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.

Annie does it again!

If you have not heard about Annie Sloan and her wonderful books and line of paints, waxes and lacquer.  Her paints hit the US market in July of 2010 and it is quite the rage amongst professional and DIY painters.  Everything that "they" say is true.  You don't have to prime before you use it.  It looks like real French(laden with lead) lime paint although it is completely green and low VOC, miraculous!  And the colors are perrr-fect.


For most people here the French look that Annie has made famous and attainable never gets tired.  New Orleans is a city FULL of Francophiles.  This chalky painted look works well with the architecture and the few pieces of furniture that you have inherited or acquired from your Mother In Law.  I would say about 80% of my clients come to me to get new furniture or built in cabinets to look old, flaky and crusty.  Needless to say since I found this paint last summer I have been using it way more than visiting my friends at Helm.  


Another wonderful little bit about the paint is that it is distributed through out Northern America from New Orleans by Jolie Designs! 


I have used this paint quite a bit since I have discovered it and have been guilty of NOT posting my before/after photos.


The most recent time that I used it was to make some improvements for a young family in a craftsman cottage.  They have outgrown their digs but they are making it work until they bust out of it completely.  The last project at their home to tackle was this fireplace, mantle and built in bookshelves around it.

Before

After

Annie saved the day once again!  

If you have taken a look at Annie's colors the backs of the bookcases are painted "Paris Grey."  This color just might be the world's most perfect grey, not to drab or industrial and perfect at any time of day.  The mantle, columns, cabinets and shelves are "Old White" with a little glaze faux dirt and some of Annie's signature Soft Wax(don't get me started on this stuff,  I could do a whole post on paste wax alone, an obsession sickness of mine).  

I even painted and marbled(with Annie's paint and some raw pigments) the ceramic tile surround and hearth surrounding the fireplace.  I wanted to offer the client a low-cost way to "live" with that tile since they spend a lot of time in this room and the hunter green ceramic tile wasn't cutting it.

I promise to be better about taking before/after pictures!  The power of paint is endless, I am confident that I can show you that!

Failing miserably

Monday was my first full day back at work since the birth of my daughter.  The job was to add to some stenciling I had done on a four poster bed when I was about 7 months pregnant.  I only agreed to take on this job in my state because the client's home was actually closer to the hospital where I would soon deliver my hot tamale of a little girl than my own home!  


This is a great little job for the blog: a vintage Herendon four poster, black lacquered bed that my client did not want to replace but was purchased when it was en vogue to have suits of furniture that all matched.  Slowly but surely she is painting and replacing pieces to modernize the look of her home.  I am using Annie Sloan Chalk Paints for the job as well as stencils from Cutting Edge Stencils, so indeed a very different look than her previous Herendon Asian-inspired theme.  The client is very happy because we have been able to achieve a very feminine "Marie Antoinette" look without her bedroom feeling heavy and overly "done".  Thanks to the simple lines of the once Asian-styled bed, some chalk paints and light, tone on tone stencils have done the trick.  This has been one of the best before and afters I have done thus far while living in New Orleans, can't wait to post!


I have to admit that it is February(and almost Mardi Gras for New Orleanians) and already I am failing miserable at my resolutions to write to you followers more often.


I would like to confess that I have seen Bryan Batt twice this week!  The first time in the bank on Monday on the way to my job, and the second was tonight!  I was in Whole Foods checking out, I wasn't going to tell him in stalker fashion how much I loved his book but I was thinking it and I did have Alice with me in her baby sling and he commented on how cute she was and then I had to tell him how his book made my year and visual archives.  Confessing this to you my dear readers keeps me on my toes.  


I wish a great weekend to all!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and...

Introducing

Alice McCully Mead

November 15, 2011

7 pounds, 5 ounces, 20 inches long

Chair and wall behind painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and Wax
All photos Twirl Photography, New Orleans

Wouldn't life be worth the living

Wouldn't dreams be coming true

If we kept the Christmas spirit

All the whole year through?

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I hope all of my readers are enjoying a wondrous Holiday season.  One of my resolutions is to be a more regular blogger in 2012.