« come on in. »

March 11th, 2012

when you arrive at 889 south cooper street, (and i hope you will, soon!) you’ll step in through a wrought-iron front door (freshly painted in behr’s rhino, #710e.30) to a small hallway that is paneled in that plastic-y stuff – you know, the man-made faux wood – popluar, i think, in the ’60′s.  there have been so many remodelings over the years to the little 1922 cottage and former beauty parlor that now houses my studio & shop that my (adorable, agreeable) landlady and i are not sure when this was added.  but we knew that it would easier and much less expensive to try to camouflauge the damaged, un-fabulous walls than to float them and start over.  here is what it looked like before:

so, the fix for now: prime.  fill all possible holes, gaps, and dents.  paint. (sherwin-williams’ origami white, #7636.)

and then: use project as an excuse to indulge my obsession for blue willow yet again, enabled by a fabulous helen morris-designed stencil, willow pattern.  register, paint, repeat.

(if you’ve never stenciled an all-over pattern that has a definite “story”, like this one, here’s a tip: begin by placing the stencil in the center of the wall, and then work out and around.)

to further distract you from the shape the walls are in – and to evoke the origin of the pattern – the next layers were two-step craqueleur to give a crazed porcelain effect.  step 1 is applied quickly with a foam roller, while step 2 is brushed on (also quickly.)

depending on how heavily step 2 is applied, the crackle is tiny (thin layer, as on the birds) or big and alligator-like (thick layer, on the tree.)

the craqueleur dries clear, and only shows where you rub a pigmented glaze, thinned-down paint, or tinted wax over it. (fun to play with – kind of like invisible ink.)  so, a waterborne glazing medium tinted with raw umber went on next, and was softened up and pushed into the cracks with cheesecloth.

once that was dry, two coats of varnish were brushed on to protect the finish….flat so as to further disguise imperfections…the bonus being that it gives the look of old wallpaper.

the interior door is original to the house, but had been covered in more of the ill-advised burnt caramel paint that coated every surface of the shop:

as i scraped back and sanded the door, i found that it had been blue, under the caramel, white, and red.

my lovely landlady is thrilled that we are now back to a shade close to the original, when her grandmother lived here.  (i used a favorite blue, farrow & ball’s oval room blue, #85, for the door and the stenciling.  the door is done in hollandlac brilliant tinted to match – thank you, emmett! – while the stenciling was done using part of the contents of a sample pot.

please check back soon for the final version of the hallway.  it’s about to get even yummier, i hope.  or better yet, drop in and see me at the coop.

« crowning touch »

February 22nd, 2012

another project for rodgers menzies’ lovely client…a long-time member of a carnival memphis crewe, and (to me, at least) local royalty, it totally fits that a crown is her favorite motif. after a remodeling of her bathroom, she requested a wall treatment that included soft stripes and gold crowns.

for the right stencil, mrs. jones went straight to helen morris. who else but she, reigning stencil-designing queen of the united kingdom and beyond, could create a better diadem?

rodgers asked for glazed stripes on a ground of benjamin moore’s powell buff (# hc.35.) here is part of the room, before:

when our first stripe choice, standish white (# hc.32.), wasn’t quite light enough, i added a little glacier white, # oc.37. after taping off six-inch stripes using my trusty laser-level and 3m’s delicate-surface tape, i used a chip brush to apply the white glaze strie-style. (a process note: to make things feel nice and symmetrical on areas like the ones here around the bathtub and the water closet, start with a stripe in the center and then work out in either direction.)(and yes, you too might have to put little bits of “reminder” tape into stripes that are not to be glazed.  then again, you may be younger and more clever than mrs. jones.)

rodgers and i gridded out the spots for the crowns with little re-used bits of tape.

they went on first with modern masters olympic gold. after the paint dried, i re-stenciled each crown with water-based size, and then brushed on gold leaf. (each sheet of leaf covered 3 crowns.) a gentle burnishing to remove the excess, and they were done.

this elegant old home has some of the most fabulous fixtures…i adore that our lovely client refused to change them out.  gold dolphins, baby mermaids, beautiful marble, crystal towel bars and more are all at home here.  behold:

(did i mention she likes crowns?)

