Saturday, January 22, 2011

Change is good! Or, one transformation leads to another ...

Change is good, for people and our spaces. In this particular case, my client (and friend) wanted her living room to feel warm and comfortable. She wanted people to want to come into her already beautiful home, sit down and stay awhile. A previous remodel had improved upon "builder white" flat walls with a three-color glaze. Everyday sheetrocked columns had been covered in tumbled marble tile.

Ten years later, my client wanted to warm it up. She had purchased new, comfy furniture, and built-in shelves on either side of the fireplace had been replaced. There was a new mantel and a generously sized TV over the fireplace. Yet, the frosty walls and cool gray tones of the columns were killing the comfy vibe.


New oversized furniture and rustic lamp
with a linen shade are much more casual.





















To begin the transformation, I suggested we bring down the 12-foot ceiling with a warm-toned metallic plaster. A new scaffold I bought myself for Christmas amazingly straddled this enormous sofa so I was able to work on the ceiling without moving the furniture out.

New ceiling is Antique Parchment Lusterstone,
a product from Faux Effects.

But as you might imagine, one project leads to another. And for me, that's not a bad thing. The ceiling turned out so warm and wonderful that my client wondered whether the walls were crying out for a warmer paint color. No problem. We needed to work with the new sofa, and the new ceiling. I didn't even flinch when I painted over my original 10-year-old glaze job with plain old vanilla paint in an eggshell finish. It's Sherwin Williams Basket Beige, to be exact. It blends beautifully with the Antique Parchment Lusterstone, and the sofa, but isn't matchy-matchy. Beautiful white crown moulding defines both perfectly.

After all this beautiful toasty transformation, the columns that had been wrapped in tumbled marble tile stuck out like ... well let's just say they needed a little help, in the form of a wash.

The columns before. Nice, but too cool.





















A tinted Lime Wash solved the problem.
It dries lighter.  



The columns now blend in beautifully. And yes,
the white ceiling fan is on its way out. 
  


The change has been amazing and provides a perfect example of what I love most about what I do ... a completely transformed space and a finite sense of accomplishment. Although, from what I understand, the blue walls in the kitchen are now screaming for something warmer ...

(to be continued) 

6 comments:

A Thrifted Market said...

Great work!! Love the burlap lampshade..just sayin. It always starts like that..just a little and before you know it your makin over the whole house. Gotta love that! Miss ya..
Tiff

Lavender Chick said...

Absolutely fabulous!!!!

HARBORTH PHOTOGRAPHY said...

Sami... I love your blog ..... I cant wait for your next post....... So not to be impatient but..... :)

Cooking Mama and Chef Jamie said...

Hey Sami (this is Shelly Blair), I love the transformation! We have some white rock on the outside of our shop and I wanted a warmer tone to go with some upgrades we plan to do soon. Would the tinted lime wash work for rock that is outside in the elements? I have never seen anything like that done before and was afraid I would just have to paint it or live with it. Thanks for sharing your work.

W. H. "Hank" Jordan said...

Indeed, the new warmer (and successfully-complimentary) colors, with contrasting white, make this a very welcoming room. Great work, Sami!

Painted Groove Girl said...

Shelly ... yes I think you can use the lime wash outside but I'll make sure. And yes Hank, white crown moulding just makes everything look better and pop!