RACHEL'S NEW HOME IN THE COUNTRY

RACHEL'S NEW HOME IN THE COUNTRY

Rachel and family were building a fabulous new home on a large piece of property out in the country.  She was her own designer and has done a wonderful job.

Rachel wanted a huge framed mirror in the entry.  That is what you see reflecting through the front door.  The front gate is quite a distance from the house and she told me she could see the mirror from there.

She asked Rick, her carpenter, to build her an 8'x10' wooden mirror frame. 

The backing is one big piece of wood which holds the mirror in place so it won't bend and crack.  The carpenter built the wide frame on top of that large flat platform.

Then, Rachel asked me to paint a faux finish on the frame to match her entry flooring.

They told me that when the glass people brought the mirror the first time, they broke it and had to replace it.  Can't even imagine how much that mirror must weigh.  Don't remember for sure, but I think they glued the mirror onto the large flat backing.  It's leaning against the wall.

I made a sample board for her to choose the look she wanted.  She liked the top sample.

"Before"

Rachel told me she had a very large, shades of gray and white, painting of Buddha that she was going to hang above the fireplace.  Looking out that glass door to the right...

is her swimming pool.

At Thanksgiving she sent me this video of wild turkeys walking on her front porch.

If you listen closely you will hear them gobbling.  I love this video!

And, she sent me a picture of the wild turkeys walking on her back porch by the pool.

The carpenters told me that when they first started working on this home there were wild turkeys, deer, fox and other animals when they would get there in the morning.  I would love to live in the country!

Rick, the carpenter, built this cabinet for Rachel.  It sits next to the fireplace.

Also, he built this table for their breakfast room.  It's going to be stained a dark brown.  Look at that tree right in the middle of that window.  Somebody did a lot of counting and measuring for that to happen.  I noticed several windows and doors like that.  Amazing!

 This is the breakfast room ceiling.  There are several ceilings like this in this home.  The hallway in that opening on the right of this picture has three or four small groin vault ceilings.  The lights reflect so beautifully in a groin ceiling.

Master Bath (below).

Rachel happened to have her grandmother's old door and she asked Rick to cut it in half to make two cabinets in her coffee (?) room next to her master bedroom.  A piece of glass is on top to protect her grandmother's old door.

I loved working at this home in the country. 

Rachel was so easy and such a pleasure to work with.  

Thank you, Rachel.

MAKE A NICE CENTERPIECE FOR YOUR DINNER TABLE USING ROMAINE LETTUCE

MAKE A NICE CENTERPIECE FOR YOUR DINNER TABLE USING ROMAINE LETTUCE

A few minutes ago, I was washing and draining a head of romaine lettuce.  I placed each leaf in my strainer to drain the water off.  The leaves and shades of green looked so pretty I thought it would be a really nice certerpiece for your dinner table.  Heads of romaine lettuce (usually) cost under 2.00, each.

I always cut the base off.  Individually, I rub each leaf front and back in vinegar water.  Rinse in fresh running water.  Then, drain the water off in a strainer.

I love artichokes!  I dip in butter and lemon.  So good.
Artichokes are full of vitamins and minerals.  

KELLY'S NEWLY REMODELED & NEWLY PAINTED POWDER ROOM & HALL BATH

KELLY'S NEWLY REMODELED & NEWLY PAINTED POWDER ROOM & HALL BATH

Kelly remodeled her hall bath and powder room.
She asked me to paint the cabinets, walls, ceiling and woodwork trim.
I like that she wanted white ceilings with the gray walls.

She got new granite counter tops, new flooring, new everything.

A carpenter built new cabinets for both rooms.

This is Buffy.  Sweet doggie.  The whole time I was painting she slept in the hallway nearby.

The tile people installed two new transition pieces between new tile and existing wood flooring.
They were unfinished.  I used two different gel stains to match the existing wood.
Then, sealed with three coats of clear sealer.

This is how the hall bath and powder room looked "before".  Really dark colors.
Kelly was ready for changes to a lighter decor.
Mirrors were changed to stainless silver frames.
Looks so nice now with all of the different shades of gray and white ceilings and white trim.

HAYLEY REDECORATING LITTLE GIRL BEDROOM ~ PAINTING A WOOD WALL & NATURE BABY WALLPAPER

HAYLEY REDECORATING LITTLE GIRL BEDROOM ~ PAINTING A WOOD WALL & NATURE BABY WALLPAPER

Hayley was redecorating June's bedroom and found this wonderful wallpaper.