« fast-forward black cabinets »

October 4th, 2011

for those of you loyal readers waiting patiently to see our bathroom re-do“afters”…those are coming very soon!  construction was indeed finished by labor day as frank promised…except for one key feature, the mirror.  we are now awaiting installation attempt #4.  it’s one of the simplest and least expensive elements, and yet (apparently) so difficult to get right.   as soon as it’s in and paint is touched up, i will be happy to share images and all the details with you.

in the meantime, the cabinets are done, and i thought you might want to see them.  in a room where mrs. jones (vainly, and in vain) will employ all manner of treatments and products attempting to slow down the passage of time and its toll on herself, it felt right to speed up the appearance of the passage of time on the vanity.  there you go…a little irony for your tuesday.

here they are going in:

and getting started on the finish:

after staining with minwax american walnut in their water-based formula (both for depth and to reveal color where the paint is distressed later), the next layer is annie sloan’s chalk paint in old white, thickened to what annie describes as an “impasto”.  to suit our 1940 home, and to contrast with all the sleek and cool marble and tile surfaces, i wanted the cabinets to have the look of having been painted and repainted over the years; to be crusty, warm, and slightly worn.  the impasto layer gives the look of old-school gesso, showing brush strokes (in a good way), and leaving some desirable (for this project) gookiness in the corners.

the plan was for the subsequent layers to be in ascp graphite, but even after tinting it with more lamp black, and raw & burnt umber, i just couldn’t get the color i was after.  graphite is beautiful, and will definitely be the shining star in an upcoming project, but - in search of a warmer, deeper black – i turned to my tried and true milk paint. 

mixing it and letting it sit overnight gave the paint just the right slubby, brushy texture.  after two coats of black, the next step was to scrape a little tiny bit back off at the corners, on the edges, and near the knobs.  using more of the water-based stain on a sea sponge to soften up the paint and a putty knife, i chipped a few little spots away to reveal the layers beneath.  (mrs. sloan also recommends using sandpaper to rub back, but for this project, i went with the more surgical nip-&-tuck-type technique.)

finally, two layers of annie’s wax: clear (which has a gorgeous mellowing effect on the milk paint), and then dark brown (to complete the finish with warmth and toning, and to seal the paint up tight), with an overnight dry (memphis humidity!) in between.  while the dark wax was still tacky, rottenstone was tapped in (a la richard martin, see photo just below) especially to the grooves and corners.  the rottenstone gives an extra touch of age and grittiness, and – as a super-fine abrasive – also aids in rubbing out the wax.  several old-t-shirt buffings later, the cabinets have the yummy polished gleam of old furniture. 

a drawer before and after the wax is applied and buffed (or, after and then before – sorry!): 

and then, just add snazzy hardware: the gado gado pulls i craved, that selena mcadams tracked down for me.

now, to gush for just a moment: i am a huge new fan of annie sloan and her chalk paint (which has been around in the uk for years, but has only recently become available in the united states).  for more inspiration directly from the source, take a look at her books, such as creating the french look  (which actually instructs in so much more than that.  the french look, i mean.)  several finishing studios around the country are selling her complete line and offering classes and online videos on her techniques…something you will want to investigate further.  her palette, the ease of use of her products, and the authenticity of the many different looks you can acheive make her line very unique.  the fact that you can skip over a lot of laborious prep-work?  annie is staging a most welcome british invasion.

« mail call »

July 18th, 2011

with the young joneses away at camp, mrs. jones has been optimistically checking the mailbox…alas, no notes yet.  (and, now that we’re looking at it, a fresh coat of paint on the box while they’re gone might be a good idea.)  but a couple of great product & process questions have arrived via the comment-box here, and just in case you may want to know the answers, too, here you go:

first, regarding this railing project, from my friend deborah at the beautiful blog boxwood terrace: did you just rub the wax onto the railing and then seal it?  i have a boring wood banister/balustrades–basically round dowels–on my staircase and wonder if I could duplicate the look…?

answer: using gilt wax (in this case, over black paint) is even easier than that.  for that particular look, i applied small amounts of each color, putting it on in streaks with my fingers.  then, using a tiny bit of penetrol on a soft brush, blended them just a little.  when the wax is good and dry, a quick buffing with an old t-shirt hardens the wax and seals the finish.

