Decorating With Class

The Decorating Talents of The Lovely Sarah Low

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The Decorating Talents of the Lovely Sarah Low

OK, I'm just a tich prejudice because Sarah Low happens to be my niece...but she is lovely and she is talented and I want to boast and share a bit.

Now I don't know just where Sarah got her decorating skills, maybe from her Mother Lynn, Maybe a bit from Grandma Fay or maybe even a little bit of me rubbed off on her when she was little... or maybe, just maybe, Sarah got the decorating bug and just developed her own unique style. Who knows...but the fact is that Sarah has a talent that seems to come naturally.

In her early 20's, Sarah has already owned her own quite lovely home in Albuquerque, NM for the past couple of years. When I first visited her new abode, I was literally shocked at her decorating abilities! It was like stepping in to a furniture show room somehow!

Sarah is a bit of a theme decorator which I thought was fun. Now you know me, I'm not in to "cutsey" and it seems that most "themed" decorating seems to be just that. But not when Sarah decorates!

In this blog, I'm going to show you Sarah's guest room. Like me, Sarah loves vintage and she loves the bygone era of glamour once found in 30's and 40's hollywood. With that love in mind, she decorated her guest room to incorporate just a little of that glamour.

I fell in love with Sarah's wall treatment and choice of colors. Rich gold walls that she taped off in to tall diamond panels, then faux finished in two tones of gold and then burgundy accents that really brought life to the room.

Accents such as vintage style artwork on the walls to her adorable vanity give the room a feminine flair that any glamour girl would love!

The wrought iron bed frame was painted pale cream to coordinate with the wall color and fluffy bedding makes it absolutely inviting.


She even accessorises with vintage purses on the white dresser!
















Further bringing the burgundy accent in to the room, she chooses a deep, rich area rug to draw the eye right to the floor. It's a perfect match to the burgundy window treatments.

Visiting this room is like taking a step back in time. Comfy, sweet, soothing and exciting all at the same time.

Sarah surely has an eye for decorating which I will share more of with you soon.

Beer Is An Inexpensive Faux Finish Glaze

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Beer is an Inexpensive Faux Finish Glaze

Michael Ross, high end plaster artist and one of my favorite clients and I can spend an hour on the phone chatting and don't even realize much time has passed. Michael is filled with information and so free to chat about his experiences, his knowledge of products, technical information and techniques and I'm all ears every time he calls. Half the time, I literally have pen and paper at hand and am jotting down tips as he so eagerly discusses them with me.

Yesterday we were talking about how adding lime to water makes plaster set up harder and somehow the conversation turned toward faux finish glazes. I sat up straight when Michael said "I use Beer as a faux glaze"..."Huh?" I replied...then he went on to tell me that using beer as a retarder for paint has been used for a really long time....

Well, I do have to check my info before I blog about it, even if I trust every word out of that man's mouth...

Sure enough, after only a hint of investigation, I found great info on using beer as a faux paint glaze. I plan to give it a whirl this weekend.....

EarthPigments.com had a great article on it.... see what they said.

Beer Glaze

Not only did they give a recipe for glaze (though I'm actually going to try it with standard acrylic paints rather than pigment powder), they also give you info on other types of glazes and waxes. Cool website! Enjoy!

Make Your Own Ornate Concrete Or Plaster Columns

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Make Your Own Ornate Concrete or Plaster Columns

I love columns! They remind me of elegant homes and ornate mansions. But shop them on line and feel your eyes pop out of your head over the prices! Even 1/2 columns can cost upward of $200.00-$1,000.00 each! Yikes! Who has that kind of money in this economy!

Now you know how fascinated I am with plaster and plaster molds so I was elated to find (and purchase) my very own column mold set. Now I can make as many as I want!

"Flextek" is a company I found that creates the most beautiful column mold set and it's so inexpensive!

This set comes with ornamental top and a more plain bottom mold and then the center mold for just $45.00 for the whole set.

But you can save money! Buy just the column crown mold for around $15.00 to use as both your top and your base, and then get the column tube for just $18.00.

The cool thing is, the tube can be cast over and over to make pieces that stack one on top of the other (morter the joints to make them stay put when using concrete and use joint compound or plaster of paris when using plaster) and create columns as tall as you wish.


I love the set I purchased and have made a table like the one shown but I used beveled glass for the top. It's fantastic and looks like it cost a fortune!

Looking to make extra money? Create columns and then sell them at craft fairs, paint or faux finish them and consign them to furniture and gift shops.

I love great finds like this and know you will too!

Create Antique Patterned Fabrics Easily

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Create Antique Patterned Fabrics Easily

Don't you love antique fabrics? Those you find in antique stores draping the backs of fine furniture, used as window coverings or table coverings. Those elegant patterned, light color fabrics, lightly tinged with age.

You can create the look of beautiful antique fabrics yourself with a stencil, fabric resist and darkly brewed tea. What you wind up with is a piece of fabric with a white patterned design that takes on the look of slightly discolored, aged fabric.

