When WHITE isn't WHITE

 

Our guest bath recently got a make-over.
 

The bath, with its olive-green tile and dark Jacobean wallpaper,
is now an oasis of white and beige.  

 

What was the most difficult part of the project?
 

Choosing the wall paint! 

 Despite all I know about color, 
despite all the recommendations for clients,
 despite painting mountains of furniture,
I couldn't find the right WHITE paint for my own bathroom!

 

Why?

UNDERTONES

Let's chat ......

If you've ever looked at a room and thought

"something is off"

it may be that the undertones fighting each other.

Neutral colors are funny creatures.

They are the chameleons of the paint world.

These are complex mixtures where no one color predominates,

and depending on lighting and surrounding colors,

they can take on a life of their own.

You may not see the underlying color at first,

but it's lurking.
 

 

Here's my recent experience:

We began with ANTIQUE WHITE subway tile for the bath.

To my eye, the tile was soft white...
white with maybe a whisper of YELLOW
and it looked great with the stone floor.

 

Then, the vanity arrived.

I was expecting this:

But got this.

OH NO !  OH NO!

Although described as "ANTIQUE WHITE" with a beige granite top,

it certainly wasn't.

The granite was PINKY-RED.

And the cabinet looked GREEN by comparison.

 

In one small bathroom there were three colors 
each claiming to be antique white or beige,

 

.....but they were fighting the other.

 



 

First to go, was the offending counter top.

.......and things improved dramatically.

Instantly the vanity looked better.
The GREEN calmed down.

WHY?

Because red and green are opposite one another on the color wheel.


Opposing colors create maximum contrast.
They make each other more vivid.

  

As a result, the red tones in the original counter top
magnified the green undertones in the cabinet.

Remove the red and the green undertone faded.....
it was still there, but less obvious.


WHEW!

One problem solved and on to the next:
choosing a wall color.

Again, undertones came into play.
I wanted WHITE walls....but which one?

 I painted some sample boards using a variety of white paint
from Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams,
taping each one against the tile and wall.

It was as if Goldilocks were choosing paint.
One sample was too yellow, the next too grey.
This one was a bit pink.
That one looked dirty.

Until finally one was finally just right.

Which did I choose?

Sherwin Williams #1137.
ANTIQUE WHITE.
(It has a slight green undertone)

not to be confused with
Sherwin Williams #6119
also called ANTIQUE WHITE

...but that's another story!

Two beautiful fabrics finished off the room.

Once again my friend Sherry shared her
immeasurable talent with me.
She made a wonderful valance and shower curtain
that brings a heap of style to this modest room.

Thank you, Sherry -- you're amazing! 

 

Enjoy!

 

It's always fun to paint for kids -- their enthusiasm is contagious!

So when one of the pastors at our church asked if I could help kick off a mural project,

I was glad to help.

 

The plan is to paint the hallways, foyer and classrooms in the Children's Wing.  

Whew! That's a lot of space.

 

 I chose a hallway and began painting. 

 

Here it is - beginning to end in three days

thanks to a system by CREATIVE FOR KIDS.

 

It was easy.  It was fun.

Can't beat that!

 

 

 

We purchased the Forest Background Mural Kit.

 

There were five pages of designs for trees, clouds and rocks

and instructions on how to build your scene, beginning with the sky and grass.

 



 

Each element is color coded with paints from Sherwin Williams. 

So it's a foolproof, paint by the number mural!  

 

The creative part is how you build your scene.

You decide where the trees and shrubs should go -

and how many to use.

 

I placed the elements based on the size of our space

and began filling it in.

 

 

 

The finishing touch is outlining the elements with a paint marker.

That really makes things POP!

 

 

 

Then there's the fun part....

the animals!

 

They are decals that you peel and stick into the scene.

The website offers many to choose from.

 

Look how perfectly matched the animals and the background painting are!

 

It's rather "Disney-esque" don't you think? 

 

 

This approach to creating children's murals is very easy for the DIY-er.

