Nifty Gifty

This project took me by surprise.  I ran into some old friends who are sisters and also McGehee  Alumnae at our annual December 26 happy hour.  They approached me about a gift for their mother.  They wanted to do something nice for her to remind her of a recent trip taken together to Capri, Italy. There was a door in one of the hotel rooms in which they stayed that all three loved and they wanted to recreate a similar door in their mother's condo in New Orleans.

After a few emails we came up with a plan and budget and here is the end result:

Door in a hotel in Capri, Italy: Initial inspiration

Mother's closet door in her condo: Before

Mother's condo door: After

Detail of door: center portion

Detail of door: upper portion

Unlike the Capri door this one has panels so I highlighted them with red and gold.  The elements were all hand painted and the shapes were inspired by Fortuny dress and fabric patterns.  

I really like the way this bottom element came out

Detail of the center element and aging.  I used a few coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint and glaze to put some age  on the door.

The thing that made this project wonderful is that it was a gift.  It is blog-worthy because everyone has a similar door in their home.  It was not custom made and it is not solid wood but after it's Renaissance it became a focus and an interesting element to the client's art filled condo.

With the holidays approaching get your creative juices thinking about giving a gift of a service.  Think about making something ordinary, extraordinary.  There are many ways to breathe new life into a vintage or hand-me-down piece of furniture or drab corner of your home.