Decorating With Class

Wall and Ceiling Plaster Repair

We've all encountered it at one time or another; the dreaded repair job of a wall or ceiling.
But help is available for we "do it yourself" creatures who would rather don our work clothes and muster up some elbow grease to save what would cost hundreds of dollars for a pro to do these chores for us.

The more educated you are on the task you are about to perform, the easier and quicker it will go with less mistakes.

Check out this all important website for a complete information on repairing wall and ceiling plaster problems: Plaster Wall Ceiling Solutions.

How to deal with fixed interior color challenges Part 2

In yesterdays post I told you about a neighbor who faced brilliant orange Formica counter tops in her home. Raising little ones on a single mother's salary didn't allow her the budget to replace those counter tops. To her, (as it would be to me), living with those counter tops would be nearly unbearable!

If you face the same sort of dilemma with Formica, or even with ceramic tile, there is a great solution and not at all difficult. Faux finish them! The technique is the same for both surfaces.

The counter tops in our Everett, Washington home were white and very poorly done. We will replace them before we sell the house in 2009 to move to our home in Idaho, but I didn't want to do that until we were ready to put it on the market.

Could I stand the poor glue job one more day? Not a chance. So while friend husband was on a business trip to Italy, I faux finished them to a pale, but rich looking granite. The difference it made was incredible! Here's how:   
Step 1) Go on the Internet and find photos of granite that appeal to you and match your decor colors. Print out a sample sheet to go by.

Step 2) Examine the photo closely. Real granite typically consists of a main, over-all color with "blotches" or dots of secondary colors. Decide what would be the base (background color) would be and the two or three secondary colors. For instance, my granite choice required a deep gold background and dark brown, white and gold as secondary colors.

Counter Before:

As you can see, the counters are plain and provide no interest to the kitchen at all.

Step 3) Clean the surface well then wipe with pure white vinegar to give it a bit more "tooth". On Formica, a very light sanding helps to make your primer adhere.

Step 4) Prime the surface with oil based primer such as BIN or KILZ. Oil based primers give you the best adhesion and durability.

Step 5) Once the primer is completely dry, you can now use water based paints to do your project. Paint the base color over the entire surface and allow to dry.

Step 6) with a brush, blot on your main secondary color (the one that seems to stand out the most in your printed sample) allowing the background color to show through.

Depending on the look of your sample (a very blotchy look or smoother, softer colors) you may want to blend as you go. My sample showed smoother, more blended colors. Yours might be quite spotty with definite "dots" of color. In that case, don't blend.

Step 7) Spatter on 2nd color either by blotting larger dots as with the first color, or by dipping a toothbrush in to the paint color then flicking the bristles with your fingers (Protect the floor and back splash or walls when performing this technique). Repeat the above processes with any further colors needed to complete the look.

Step 8) Allow the surface to dry completely then seal with 3 coats of water based Polyurethane sealer in "gloss" finish. The gloss gives you the appearance of shiny, polished granite. DO follow manufacturers directions when using all products.

The counter tops now bring out the rich color of the wood cabinets and hard wood floors in the kitchen.

There are many styles of granite to choose from and with just a bit of practice on a sample board before beginning, you can achieve basically the same look with just a paint brush and these techniques.
Here are some samples for you to consider

Counter tops done by Faux Artist Joannie Valenti for one of her clients. Notice that she even did the switch plate cover so that it disappears right in to the wall! Background color would be warm brown with darker brown secondary colors in two different shades.

Deep Green Granite. Background dark Olive green, light olive green and black as secondary colors.

Gray Granite. Pale Gray background color with dark gray, brown and white as secondary colors.

Light brown granite. Light brown background with secondary colors of dark brown and cream.

You are now getting the idea and can venture out to find just the right granite color choice for your project.

In tomorrows post I will give you detailed instructions for faux finishing your tiles.

How to deal with fixed interior color challenges

At one time or another, we have all probably lived in a home that had a dreaded feature that we just couldn't afford to replace at the moment. A neighbor of mine had bright orange Formica (and a large family that caused a limited budget), My sister has a dreadful tile pattern on the wall in her bathroom and doesn't have the time or the budget to replace it. I hear stories nearly every day about some stationary fixture in a home that causes decorating dilemmas for many of my clients.

In most cases, these obstacles can be overcome much easier than you might think! Sometimes it's a simple coat of paint, other times, it takes a little decorating savvy to make the item blend beautifully in to new surroundings.

Take our upstairs main bathroom for instance. It has a 1970's Olive green tub. The moment I saw it I hated it! (of course, that's before Olive green became the renewed decorating color of choice!).
But at the time, we had much bigger projects to tackle (like the new deck for instance), leaving the green tub much lower on the priority list.

So I decided that even though olive green was not the color I would have naturally chosen for the bath, incorporating it in to my decorating actually made the tub an acceptable part of the overall scheme of things.

The awful thing was that the bathroom tiles were white (fine to work with) but they had burgundy insets that did not coordinate with that blasted tub! What do you do in that instance? Incorporate the odd color in to the color pallet as well!

I began by painting the walls a neutral off-white for softness (they were brilliant white originally which only made that tub stand out like a sore thumb!).
I found a new bath rug that incorporated burgundy roses with an olive green background. (What a lucky find!).

My secondary decorating color was a completely neutral brown (not warm and not cold in tone).

Accent towels of Olive Green and Cream (to match the walls) were added, along with a gold wrought iron table I found for just $14.00 on sale!
 

 

 

If you are looking for something creative to use to give your towels more interest, try tying tassels around them. I found great beaded tassels at Lamps Plus here in Seattle.

Other accessories to add interest and further incorporate colors would be to bring the same color in to the treatment over the shower

For my shower treatment, I simply purchased a single sage green window curtain panel, cut it lengthwise, hemmed it and then used it as a looping swag over a curtain rod. I used a natural fiber tassel in the center to give it more interest.

Adding framed posters to the wall (try allposters.com for great prints to frame at super reasonable prices!) in gold frames brought the color of the gold wrought iron table up on to the walls.
                    

Keeping with the "Traditional" style of decorating I love, I was able to find a beautiful urn crafted of resin for just $12.00. I filled it with scented potpourri to add fragrance to the room

Instead of the standard and unsightly garbage can, I opted for a bamboo chest with a hinged lid to serve as the refuse receptacle. Because the lid can stay closed, unsightly garbage is never seen

a small, plastic garbage can sits inside.

Lastly, I added candles in holders to complete the picture

So when you are faced with something you just hate but can't change it immediately, try incorporating it's color in to your decorating.

When it comes time to really do something about that ugly tub, instead of replacing it, consider having it painted by a pro! We had our jetted tub repainted by a service for just $200.00! A small investment to turn it from the once pale LAVENDER it used to be!

As to the counter top dilemma of my neighbor; stay tuned! That dilemma is solved in my next post!