It made that dark gray corner of the room special.

This is the armoire "before".  Everything was already beautiful, but painting the armoire really, really changed the whole look of her living room.  The mantel in the background was painted the woodwork/trim color.  I painted on and rubbed off a dark gel stain and made that more noticeable, too.  I've loved working in Anita's home, again.
I do have a few more posts to share of painting I did while I was working there this time.
Thank you, Anita!
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LINKS TO:
PAINTING ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN CABINETS &
PAINTING METALLIC SILVER TECHNIQUE IN ANITA'S KITCHEN
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PAINTING ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN CABINETS WHITE & METALLIC SILVER KITCHEN ISLAND & DINETTE TABLE

PAINTING ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN CABINETS WHITE & METALLIC SILVER KITCHEN ISLAND & DINETTE TABLE

Anita and Gerald's beautiful new kitchen.
About 15 years ago, Anita asked me to paint her kitchen a french country style.
I crackled, distressed and amber glazed her kitchen cabinets.
I crackled and distressed red her kitchen island.
(Last picture...you won't believe the difference.)
A few weeks ago, she asked me to repaint everything.

She asked me to paint the kitchen cabinets a soft gray white and the island a metallic silver.

Love her chandeliers!

Kitchen chandelier.

Breakfast room chandelier.

Right now those red chairs are in my studio and I'm painting them black.
Will post them soon.

I love her new white kitchen.

"Before"
This is the finish I painted years ago.
Such a dramatic change with her newly painted white and silver kitchen.
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LINKS TO OTHER PAINT PROJECTS DURING KITCHEN CABINET PROJECT:
PAINTING METALLIC SILVER TECHNIQUE KITCHEN ISLAND & DINETTE TABLE &
PAINTING & STENCILING ANITA & GERALD'S LIVING ROOM ARMOIRE &
PAINTING STAINED DARK FRONT DOOR TO AN OFF WHITE
PAINTING RED BREAKFAST ROOM CHAIRS TO BLACK & METALLIC GOLD
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PAINTING A METALLIC SILVER FAUX TECHNIQUE ON ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN ISLAND & KITCHEN DINETTE TABLE

PAINTING A METALLIC SILVER FAUX TECHNIQUE ON ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN ISLAND & KITCHEN DINETTE TABLE.

Anita and Gerald have been my clients for many years.  Around 15 years ago, I painted their kitchen cabinets and island to a french country finish.  Recently, Anita asked me to help her change the colors in her kitchen.  She wanted her kitchen cabinets painted white.  Her island and dinette table to be painted a metallic silver.  I will talk about her kitchen in my next post.

I think Anita told me this was the first piece of furniture they purchased when they got married.
This is the metallic silver finish I painted.

My undercoat was a dark blackie brown.

Next I painted the metallic silver with a brush and skipped areas so the dark undercoat would come through.  Then, brushed on a brown/gold glaze and sealed with two coats of hi-gloss sealer.  I've, finally, decided the only way to get metallic paints to look metallic through sealers is to use a hi-gloss one.  It's really shiny, but does look metallic.
 Real metals do shine/reflect light.

Here are Bandit and Blondie.  Sweet doggies!  They love their mommy!!

Here is a picture of the island.  I painted the same metallic silver and technique on it.
This silver looks really beautiful!! with her white kitchen.

A close up of the finish.  My flash didn't catch the metallic reflection in this picture.
I put her original silver handles on the doors.  This first door and drawer are connected.  Her pull out for a large trash basket.  I love that it looks like the rest of the doors and drawers.

Their table "before"
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TO VIEW ALL OF THE PAINTING ON ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN PROJECT:
PAINTING ANITA & GERALD'S KITCHEN CABINETS
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REPAIRING BROKEN DECORATIVE DISHES FOR ANETA

REPAIRING BROKEN DECORATIVE DISHES FOR ANETA

Aneta moved to a new home and in the move several of her favorite beautiful decorative dishes were broken.  When I was painting her kitchen cabinets, she asked if I could do anything with them.  She wanted to hang the blue platter and the bowl sits in her dining room.

I used E6000 glue and it seemed to work really well.

These pieces were so heavy I had to hold them together for a little while for the glue to work.

I used craft paints and mixed and blended so the cracks would look ok from a distance.

I didn't paint the cracks on the back.

This bowl was really, really heavy, too.  

My touch up paint worked well on this one.  

Isn't this absolutely beautiful!!  I touched up with blue and added metallic gold where the pattern was gold.  From a distance you don't really notice the repair.

I wanted you to see the sparkle and beauty of this bowl.

The value was lost when they were broken, but Aneta will still be able to enjoy them.
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PAINTING DARKLY STAINED KITCHEN CABINETS TO AN OFF WHITE GLAZED FINISH FOR TRACY & NICK

PAINTING DARKLY STAINED KITCHEN CABINETS TO AN OFF WHITE GLAZED FINISH FOR TRACY & NICK

Tracy and Nick's kitchen cabinets were very, very darkly stained.  The cabinets had a beautiful finish on them, but made the kitchen and surrounding area very dark.  They had lived with the dark kitchen for several years and decided they wanted a change.  

So, their original builder called and asked me to paint and glaze all the cabinets in the kitchen, wet bar area and butler's pantry.  There were a lot of cabinets to be painted!

It was amazing how much lighter everything looked.
They thought the lighter paint made the kitchen look much larger.
They added dark knobs and handles.  The contrast to the light cabinets was beautiful!

