Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Mike's Completed Bon Air Home: A House Tour

So....wanted to finally show you the rest of the house
 I finished up last week for my client, Mike.
He bought this sweet little brick rancher in Bon Air.
Take a tour with me to see 
what it looked like when he purchased it,
and then we'll walk through again after the changes!!!
Here's the front of the house....
The wrought iron column and railing..
and front door,  are painted in a rusty burgundy.
The front foyer has neutral walls above the chair rail,
with a glossy white below...
I guess the previous owners were trying to simulate wainscoting, 
but to me, the high gloss walls ware just weird...
Walking into the living room, 
the fireplace wall is panelled and painted neutral.
The fireplace brick is sort of strange: 
The hearth is natural brick, 
but the wall brick has been painted in some faux sandy textured stuff.
Old brass glass doors...
Here are the other walls in the living room, 
painted in the same beige.
From the living room, we walk into the dining room..
which is painted in a pale green...
And I've already blogged about this strange, dark
panelled room that is off the dining room...
The kitchen has nice clean white cabinets
 and new granite,
but the cool green paint color is just not jiving 
with the warm tones in the granite.
See what I mean?
Most of the trim in the hallway and other rooms is unpainted,
stained and dark.
The back bedroom is painted in a mid tone blue...
Sheers are on all the windows in the house...
And as I blogged about before, 
this closet door is the only solid interior
door in the WHOLE house...
The rest are all paned glass doors, with sheers...
to the bedrooms, the BATHROOMS.
Very strange...
(The builder must have gotten a great deal 
on a lot of glass paneled doors, you think?)

Now......
come along and see the house 
after SheShe has completed her magic!
WELCOME!
The wrought iron column and railing at the exterior  entrance
were painted black to match the light fixture and shutters on the front of the house.
I painted the front door in this punchy green,
Benjamin Moore's Terrapin Green.
Doesn't it just make you smile?
I repainted the foyer walls, 
using SW Fleur de Sel above the chairrail,
and BM Coastal Fog below.
Instead of going with the same white trim paint for the doors,  
I painted them in Behr's Starless Night, 
a deep navy blue. 
How beautiful these doors are now with the graphic detail 
of the dark navy against the panes of open glass!
And for all the doors where privacy was needed - bathrooms, bedrooms -
I wallpapered beadboard inserts to cover the glass panes
and simulate wood doors.
 I created an accent wall in the living room.  
I painted the fireplace wall in BM Boothbay Gray 
and added a black iron fireplace screen.
See how the white mantle now becomes a focal point?
The other three walls in the living room 
were left in the original neutral color.
I hung artwork, 
and added grommet window treatments to the large picture window..
Here it is all dressed with Mike's furnishings.
 I also painted the brick inside the mantle and on the hearth 
in a deep taupe, BM Texas Leather.
SO much better.......
Mike had this big chunky floral chair that didn't really
go with the rest of the room....
but it was so comfortable...
So I made a casual slipcover from an ethnic bedcover...
Then added lots of throw pillows...
 To warm up the wood and leather pieces in the room.
Moving along into the dining room...
I repainted the walls here and in the kitchen..

BM Fernwood Green has enough yellow 
so that it works great with the
dining room furniture...

and the granite in the kitchen.
See the difference?
Much improved.
I purchased a natural fiber rug 
and sheer grommet curtains
to finish off the dining room.
And here is the finished panelled room off the dining room.
The "moroccan haven," that I blogged about 
last week.
Using similar greens in the checkerboard floor and the rug
really make it feel like it belongs off the dining room!
The bedroom was painted in BM Alaskan Husky,
a silvery pale blue.  
And all the wood trim was painted in BM White Dove.
White panels with grommets were hung from both windows.
These are great because they're easy to open and close, 
and you don't have to invest in additional curtain rings.
I purchased a natural toned wood platform bed
that goes perfectly with Mikes' nightstand.
And dressed it in new monotone bedding.
It's all ready for house guests!
Above the bed I hung some of Mike's
Civil War memorabilia.
And finally, the back porch and porch swing 
were dressed with yet more
colorful pillows made by moi, 
and this fun whimsical outdoor rug.

What a great home!
What a great project!
Thank you, Mike!




Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Throw-Away Chest Get's a Chinese Red Treatment

 Here's another piece that showed up on my sidewalk
this weekend... 
courtesy of Molly Buford!
It was an old family piece, 
and a relative wanted to just throw it out.
Molly said, NO!!!!
I'll take it to Sheila!
God Bless her!
A short old oak chest....
 With a few issues, 
but so what!
 I slapped on some wood putty where the top had veneer problems, 
and then sanded it smooth.
 I decided on Annie Sloan's Chalkpaint in EMPEROR'S SILK....
a nice, rich chinese red.
 The beauty of this paint...........
is that NO prepwork is necessary!
 You just wipe it off a bit, and start painting...
 Here it is with two coats...
 And here it is after I distress sanded, 
and added waxes: 
First clear and then dark.
See all the crusty little edges?
I'm calling her "Molly B."
Isn't she sassy?