PAINTING RED & BROWN DISTRESSED TABLE & CHAIRS FOR ROBIN'S LAKE HOUSE

Robin is in the middle of remodeling their lake house.  This table and chairs have been in the lake house for many years and was in need of a new coat of paint.  It was that orangey stained oak finish.

She asked me to paint it for their "man cave" and her husband got to choose exactly what he wanted for the new finish.

This is the finish he chose.  Once again, I worked on it in my dining room.

(I'm always willing to move my furniture out for a while.  But, it will be so nice to see my dining room furniture, again.)

After priming, I painted a base coat of brown and then the red on the flat surfaces.  Then, I stained and sealed everything.  I'm getting ready to put a coat of wax on the table top and chair seats, just to give it a little more protection from the heavy wear and tear of a fun lake house.  And, I know this one is!

I'm eager for them to come see their new furniture.

Thank you, Robin!!

PAINTING BLACK & DISTRESSING GERI'S NEWLY BUILT KITCHEN ISLAND

Geri had a very nice, large kitchen, but no island.  She designed an island and had it built so the grandkids would have some place to sit for a snack and watch tv.

She called me and asked if I could paint it black and a bit distressed.  I could do that!!

The first thing was to prime the new wood.  Then, I painted it black and rubbed the edges to show a little of the wood color underneath.  The black looked so nice with the granite she chose.  And, it looked so good in her white kitchen.

I loved working for Geri!  She was fun to talk to!!

Right now, I'm painting Geri's daughter's kitchen cabinets and I'll show that to you very soon.

Thank you, Geri!!

HAND PAINTING ARTWORK IN A NURSERY

HAND PAINTING ARTWORK IN A NURSERY

A long time ago, my client asked me to paint some artwork in her nursery.  She showed me some pictures and wanted me to paint some cute animals and a sky above her wainscoting.

Also, I painted a border around the room with the same theme.

As I painted the zebras I painted one a boy and one a girl with the flowers around her neck.

 I painted a girl and a boy elephant.

I painted artwork on her cabinets to match the border.

The room turned out really, really cute!!

Those kids are grown now and I'm sure this cute room was re-painted a long time ago.

So glad I have photos of my work.  

They are forever!!

AT LAST, CHRISTA'S BEAUTIFUL NEW KITCHEN

For a long time, Christa planned to re-do her kitchen.  She DID NOT like the orange stained wood, but didn't know who to choose to help her with the work.  She said she had searched for just the right person and when she saw the work I did at the New Orleans style house, she knew I was the one!!  Now, isn't that nice!!  The builder of the New Orleans house, also built Christa's house, so that's how she got to know me and my work.

The island in her kitchen had two big open spaces and she asked the builder to make two new doors  to match her kitchen cabinets and close those openings.

 I had already primed the top cabinets when I took this picture.  So glad I remembered before I painted over everything.

Often, when a door is in the middle of the cabinets that I'm painting, I suggest we paint the door to match the cabinets.  Christa agreed, so I painted the door, door frame and the tiny bit of baseboard on either side.  The door and frame were white and would have been right in the middle and interrupted the beautiful new look of her kitchen.

So, meet Christa and her wonderful little baby, Cody.  Cody has the cutest personality!!  

As we were planning the look of her new kitchen, we were thinking about stenciling on each panel on every door.  Then, Christa said maybe that was too much, so just stencil on the pantry door.  That was a wonderful idea!  

This is how the island looks, now.  Christa wanted her outer cabinets lighter and her island black and this is the stencil she chose.  I embossed those stencils and painted them a metallic gold.  The same embossed stencil is on that middle panel, but didn't show up in this photo.  She has picked out a beautiful new granite for the island and I'll show that to you in a few weeks.

I wanted to stencil inside one of her cabinet doors to show her how the stencil would look on her pantry door.  She LOVED the way it looked and asked me to stencil inside five of the doors she uses most often.  She said she loves "the element of surprise".

Christa has other work she wants me to do in her home, so I'll be there a few more times.  

I really loved working here and love that everything turned out just as beautifully as we planned.

Thank you soooo much, Christa for letting me work in your very beautiful home!!!

~

MORE LINKS TO MY WORK IN CHRISTA'S KITCHEN

~

HAND PAINTED BIRD & NEST STOOLS FOR CHRISTA'S KITCHEN

~

PAINTING CHRISTA'S VENT-A-HOOD TO MATCH HER KITCHEN CABINETS

HAND PAINTING BIRD NESTS ON PILLOWS & TUTORIAL

I LOVE TO PAINT BIRD NESTS

  My client had two pillows and asked me to paint a bird nest on each one.

~

TUTORIAL

That was such beautiful fabric and very easy to paint.  I used craft paints and fabric medium.

  You can find both at your craft stores.  After they're dry, craft paints are so durable and even wipeable in case they get dirty from handprints, etc. 

 If you paint on fabric, you have to be very, very careful not to spatter because, in many cases, it's almost impossible to get the paint off without smudges.  I always use something to cover up the parts I'm not painting, just to be sure.  If you do spatter, you can use regular rubbing alcohol and a Q-tip to try to remove it.  Be sure to do a little test first to make sure it won't take the color out of your fabric.

The bird nests and ivy were freehand and easy to paint because there was really no structure. You could use a stencil or any pattern and that would work well, too. 

My nest is a bit "over exposed" from the camera flash, but I'm sure you get the picture!

PAINTING MIRROR MOLDING FOR DEBBIE'S MASTER BATH RENOVATION

This is the mirror molding I painted for Debbie's master bath.

I painted it metallic silver and then aged it.  Because there were two very large mirrors, I had to paint eight 8' long pieces multi-layers and then do that tiny detail work and seal it.  My back was very uncomfortable bending over like that.  Believe me, I was ready for that to be OVER!! 

After it's installed, I'll try to go back and get photos of it with the mirrors. 

Process:  Primed, sanded, painted, aged and detail work, then two coats of sealer.

PAINTING A SPECIAL AGED FINISH ON CABINETS FOR DEBBIE'S MASTER BATH RENOVATION

Today Debbie is very, very happy!!

The six weeks long renovation of her master bath is almost over.  They asked me to paint a special finish on their bath and closet cabinets.  I finished painting today.

Her cabinets were pickled/white washed oak.

 I forgot to take a "before" photo, so this one is after I primed the wood.

They were working with a decorator and asked me to do them a sample board with a gray browny dark finish.  My sample is what you see on the counter top.  Also, I'm painting a special finish on some mirror molding for them.  I showed them several different ways and depths of color.  They liked that I had given them several choices and they picked out how they wanted the molding to be painted.  

This is the special finish that I painted and it looks soooo good with their new granite and floor and shower tiles.  Their bathroom is really big and that shower tile is a special feature to me.  I love that tile and how everything looks so good together.  

They're going to have a seamless glass enclosure around the shower.  

Won't that be beautiful, too.  

This is the other side of the room.  (Waiting for the lights, mirrors and molding to be installed.)

AND, here are Penny and Yankee.  They kept coming into the bathroom to make sure I was staying busy.  Penny kept pulling on my socks.  As I was leaving, I wanted to take another picture and had to wake them up.  They weren't too happy about that and wouldn't even look at me. 

 "Go away!!  I'm trying to nap, here!"

A close up of the cabinet finish.

A few years ago, I painted Debbie's kitchen and dining room cabinets a special finish, too.  

It's so nice that they asked me to come back for the master bath re-do.

Everything turned out really beautiful!

Thank you, Debbie!!