New pics ... I'll explain later.

How I spent my summer. Wow do I have a lot to be thankful for!

Sexy red Venetian plaster.

Dark brown cabinetry finds new life. 

Savoring the sight of my hubby having some fun.

Seeing my two little ninas looking for dolphins in Galveston Bay at sunset.  

Seeing this smile on my oldest. 

And a little more work ... bringing new life to this bench. The back story is this bench lives at one of the happiest, good-energy homes I have ever had the pleasure to work in for the past . 12+ years. It had been dark green and dreary for a while. No mas!

A transformational tale of the pitiful pine table

Everybody loves a love story, especially tales of transformation. Think the Ugly Duckling, Beauty and the Beast, Pretty Woman. Now while I have officially given up on men as "projects" and highly discourage it far and wide, my obsession with all other kinds of tranformation remains the key guiding force in my groovy life.

With that in mind, I want to help everybody get some vision and see past the ugly ducklings in your own lives: garage sale furniture, parental hand-me-downs, and maybe even your house you've given up on. All of these just may need some paint and inspiration!


OK, it's not so bad. But it's really not inspired either, is it?


My really cool client Susan had a feeling something could be done with this table. She really needed an outdoor dining table. Enter the transformation-obsessed person who wants to paint everything that isn't moving. Years earlier, I had painted a brand-new potting bench to look old and crusty for her powder room. She's so clever she used a bucket for the sink. I sure wish my computer guy would backup my old laptop that died so I could show you a picture of it. You'll just have to take my word for it. It's super cute.

Anyway, after putting our heads together, we came up with a hammered copper top and painted legs, with some stenciling. I saw this design somewhere and had to make the stencil but it wasn't hard. All you have to do is go to Hobby Lobby and get the clear sheet of stencil plastic. Trace your design using a Sharpie and then cut it out with an X-Acto knife. 


These candlesticks were an inspiration.

And, I had just finished working in this bank.
That's hammered copper wrapped around the bottom.

So anyway, this is how the table turned out. When Susan emailed me a picture last night, if I had had on a skirt, it would have not just blown up, it would have blown off. I delivered it in the dark and never got a chance to see it on her patio, in good light. I think it's even prettier at her house than it was at mine while I was painting it.



It's my new favorite thing.

 Now I am seriously on the prowl for an old pitiful table to paint for myself. You can so do this. And if you have any questions, just ask!!

Mondays are not all bad

After an inspiring weekend day trip seeing beautiful things with the beautiful people in the beautiful Hill Country, and after an awful back-to-reality Monday morning, I prayed my way through my day well enough to put together this metallic plaster ceiling.  Maintaining the creative groove isn't always easy when the realities of life like dirty dishes and crabby kids crash into my chi. 

Thank God for my work!!! Yes, my scaffold gave me fits, but made the job much easier than moving a ladder around, at least once I adjusted it to the right height. That isn't real easy when you're working alone. There were a few times when I was tempted to say screw-it and go get my ladder.

But the end result made me really, really happy. It was exactly what this dining room needed, just as I suspected (and suggested). I love it when people are open to my big ideas and then I get to put them into action. It happens just every so often ... not near enough, but just enough to keep me going.

If only I could implement some of these big ideas at my house ....

Ahhhh romance … with a faux flair of course!

Ahhhh, Valentine's Day. That day we remember our lives are supposed to be infused with peace and love, and mostly aren't. With kids and work and the everyday hectic pace of life, some of us forget to surround ourselves with romantic touches that can comfort our souls and make our hearts feel good, regardless of whether we have anyone to romance. As a decorative painter and faux finisher, much of the romance I create is, alas, for other people.

Here's a look at some beautiful interiors I've just come across on the web. These beautiful images are courtesy of House Beautiful for MSN Lifestyle. I picked my favorites, let me know what you think! 

 We all spend so much time in the kitchen, why not make it the most romantic room in your house? Here, artist Michael Duté uses a blue-and-white design to create a light-hearted, almost whimsical sophistication to a kitchen. A much-coveted farmhouse sink, below casement windows and marble counters make it justcountry enough, but not too much. Although it might take me a while to find my way, I think I could get used to hidden appliances like the Sub-Zero drawer refrigerator, which lets the super sexy stove and decorative walls get all the attention.

The blue on the walls reminds me of a beautiful French blue glaze I applied over StucoLux in a teeny tiny powder room. It was gorgeous (and the client's idea!) I have the smartest clients.