Isn't it the sweetest!

The one wall had very dark boards that were glued on.
 She asked me to paint the boards to match the other pink walls.
I painted on and wiped off with a rag, making the color uneven.
Hayley liked it.

Love the wallpaper!

UPDATING HAYLEY'S STAIRWELL FROM VERTICAL WHITE SPINDLES TO PAINTED BLACK HORIZONTAL IRON RODS

UPDATING HAYLEY'S STAIRWELL FROM VERTICAL  WHITE SPINDLES TO PAINTED BLACK HORIZONTAL IRON RODS

Hayley has such good ideas for decorating her home.
She wanted something different for her stairwell.
It had white spindles, oak handrails and finials on the posts.  (picture below)

She wanted a horizontal design, so she asked her carpenter to remove the existing wooden vertical white spindles and install these iron rods.

Doesn't it look wonderful, now!!

Hayley asked the carpenter to remove the finials.

Then, she asked me to paint the new iron rods, oak handrail and top of posts to black.
To get any oil residue off of the new, unpainted iron rods the paint store told me to use alcohol with a rag and clean them really well before painting.

Hayley is very happy with her new look.  I think it looks great, too!

The carpenter removed the vertical spindles then he drilled alllll of those square holes for the new iron pieces.  That was a lot of measuring, leveling and drilling.  He did a great job.

"Before" looked nice, but it's updated and young again.

REPAIRING A WINDOW MURAL FOR THE PINEAPPLE SCHOOL (TOTAL IMMERSION SPANISH LANGUAGE)

REPAIRING A WINDOW MURAL FOR THE PINEAPPLE SCHOOL (TOTAL IMMERSION SPANISH LANGUAGE)

The Pineapple School is for babies and preschool age children.  This school is "total immersion spanish language" spoken to the children.  Almost five years ago when they were building their first school, they asked me to paint several colorful mini murals.
They wanted this large area to look like a patio.

Recently, they called me and said they had some minor damage on one of the murals and had to paint over part of it and could I come repair it.  I always try to remember to keep a file and write down all of the colors I use.  Thank goodness I had all the colors in my file for this job.

Last week, I went by to get started.  While I was working, several of the children around 4 years old came over and in spanish were asking me what I was doing.  I answered in english and they immediately switched over to speaking perfect english.  I was amazed that they could switch and speak perfect english as fast as they were speaking spanish.  One of the teachers told me it was so easy for kids of this age and, usually, could be speaking spanish in a two week period.

I was sooo impressed with these children!

What a great concept for teaching!! 

This is one window I drew and painted.

My client wanted RED geraniums.

Another window across the room.

They wanted me to draw and paint a door.

I textured with mud and faux painted this arch yellow.

This is the window mural that was damaged on the right side. So, with tracing paper I traced the good side of the window frame, turned the paper over and using graphite paper re-drew and painted the side that had been painted over/damaged.  That was a lot easier than having to start over to measure and draw again.  Also, the repair guys were very careful and only painted out the frame.  I noticed they very carefully painted around the geranium sitting in the window.  I appreciated that.

Getting started I had to measure a lot and then draw and paint.

Original post:  5/4/2015

PAINTING SUSAN'S ORANGE/TAN OAK DINING CHAIRS & CHINA CABINET TO A BLACK DISTRESSED FINISH

PAINTING SUSAN'S ORANGE/TAN OAK DINING CHAIRS & CHINA CABINET TO A BLACK DISTRESSED FINISH

Susan was moving into a new home and making lots of changes in her colors and decor.  Her very nice, older "orange/tan oak" dining set was not going to work.  So, she asked me to paint the chairs and china cabinet to a black and a little bit distressed technique.

My house is small, so when I have big furniture to paint I have to move things around in my living room and dining room to make room for it.  Then, it is sooo nice when everything has been picked up and I get my house back in order.

So many clients ask me to paint their older brown stained or lighter furniture.  Many times they want it to be painted black.  It always looks so nice, updated and like new again.  Susan is going to put her collection of blue and white dishes in her new black china cabinet.
Won't that be stunning!!

Susan only wanted the edges distressed.  The design on these chairs was so beautiful and looked really great after painted black.

Waiting to be picked up.  These chairs were soooo heavy!!

Looks much better, now.

"Before"

Thank you, Susan, Marsha and Kara.