next, a query on these glazed curtain rods, from lori:  i plan on doing a similar finish (prime + paint + glaze) on an old dining room set. because the furniture will be high-use, i’d like to use a hard oil-based paint; will it need to be flat/low sheen in order to properly accept the glaze? i’d like the high-sheen look of your white corner chairs with glaze in the nooks and crannies…but don’t want the inevitable yellowing that would come with a polyurethane topcoat.
any suggestions or guidance is much appreciated!

this answer requires a bit more detail…:  high-use furniture can indeed benefit from oil-based paint, but the newer acrylic enamels are truly durable, easier to work with, and (obviously) more environmentally friendly.  and when you’re going to apply a wax or topcoat, having that oil-based finish does not matter nearly as much.   just remember that preparation and the right primer are key for durability.   

paint-wise, for a project like this, i especially like benjamin moore’s aura line, but can also highly recommend behr’s “premium plus” interior enamel.  whatever paint you use, an eggshell, satin, or semi-gloss surface is best for glazing.   flat or matte finishes tend to “grab” too much glaze and give you a shorter working time.  and, of course, oil-based glaze will adhere to either oil-based or acrylic paints, while acrylic or water-based glazes only work over waterbourne or acrylic base coats.

now, as far as a topcoat, you are absolutely right about the yellowing – a problem with oil-based varnishes that simply can’t be avoided.  on lighter colors when a very high shine is required, i use fine paints of europe’s hollandlac, or two coats of bowling alley wax over the painted finish, buffed to the highest sheen possible.  for deeper colors, where the amber color in the varnish won’t be a factor, a coat or two of benjamin moore’s polyurethane in high gloss does the trick.   (i have not found an acrylic high-gloss product that is anywhere near good enough…if anyone out there knows of one, please leave a comment!  the acrylic topcoats dry very quickly, leaving ropy brush marks, while the oil-based formulas have time to level out, giving that mirror-like gloss and – just as crucial – depth.)

remember when applying a high-gloss finish, every little flaw will show, so again, your preparation is key.  using a fine-grit sandpaper (280 or 400) followed by a throrough vacuuming (with your brush attachment) and then a careful going-over with a tack-cloth before you topcoat, and in between every coat, is super important here for a good result.  you’ll also want to make your workspace as dust-free as possible, and turn off your fan and hvac system while you’re working, and until the piece is dry, to prevent any dust floating around that might mar your finish.

feeling confident that you all will be better correspondents than my children: please send photos of your projects when they are done, i can’t wait to see how beautifully your things turn out.  good luck!

« pearly white rods & rings »

May 30th, 2011

shiny new white curtain rods in this lovely teenager’s bedroom suite were just too stark against all the gorgeous, muted colors in the scheme.  before:

so, after priming with stix (a water-borne bonding primer, perfect for a situation like this) i base-coated them with benjamin moore’s linen white, #912, and then brushed on some acrylic glazing medium mixed with a little dollop each of modern masters’ warm silver and platinum.

the glaze gives just a hint of color and definition, and leaves behind a pearly/metallic sheen…

…so pretty against the chocolate silk curtains.

when painting finials and rods, the biggest challenge is getting primer, paint and glaze smoothly onto all the surfaces without the pieces rolling around and getting mucked up.  if you’re doing your own, here are a couple of tricks: first, using a good sturdy cardboard box flipped upside-down, make X’s a workable distance apart with an exacto knife, or some other sharp blade.  punch the metal screw-ends on the finials right through each X.  (this same method works well for drawer pulls and cabinet knobs, too.  after removing them from your piece, re-insert their screws, and push them through the box.)

for curtain rods, secure long wood screws, or nails, in each hole.  (be very careful to use screws that are the same width as the ones on the finials or narrower, so that you don’t “strip” the holes.)  then, scoot your sawhorses (or chairs, or step-ladders, or whatever you can devise) together at just the right distance apart for propping.  you’ll be able to roll the curtain rods in place and cover all the sides.

for the rings, using strong twine, tie each one a short distance apart through its metal eyelet (where the curtian hooks go through), and run a “clothesline” across your work space.  (sorry that i don’t have a good snapshot of this.)

one other little secret: when re-hanging the curtains – after everything is really good and dry, 7 to 10 days at least - run your finger across a little paste wax , and apply it to the inside top of each curtain ring as you go, and to the inside curve on the brackets, where the rods are held in place.  this helps keep the paint and glaze on the rods and rings from sticking and catching due to the weight of the curtains.