 In this fancy French-inspired living room, what gets me excited are the faux finishes! Now I can't be certain, but I'm almost 100% that the fireplace is a faux limestone. It just doesn't look real enough to me. And though it's certainly excellent work, the grout lines seem a bit too neat and flat. Of course, it could be real, who knows? I would mess it up a little and make it more "real."


Antiqued cabinetry is another favorite of mine. See the doors to the left of the fireplace? I bet they hide entertainment components. And this could be done to any old armoire. Right up front, I love how the gold makes the lamp so much more fabulous. According to the article, designer Erin Martin had the sofa is upholstered in Provence Hay, a Dintiman Design Associates hand-painted linen. I love it, especially with the furry pillow. Relaxed romance is always best, if you ask me. 

While on the subject of romance, where's a bedroom we can all dream of? 

Ok,this one may be a little too fussy and orderly for me, but I'm including it for the dreamy walls! Think shimmery custom-mixed Lusterstone, or a gorgeous Venetian plaster in blue. Even a lime-washed treatment would be fabulous – and romantic.

Here again, designer Erin Martin used a hand-stitched French needlepoint headboard from a French flea market and combined it with a new canopy bed from Ironies. I especially love the wood finish on the settee. So doable.

After a night in this dreamy bedroom, it's only right to have breakfast here:

 

I selected this picture because I love the subtle tones in what I'm pretty sure is gorgeous pricey wallpaper. I would propose a similar color scheme, but with a stencil design. The pattern could be raised, or subtly obscured with plaster. And with a stencil and paint, there's hardly the commitment to love it for the rest of your life (after it goes out of style) based on what it cost you. Once you're ready to move on, all I would need to do is paint over it with whatever has become your new favorite faux inspiration! J

 To read the entire article, and see many more images from the online article, click here:

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) 

What I liked this week …

I've decided to not let my perfectionism to keep me from blogging this year. So here's a peek at what I liked this week.

My Mom's new chair. A total impulse buy, on sale at World Market. The best part: I put it together with an allen wrench (sp?) and Bambi was the first dog to sit on it.

While some may say this was just an average chair from World Market, I must stress this chair brought new life to my Mom's living room, brightening up the space and detracting at least 20 years from the decor. My mother is certainly not one to embrace old age willingly and this chair is just as sassy as she is. Way to go, Mom!

My fake Suzani tablecloth. I completely ADORE it don't care if it is a fake Suzani tablecloth from Target. I live in a real house with completely real kids and husband (that I ADORE, of course). And just this morning I washed it in water in a real washing machine like normal people have and then dried it. Now it's back on my table all fresh and clean. I didn't buy it trying to pretend I have a Suzani. I like the pattern and the colors are my favorite colors and it disguises the dreary, too formal table.

I don't especially love my dining room table ... in this setting, as our only eating spot. Under other circumstances, I think it's lovely. It's a family heirloom but in this house, we have just one dining area. So yes, it's a little formal for daily use, but hey, it's what we have. The fake Suzani ups the fun factor.

 All this happiness of the week is sure to be surpassed by the luxury of being able to do nothing on Saturday, at least for a couple of hours while I drink coffee and snuggle with my girls. After that, my perfectionism will kick in and I'll be forced to go transform or improve something, like the laundry situation or a table I need to finish. I'll probably start by making a list. But then I'll take a nap. It's going to be a glorious weekend with few plans.

In praise of new beginnings (and get the party started already!)

Is it just me or is everyone just a little bit excited about the start of this new year?

I can't remember a time when I have felt this eager to get going, reach new heights, make lists, clean and throw away, start new projects. In fact, for the first time ever, the day after Christmas I was ready for all the Christmas decorations to GO! And as I took them all down and disassembled the tree, I reduced the bins and boxes by one HUGE bin! Yay. Did that ever feel good. So now it's on to real jobs, the paying kind  ...

I was discussing new directions with one of bestest friends today and she said maybe our newfound optimism comes from just being glad 2010 is OVER. That is how I felt about 2009, the year we were forced to come to terms with the fact that the gravy train was slowing down. My friend likened 2010 to a bad hangover.

Come to think of it, last year did feel a little bit like dehydration (monetary) and a pounding headache (fretful indecisive immobility) at times. Like hangovers, those bad feelings came to an end. We just put our noses to the grindstone and worked (drank) our way out of it. No whining allowed. Who promised the gravy train would chug on forever? We just have to be better and smarter now. I know I learned a lot last year and I'm ready to put that newfound knowledge to work!