 

I'm looking forward to working with a team of volunteers

to complete the rest of the Children's Wing,

knowing that novice and experienced painters will have fun with this project.

 

 CREATIVE FOR KIDS offers a variety of themes  -

Jungle Safari, Ocean, Clubhouse, Factory as well as  Biblical,

so there's something wonderful for every child to enjoy!

 

......and no, Creative for Kids didn't ask me to recommend them.

I'm just very happy with their product and wanted to share!

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

There's lot and lots of furniture painting going on!

 

This week I had the pleasure of being part of a master bedroom re-design.

The room is going through a major change
--- from Old World to Island Chic.

 

Lovely fabrics in shades of sea-glass and sunshine were chosen.
 

 

 

The furniture is 20 year-old Bernhardt. 

 It's great quality, and well worth the time and effort to paint.

Currently it is pickled oak, but over the years

 the varnish has yellowed in spots, and bleached out in others.

 

I'll paint it a soft white (SW Panda White)

and add a bit of brown lining for definition.

 

 

Usually I paint furniture in the workshop,
because I use a spray gun.
It speeds the process and gives a smooth finish.
 

But this time the pieces were too large to move easily,

so the client asked me to paint on site.

 

Oh my!

 

Armed with new drop cloths, I carefully began working on the cabinets.

 

 

The furniture had classic lines - not a lot of embellishment.
I was concerned that the armoire, when painted solid white
would look like a refrigerator standing in the corner of her room.

The door panels needed something, but what?
 

Inspiration comes from surprising sources.

Mine came from a tissue box.

 

 

 

Hmmm....this trellis design could work.....

 

Painted in green it would go well with the new fabrics,

and carry some of the color onto the furniture.

 

So here we go:

Draw the design on to some transparency film

and lightly trace it onto the doors.
Begin in the center and work to the edges to balance the design.
Keep things level!

 

 

 

Add water to your paint and paint the pattern

without worrying about brush marks and variation in color.

 

 

 

 

With the same watered-down paint,

wipe the perimeter of the pane.

 

 

 

New hardware will be the final touch for the furniture facelift.

It's currently on order

and will look something like this:

 

 a combination of oil-rubbed bronze and clear knobs.

 

  

In a few weeks the entire room should be transformed.

 

The terra cotta walls will be soft blue-green.

The heavy drapery will be gone.

The accessories will be lighter.

 

Stay tuned for a follow up. 

 

Enjoy! 

 

Silver Bassinet

A dear friend will soon become a first-time-grandmother
when her son and lovely new daughter-in-law have their baby in June.

Seems like only yesterday he was giving his mother fits
with his crazy, dare-devil feats like jumping off the roof into the swimming pool
with his younger brother in tow.

"I hope someday you have a son just like you!" she would caution.
....and now he will.
 

With the baby's arrival quickly approaching, I wanted to find a special gift,
but didn't know what. 

Then something wonderful appeared in a most unexpected place......a yard sale!  

 

 I simply couldn't resist this wicker bassinet.
Could you?

 

Driving home with my treasure, I had second thoughts.

Does anyone use a bassinet any more?

Would the new parents even want one? 
Is it hopelessly démodé?
 

So I asked the Daddy-to-be what he thought.
When he told me they wanted the baby to sleep in their bedroom
but didn't have a cradle yet......

  I knew this would be perfect.
 

Painting the bassinet Antique Silver was an easy decision.
The color is gender neutral, very stylish and fits neatly into their decor.

Armed with two cans of spray paint and a lovely spring day,

the bassinet was painted in less than a hour.




 

 

I turned to the internet to find bedding
because there wasn't enough time to sew my own. 
 

That's when I saw the same bassinet at Pottery Barn Kids.....
and learned what a great bargain I'd found. 

Ultimately I purchased some black and white toile bedding,
then carried the bassinet outside to snap a photo in the garden.

Don't you love seeing the fruit trees are in full flower?
Truly, this is my favorite time of the year.

 

Back inside, I added some netting and a bow,
getting it ready for delivery on Saturday.

 

Voila!