Any white or off-white fabric makes beautiful "antiqued" look fabric. My favorite to use is muslin because it's durable enough to make pillows, recover chairs or create beautiful table coverings with. Not only that, it's very inexpensive!

Silk is also great choice, especially if you would like to adapt this idea to a scarf. You just want to make sure that the fabric is very light in color and will absorb dye.

Step 1: Choose a single stencil pattern that you love. Any of our Raised Plaster Stencils works well for this since they have no overlays.

Step 2: Pre-wash the fabric in warm water and do not use fabric softener. This removes any sizing that might interfere with the process.

Iron the fabric to remove any wrinkles.

Step 3: Tape the stencil to the fabric and stencil with fabric resist and allow it to dry completely. We found a great source at Dickblick.com or check your local craft store. Repeat the stencil as many times as it takes to cover the entire piece of material.

Step 4: Brew very strong black tea. (Allowing the tea bags to sit in the boiling water for an hour or so or even overnight ensures a strong solution). This dark solution acts as your dye. You can also use any color fabric dye of your choice.

Step 5: Once the stencil resist has dried, soak the fabric in the tea solution until the desired depth of color is achieved.

Step 6: Wash the fabric in clean, warm (not hot), soapy water. This will remove the fabric resist, revealing your stenciled design in white (or the original color of the material). Allow to dry.

The fabric is now ready for use.

This is a fabulous project for kids since the fabric resist I recommend is water based. Do however, check for any label warnings.

The cool thing about fabric resist is that it can also be painted on with a brush. You can create your own beautiful designs or your children can draw flowers, geometric shapes or pictures with the resist for very unique, one of a kind material designs.

What a great gift to give to a grandparent at the holidays. Try framing your child's fabric artwork for a true keepsake.

Staging Your Home for Sale-Choose Paint Colors Wisely

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Staging Your Home for Sale-Choose Paint Colors Wisely

In our quest to now sell our northern Idaho home in the forest because of the terrible economy, it was necessary to jump on a project we had no intention of doing until later:
Painting the lower level concrete floor.

As each of us has time, we take the 7 hour drive to Sandpoint, Idaho to work on our house.
A few weeks ago, friend husband had time for a trip, when I had to stay home and work in the office.

He mentioned that he had completed the chore of painting the basement floor. My eyes widened and a nervousness came in to my voice as I gently asked: "What color did you paint it honey?" (my eyelashes batting up and down).

GREEN he said! I felt the shiver run up my spine and my heart seemed to stop momentarily. "GREEN?" I asked as politely as I could (envisioning the expansive space now looking like a football field).

Last week, I ventured to the house alone, since he couldn't go at the same time and as I traversed the stairs and flipped on the light to the lower level of our beautiful home, there it was: The football field I had envision.

A massive, brilliant green floor now stared me the face, begging to be re-done.

My original plan (which I mentioned to him) was to faux finish the floor in 3 tones of brown, use my Raised Plaster Royal Anne Stencil repeated in to a very large medallion in the center of the room in black and gold paint, then to varnish it to high gloss.

Telling him it had to be re-done was not the easiest thing to do, but he swallowed his pride over the good job he had done and reluctantly agreed with me.

When staging your home for someone else to purchase, you truly must stick with neutral colors. No brilliant colors, no "funkiness", no weird wallpaper or cartoons on the walls. The more plain it is, the easier it will be to sell.




If someone would have seen that brilliant green floor, their first thought would be what a painfully laborious expense it would be to have to re-paint it.

So think carefully when choosing the paint colors for your "for sale" home, and do yourself a favor; Do it just "once".

Creative Artwork Display Ideas

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Creative Artwork Display Ideas

Art is such a strong part of my life that I see it in everything that comes in to my field of vision. Framed or un-framed, artwork can set the mood of a room instantly, and creative lay outs can be fun!

First, lay your photo or art collection on the floor. I try to match frames and frame colors as much as possible to keep a uniform look. The montage of art then appears to be a collection rather than just a hodgepodge of mismatched pieces.

By laying them all out on the floor, you have the option of playing with your lay out before hanging it.

A very contemporary look is to simply hang pictures in a single row, evenly spaced apart.

More stylish layouts can include frames of various sizes laid out in to a square or rectangle.

If you have a large space to cover and have tall ceilings and little artwork, try purchasing a long length of wide velvet ribbon in a color that coordinates with your room.
Two to three feet above where you want the artwork to hang, attach a decorative curtain tie back. Fold the ribbon exactly in half. Tie the ribbon around the tie back at the half way point.

Hang the artwork and allow the ribbon to drape around the edge of the frame or pin slightly back with thumb tacks and let the frame cover the tacks.

This is a great way to take up space, shorten the height of the wall and eliminate the need for lots of artwork to cover a space.

I also love displaying paintings or large, framed photographs on easels in large rooms. Set it up in a corner or next to the fireplace. It serves to act as yet another piece of furniture in some instances.

More creative display ideas can be found at ehow.com