Today, I found some pictures today of a little job I did in New Braunfels a while back and thought I'd share them. This is the kind of thing that blows my skirt up and makes me really, really happy:

Crystal and plaster and antique mirrors! Can I get an amen? Let me just say, this massive mirror is to die for. That's what makes this teeny tiny bathroom so fabulous: The mirror is enormously out of scale and some snooty designer type might snort that it's too large for the space. Someone else might say the chandelier is going to clonk someone tall right smack in the forehead. I sayWHO CARES??? I say the chandelier is rich and drippy crystal fabulous and the enormo mirror enlarges the space and distributes good energy all over the room!

If you can have this chandelier and this mirror and me to create warm and yummy champagne-colored plaster walls, why the heck not? Life is too short to live with mediocrity and it's really waaaaaay too short to worry about all the rules of convention!

Here's a close-up of the wall, the corner of the mirror, and the bead board below. I painted the bead board and trim a gorgeous warm cream from Benjamin Moore. It had been a cold, stark white with no soul.

What's worse: Above the bead board, where you now see the beautiful champagne plaster, was blue and white striped wallpaper. It was lovely and cheerful in the 90s, but we've all grown up since then, haven't we?

Love it!

Oh how I heart Fall!!!

There are no words to explain how giddy I become when we get that first "cool spell." That's what my Mom and grandfather always called what they also called the first "cold snap." For my entire life, I have been in love with September, for so many reasons. In fact, if I was the type to do such a thing, which I certainly am not, I should have named one of my daughters September.

I guess it all started when I was born in September. Every year, regardless of where we lived, a special package would come in the mail from my grandmother in Seguin. It was always something fabulous, and usually, a really cute outfit to wear in the fall. One year when I was about seven, the birthday package contained some dark purple bell bottoms -- in velvet. There was a lighter purple blouse, and a purple vest that went over the shirt. I'm telling you, I rocked that outfit as often as I could, until I wore the velvet off the knees. As you might imagine, I love fall and winter clothes much more than summer clothes. Plus, I'm modest, and prefer to leave something to the imagination, as in "clothed." I also was born to wear fall colors because of my brown hair and hazel eyes.

And then there was the start of school, which always meant school clothes! When I was growing up in Alpine, August and September were heavenly (still are!). Warm days fueled thunder storms and cooling rains. By September 25, my birthday, the temperatures would always cool down so I could wear whatever school clothes we bought at the mall in Odessa -- or at Joske's in San Antonio. This year, Mother Nature was a couple days late, but she remembered my birthday and sent some cooler temperatures all the way to Seguin.

So what does this have to do with my painted groove, interiors and design? Well, I've noticed it's not just me. Cooler temperatures signal something in us, beckoning us indoors, turning our attention to nesting and fixing up the interiors of our homes. Whether cooler weather gets us to thinking about the holidays, a fire in the fireplace, cozying up the place, I don't know, but it dependably happens.

At this very moment, I am scheming to revamp my girls' bathroom, searching for curtains for practically every room in the house, and still praying for that cream shag rug I have requested for my birthday and Christmas for at least two years. (hint, hint)

I loved this room designed by Wisteria. I generally am a color girls, so the red and black appealed to me. But the cream and gray grounds it and lends a restful quality. I have a dresser I could probably "faux" to look like that little gem being used bedside.

And I love these windows and this rolling shelf in this kitchen -- from Restoration Hardware. Why do I suddenly hate cabinets? A lack of cabinetry, definitely uppers, appears to be all the rage. Sure, upper cabinets close me in and offend my delicate sensibilities, but a kitchen like that is only practical if you have a huge butler's pantry, (which I don't). And in this particular photo and most kitchen photo shoots, you can see the faux family has no plastic Tinker Bell sandwich holders or Lisa Frank lunch boxes drying on the island.

My need for change extends to almost every room of the house. For example, I want to throw out all my furniture and get two of these chairs, in this exact color. Oh my God this would be fabulous in my house, with the cream-colored shag rug. The only problem is, I'd have to throw out my sofa and all my other furniture because they would not seamlessly mesh. Oh well.

This room below, from Restoration Hardware, is a little fancy for me and my life, but I loooove the linen-covered sofas and the warm tones coming from the fire. And four tall floor lamps at the corners of the living space? Brilliant. I love it.

Of course in my house, those lamps would fall to the tune of "timberrrrrrrr" probably in the first week. Unfortunately, or fortunately, whaterver ... we're pretty casual around here. And, there would be Littlest Pet Shop animals strategically placed all around the bases of the side tables. Now you can understand why I am somewhat insane.

So am I alone here? Is anyone else looking inward, with an eye toward spoofing up the nest?