Now, we wait for the "guest of honor" to arrive.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Bathrooms: working with what you have

Last week I painted for client who wanted to change her bathroom décor. 

 She didn't want an extensive renovation, just an update. 

 

Down came the wallpaper. 

 
Could I help her choose new color for the room,

 and do some decorative painting on the walls?

All the hard surfaces in the room were beige.
Beige bathtub, beige toilet, beige sink and beige floor tile.

With all that neutral color,
you'd think it would be easy to choose a new paint color for the room.
 

But no..... 

The beige had   PINKY-PEACH  undertones.

So I had to select very carefully.

Because the floor tile and the pickled cabinets had a whisper of taupe,

I reached for an old friend.

 

Benjamin Moore Edgewood Grey (HC  173) to the rescue!  

It magically de-emphasized the pink undertones of the tile,
and gave the room a more sophisticated, neutral appearance.
 

I recommended painting the walls and ceiling the same color,
while changing the trim in the room to a cleaner white. 
 

 Sherwin Willams Snowbound  (#7004) was perfect.

 

With the wallpaper down, there was a "clean canvas" to work with.

 I painted faded damask effect that looks a lot like.......

 OLD WALLPAPER!

 

 

 

 

When you are picking a color for your walls,

it's REALLY important to look at the undertones of the

permanent fixtures in that room.

 

You may have beige tile with rosy undertones like my client.

 

 

 

        Benjamin Moore's Edgecomb Grey may work well for you, too.

 

Another complimentary color is  Benjamin Moore Shaker Beige HC 45.

 

 

Perhaps sometime soon we should talk about how to choose a paint color.

So many of us have spring fever - decorating fever, that is ---

but we don't want to make a mistake in choosing color.

 

Would that be helpful to you?

Enjoy!

Posh Nurseries

It's always fun to work on baby's rooms,

especially when designer Mary Grace of Baby Bellagio

is in charge.

 

The furniture is from Bratt Décor,  

and the fabrics are always pure Mary Grace   .... lavish and lush.

With the crib's scroll design as inspiration,  I painted each wall with a shimmering gold motif.

 

Every room I've helped with is equally extravagant,

fit for a prince or princess!

 

 



 

Here are two more Mary Grace designs. 

 

 

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Chic Sheep

(forahinmotion.org)

What do you do when you find the perfect painting,
but its size is too small?

That problem was faced last week
when Miss Sue found a charming sheep portrait.

Last season the cow I painted for a mutual friend
 sparked Sue's imagination and she wanted her own beast-y.

While I was happy to paint one for her,
I knew that my style wouldn't be quite right for Sue's home.

She needed  Bold  -  Bright  - Artsy

... I'd seen just the thing for her at a local antique shop.

So, off we went.

Who could resist this sweet face and soft eyes?
It was love at first sight.
And Eunice (Ewe-nis) came home.

But the 20"x20" size wasn't quite right.
Larger would be better.

Eunice is painted on a piece of distressed plywood.
Because the painting is folk-art and rustic,
we decided to mount it on a simple black board.
No frame.  No fancy moldings.
Just a plain 5" border around her face

I had a board in the workshop that work.
Cut to 30"x 30", I quickly painted it black,
and with a dollop of construction adhesive,
Eunice was "framed."

But wait!
What's that?

Are those wings on Eunice's back?
Murphy, the cat, seems to think so.

 

 

 

 Oh, dear.
They'd have to go.

With silent apologies to the local artist who painted Eunice,
I blackened out the wings.

....ah, much better!

 Eunice spent a few days on my mantle
before I delivered her to Miss Sue.

I grew fond of her.

Reluctantly, I let Eunice go to her new home,
promising myself that soon I'd paint my own beast-y.

 

Here's Eunice in her new home. 
She looks very content, doesn't she?

....unless of course mutton is on the menu!

 

P.S.  I just learned that a moose, now officially named Morris,
has joined Sue's menagerie.
He's a handsome fellow
and came with his own set of shutters for a great display!

 

Enjoy!