Here are Bailey and Winnie.  They are the sweetest dogs.
They love company and LOVE greeting you.
I've never been greeted so joyfully :)

Kitchen cabinets "before".
Nick and Tracy were very happy with their new kitchen.
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TEARS FOR SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TEXAS

TEARS FOR SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, TEXAS

DRAWING & PAINTING TROMPE L'OEIL WINDOW & SKY ARTWORK ABOVE PATIO DOORS

DRAWING & PAINTING TROMPE L'OEIL WINDOW & SKY ARTWORK ABOVE PATIO DOORS 

Years ago, before I finally started using a digital camera I took lots of pictures of my work and had the "film developed".  I bet there are some people who don't know what that means.
Looking through those pictures I'm finding work I want to share with you.

In her living room, my client had very high walls and a big empty space above her doors that went out to her patio.  She asked me to come by and suggest something to go on that wall.  She asked what I thought about some design with scrolling.  But, seeing the outside I immediately saw a window with a sky and trees.  I suggested that to her and she loved the idea.

It was very easy to draw and paint.  I think you could do it, too.

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TUTORIAL

First I drew the frame that would frame the sky.  I made it 4" or 5" wide.  You can decide how wide you want your frame to be and paint it any color you want.  I painted it the same white as her doors and woodwork/trim.  Use craft paints raw umber or some darker browny gray for shadowing around the edges.  In your color tray water down the paint just a little bit so it will flow more easily as you paint.  Painting that thin shadow will make it look more 3 dimensional.  For shadow reference, look around the room at the shadows on other trim.  Next, with my brush I smudged and swiped blue and white (like faux painting) and made it look like a sky with clouds.  Draw you some birds.  You can make copies or draw them on paper and trace the birds on the wall, then paint them.  Decoupage would be ok, too, for the birds.  For the trees I like to draw the branches first with a pencil.  I draw lines where I want them to be.  Paint over them with raw umber or whatever shade of brown or gray brown that you want.  Then, draw leaves or use a small paint brush and dot, dot, dot with green.  You can also draw any size or shape of leaves you want.  At first you might not be happy with your artwork, but wait a while and let your family and friends see it.  After a while I bet you will be very happy with yourself.  Have fun!!

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HAND PAINTING ARTWORK ON A KID'S PLAY TABLE & TRAIN TRACK ARTWORK PLAY TABLE & TUTORIAL

HAND PAINTING ARTWORK ON A KID'S PLAY TABLE & TRAIN TRACK ARTWORK PLAY TABLE & TUTORIAL

My client had this little table that she kept for her grandchildren in her playroom.

The finish was a lightly stained wood.

She asked me to paint it and this is how it turned out.

I love the bright colors!

Because her grandson loved trains, she asked me to paint this little table for his room at home.

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TUTORIAL

I used craft paint for the artwork and sealed with several coats of clear sealer.

If you don't have or can't find a table just the right size, you can build one.  It's not that hard.
You can build it any size you want and legs can be shorter or taller.

These tables were fun to paint.  I bet your children would love painting the artwork.

Remember to seal really well so it won't get scratched. 

 If it does get scratched you can touch it up and seal it again.

Have Fun!
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VISIT MY NEW BLOG ~ STILL WORKING ON IT

VISIT MY NEW BLOG ~ STILL WORKING ON IT

I'm building a new blog.

On my decorative artisan blog my tutorials get lost in all of the other posts.

So, this new blog will be a HOW-TO DIY blog.

I will continue to post on my Decorative Artisan blog, too.

It will take me a while to search all of my tutorials and move them to this DIY blog.

Here it is for now:

LYNDA BERGMAN DIY BLOG

Still building.

Thank you for your visits!

PAINTING A VINTAGE MANTEL TO A BLACK DISTRESSED FINISH & TUTORIAL

PAINTING A VINTAGE MANTEL TO A BLACK DISTRESSED FINISH & TUTORIAL

Recently, I found this vintage mantel.  It was from the 1960's and still in good shape. 

It was stained brown, only a few scratches and perfect for a new paint finish.

I always start with an oil based bonding primer.

I painted a brown undercoat so when I distressed the black it would look like wood.

Painted a coat of black paint.

Then, two coats of a low sheen sealer.

This could be a fireplace mantel,

 a nice headboard or

 a fancy shelf.

(this picture is before I sealed it with the clear coat low sheen) 

PAINTING AN ANTIQUE PIANO FOR JESSIE & SAM ~ TUTORIAL

PAINTING AN ANTIQUE PIANO FOR JESSIE & SAM ~ TUTORIAL

Sam was searching for a piano to surprise Jessie on her birthday.

He found this beautiful antique piano.  The owner told him it would be $2,000.  So, Sam kept looking for that special gift for Jessie.  After a while the owner couldn't sell it, so they called Sam and told him if he would come get it there would be no charge!
 Oh my goodness!!  No charge!!

This is wonderful, playful Henry.  Such a good doggie.

Jessie wanted to paint the piano white, so she called me.

Look at the beautiful carved panels.

 I don't know the date when the piano was built, but it was before the 1920's.  

Sam showed me inside the piano where a piano tuner had written a date in the 20's.

Jessie wanted to leave a bit of the original finish, so that is the brown above.

Good idea and a nice contrast.

The white painted piano is on the wall to the right of this picture.

The colors are wonderful together.  Last year I painted the navy cabinet and Jessie put beautiful white antique family dishes inside the glass doors.  She's a good decorator.

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I painted an oil based bonding primer and two coats of oil based paint.

The carved panel is removable, so Sam took if off of the piano for me to paint.