How to find heaven while still on earth ...

Have you ever thought about what heaven will look like? We decided last week it looks like this niche. This is the kind of thing that makes me happy. It blows my skirt up and floods me with thankfulness because I am so blessed to be able to work and make money doing something that beautifies the world.

While beautification and transformation are the underlying principles in practically everything I think about, it's not that way for everyone. Sometimes we get clients who just want faux finishes because the people down the street have them, or because they saw them at the Parade of Homes. We do the amazing job and they're happy, but not in a profound way. It's more like: "Okay, I can check that off my list."

But other times, we suggest color changes and make improvements that change the way our clients actually "feel" when they are in their homes. In this house with the heavenly niche, our client was absolutely ecstatic about the glorious changes we were making in her home. She thanked us profusely, and meant it. She was the most joyful person: funny, genuine, thankful. She was a blessing to us!

Back to the heavenly niche: You must know it was a collaborative effort. My very talented angel painter friend Mary Hulin started it by skimming out the monterrey drag texture (blek!). Monterrey is just hell on fine faux finishes, but Mary made this niche as smooth as a baby's bottom. Then, a day or so later, with my neck in a permanent right-cranked cramp from the dining room ceiling, I begged to do the plaster. A straight-ahead niche was a welcome break.

It has become our new favorite finish.

Across the way, this is the dining room ceiling that right-cranked my neck and later wiped Mary out. Here's the before:

Poor little boring thing is just begging for something to be done so it can stand out and shine! You know this upgrade feature wasn't cheap and so far wasn't living up to its potential!

And after! So pretty and elegant. And worth all the paint, plaster and aggravation.

If there's a moral to the story here (and isn't there always a moral to my stories?) it has to be this: Please go find your special purpose. Whatever blows your skirt up. It may take you the rest of your life, and it isn't going to be easy, filled with nothing but peace and love and puppies. But I promise that if you look and listen you will find it.

Next up: a dreary little bathroom that has become an embarrassment.

A jig, a job, an online garage sale ...

Let's just say my painted groove has taken a jig and a jog, and a long break from blogging. An obsession with simplicity has emerged. My taste in faux finishes has changed. I want less stuff, no clutter, manageable spaces, and using our monetary resources in other ways than we have been. It's a new day and it's exciting.

In the interest of time, here's the short version: I indulged my long-time passion for painted furniture last year and began selling vintage and antique pieces at Back Alley Antiques in San Antonio. Then I met a new faux finisher friend and started collaborating on jobs with her. This made me too busy to paint furniture on a speculative basis. So earlier this week I brought all my leftover treasures home.

Now the old me would have kept them all and incorporated them into my home. New me wants to sell everything at a huge discount. That's why I'm telling y'all. If you like it, it's yours. If you need measurements, just let me know. If you like the piece but it's the wrong color or you have a better idea, you have come to the right place. I can fix it for you.

After this, it's going up for sale on craigslist, up for grabs to those "other people."

An estate auction find. Alphabet Jumble Table in metallic silver, antiqued finish $98

I am still a huge fan of Back Alley Antiques. In fact, I think it's critical to respect and incorporate older furniture and accessories in our lives because they add character and a rich energy into our homes. Nothing makes me crazier than new houses full of nothing but new furniture. But then that's another subject for another post.

"Half a Table" console with faux dark chocolate leather top $125

When my new friend Mary asked me to consider painting with her, I was a little leary. Most of the time, at least in my world, art is not a collaborative process. And, other people can get on your nerves. That's why I do what I do. I like to think, create, pray and transform -- on the job. For me the work is regenerative. I didn't want to mess that up. But as it turned out, Mary has been the best blessing. She works so hard, and is very talented. And, we laugh a lot. I have seen the error of my ways.

I really don't want anybody to buy this. $150

Petite pink, gold & chocolate antiqued side table with leopard spots $89

As a freaky perfectionist who wants to do everything, and do it perfectly, my painted furniture and antiques endeavor was nagging at me, and making me feel like a loser because I wasn't giving it my best. If there's one thing I have learned it's this: If something is bugging you, get to the bottom of it and change it! Prune it and free yourself to grow in new areas. And read Secrets of the Vine by Bruce Wilkinson.

Cool mirror from an estate auction $50

3-tier spooly table. This is just way too cute. $80

Martha Washington sewing cabinet, $40. The legs are a little "off" but it stands straight.

Princess Pilar's Naughty Chair, $50

Of course this isn't everything. I'll charge my battery and take some more pics. Leave a comment if you're interested!