Shimmery silver

A shimmery silver finish looks cool and refreshing on these hot, humid days! There are three main ways to achieve it.

This is a fab silver foil finish done by a Chicago decorative artist. The basecoat color is a silver metallic paint which does not need to have 100% coverage. You ask why not just the metallic paint? The foil adds depth that is just not obtainable with paint only. It is preferable to apply foils onto a similar colored basecoat to eliminate skipped areas from being so obvious.

Notice how the silver foil reflects colors in the room; here the lights are turned on and now it reads gold. The next photo is without the lights on and reads silver. 
 

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This exquisite room was designed by Juan Montoya for the 2009 Kips Bay Showhouse. The decorative painter, Peter Tachkov, striaed Venetian plaster (no easy feat, believe me), followed by a sealer and silver metallic paint, the second option for a silver finish. The striae gracefully add to the metallic shimmer.

NY Spaces   Photo by Peter Margonelli

NY Spaces   Photo by Peter Margonelli

NY Spaces   Photo by Peter Margonelli

This unique mural (sorry- the picture is not in focus) uses silver metallic paint as the background and the trees are painted in a matte paint on top.

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Here is a silver and black crackle finish from a decorative painter in Athens, Greece. The basecoat is a black paint, followed by the crackle size and then metallic paint.

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The same finish was employed on this fireplace.

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I truly admire this decorative painter's beautiful ceiling. He used silver (and gold) leaf, the third way to obtain the silver shimmer. Lots of careful measuring and calculations were certainly necessary. What a grand ceiling this is in the pool room!  

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Which would you prefer?

For your consideration, here are four very different ways to feature your walls. They range from very rough luxe to barely there. 

Which direction would you prefer?

To begin, this is the rather unprocessed, rough look. Believe me, I have seen some wonderfully patinaed walls after removing wallpaper and wondered why go further? This look has been featured in commercial spaces for a while now. In the home? Hmmm...

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Here is a distressed wall treatment that looks charming. It certainly recreates the "timeworn country chateau" look.

Photo by Gus Schmiege in Country French magazine

This Venetian plaster is soft, matte and barely there. It could be featured anywhere.

Photo by Edmund Barr

This fabulous wall treatment is totally going for it! The oversize pattern, the color and the gloss: not easy to achieve! When doing a lacquered wall, the walls must be in perfect condition as the gloss highlights every imperfection.

Designer: Marshall Watson  Decorative Painter: Judy Mulligan

What wall treatments do you prefer?

Just paint? Flat? Glossy?

A wall finish?

Yummy plaster

If you want to see a Venetian plaster finish done with an excellent technique, here it is. Notice the lack of obvious trowel marks, the beautiful stencil and the tiny star repeated throughout. The plaster was applied by decorative painter Judy Mulligan, working with the talented NYC designer, Marshall Watson.

Photo by Keith Scott Morton

The Prussian green Venetian plaster, an Italian synthetic plaster containing ground marble dust, was hand-troweled. The small stars throughout and custom, ivory paisley stencil were inspired by the work of the German architect, Karl Freidrich Schinkel. The final coat was a tinted, natural beeswax that was burnished to a marvelous sheen. Not only does this add a protective coat, but it also adds a great depth and patina to the finish.

Photo by Keith Scott Morton

A slightly better view of the custom stencil.

Photo by Keith Scott Morton

Would you consider a Venetian plaster finish for your home?

Weekend favorites

Weekends mean fun and favorite things to me. A couple of days off automatically boosts my spirits!

Here are a few of my favorite images and inspirations.

I saw this charming set of cafe doors in Paris, which inspired me…

to create this plaster finish for a client’s powder room:

 

French Indochine finish

In France, this is a must-see store to visit for me. I even love their print ads!

In the book, French Style at Home by Sebastien Siraudeau, I saw this damask settee and

  

actually based this metallic damask finish on it for a living room. Six panels of varying widths were completed and framed (frames are not on yet here) with molding.

My favorite way to choose a finish for a client is to have them bring me their inspirations;  I’ll take it from there and dream and experiment till we nail it!

Monochrome

...as in the book, Monochrome, by Paula Rice Jackson. I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from this quietly elegant book on one way to use color.

While I love color, especially how Mother Nature combines them, there is something soothing and exciting when you walk into a room and you just feel the balance and harmony of the subtle nuances of color.

The funny thing about using one color is that it takes just as much attention to detail as it does when using a range of colors.

Designer: Nancy Corzine

Designer: Vicente Wolf

Designer: Vicente Wolf

The marble wall is beautiful, wouldn't you agree?

Designer: John Saladino

The Venetian plaster walls in these photos are so...well, you just want to touch them! These monochrome walls are inspiring!

Designer: Philippe Starck

 

Designer: Philippe Starck

A glossy ceiling? Really?

One of the widely followed home design maxims is to avoid the glossy ceiling. Flat paint it is! And most of the time, the ceiling is white (a totally different subject).

I would like to differ.  I love the shiny ceiling! The way it reflects the room and makes is seem more spacious. It amplifies the available light and gives the ceiling a much lighter feel.  The glossy effect can have a full range of finishes, from the imperfect to the mirror-smooth.

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However, it does need to be pointed out that a high gloss finish will highlight any flaws in the surface. If absolute perfection is important to you, then either go flat or first have a plasterer / finisher skimcoat the ceiling so that it's smooth. Then the painter (you?) can roll on the finish coats.

I happen to believe that the imperfect ceiling surface adds character! If you don’t mind a little waviness or imperfections, then a high gloss paint, a metallic paint, metallic leaf or Venetian plaster can add a beautiful shimmer to lift the room.

 

Elle Decor Photograph by Eric Piasecki

Elle Decor Photograph by Eric Piasecki

If you're going to use paint for as smooth a finish as possible, you should use a foam or short-napped roller and try to keep a wet edge. Coarse naps leave texture, and a dry edge can leave visible lap marks. If you use a metallic paint or metallic glaze, try the microfiber rollers for metallic paint. And add a paint “extender” for additional “open time” that allows you to roll on the paint with more ease and slows down the drying time.

These glossy ceilings are to die for:

Metropolitan Home, Larry Laslo Designs

Veranda magazine Photograph by Peter Vitale

Silver leaf ceiling: John Saladino- Style by Saladino

In case you're wondering...

I'll be demonstrating 5 finishes at McDhurries tomorrow in Rocky River, Ohio:

-simple glazing,

-last step with a Venetian plaster's metallic, translucent topcoat to add depth to the plaster,   

-Chinoiserie stencil using Lusterstone in a cool, very French combo of deep amber gold and orchid lavender

-Modello filled with a shimmery silver/white texture over a creamy yellow Venetian plaster

-Foil finishes- am bringing metallic foils and special "faux finished" foils that aren't even out yet! 

All of these finishes can be applied  in your home or business and are also covered in various classes taught at my studio.

Am looking forward to meeting with you and discovering what you are interested in!

For more info, go to: http://shop.cleveland.com//ROP/Ads.aspx?advid=769741&adid=8049754