Wall Stripes: Subtle or Circus? »

It is becoming popular to paint stripes on walls, and rightfully so. The technique has the same feel as wallpaper, but in my opinion, looks better and is easier to replace. While noticing this trend, I have also noticed the good, the bad, and the ugly.

My theory on wall stripes is: less contrast is better. It is easy for your striped wall to morph into a circus-tent-feel if you aren’t cautious with the colors. For example: painting a baby boy’s room - it might sound cute to paint the walls blue and brown. Naturally, blue and brown look good together, but on the walls it will be too intense. Instead opt for dark blue stripes and light blue stripes, a less-contrast option,  to avoid that circus look.

My favorite stripe effect? Sheen on sheen. Once, I had my bedroom painted a celery green, and the stripes were flat celery, and shiny celery. It was subtle, charming, and non-invasive. This can be achieved by painting the first wall color in a flat sheen, and masking off and painting the stripes with glaze or with the same color in a satin sheen.

Here’s what I mean by ‘the good’:

Here’s what I mean by the bad {and ugly}:

Of course, everyone has their own tastes and opinions, and this is just mine. This is a rule I like to stick to, and it hasn’t failed me yet!

image credits {in order of appearance):

kris omalley
shannon nicole design
igloodgn.blogspot.com
garay artisans
bookhuntersholiday.wordpress.com
mobcreative.ca
brenna-girl.blogspot.com
www.mackpainting.com

How to Pick a Wall Color, Part II »

My sister, decorative painter and interior designer, was featured in this month’s issue of Sunset Magazine. In the article, she helps Sunset’s editor, Allison Arieff, choose a wall color for her dining room. Allison’s sister is daring with color and picks palettes on a whim and it always turns out great. Allison has had bad luck with colors, but was ready to take the plunge. Here is an exerpt from the article:

So what does Kaye suggest? Well, it’s somewhat ironic, really, because in this case, the color consultant’s cure-all is the very antithesis of color. “You have a lot of color in your furniture and accessories,” Kaye observes. “Most people are afraid to do that. But for the dining room, I’d pick a color you can start to tie things together with, something to enhance things. I’m thinking a pale shade of gray.”

You can read the full article at Sunset Magazine, and learn more about Shannon Kaye at ShannonKaye.com.

How to Pick a Wall Color »

Picking a wall color seems to stump everybody. I get asked to pick wall colors frequently and I always use the same logic to pick the right wall color to suit a client/friend/family member.

Unless it’s a brand new room, I don’t pick any random color in a deck. It has to make sense. I will look around the space, and find things that the homeowner is most fond of that has patterns or colors that they feel signify them and the feel of their home. This is usually a pillow, painting, rug or other piece of art. From there, I pick the wall color.

After I have chosen a hue, I can then decide the saturation. Depending on the size of the room, the feel of the home or the personality of the homeowner, I can direct how bright or dull the color should be. Here are some examples of colors that can be taken from what you already have in your home, and how you can bring them together.

Here are some examples of how I have discovered color swatches:

Here are things I have learned along the way:

1. The color is always brighter than it looks on the swatch. Swatches are tiny, and whenever possible, buy paint samples (as available at Benjamin Moore) so you can see the paint on the actual wall.

2. Lighting varies. A color will look completely different under flourescent lighting, sunlight, low-light, etc. View your color in the room at all levels of light before you commit.

3. You get what you pay for. Buying cheap paint will never leave you satisfied. My favorite brand is Benjamin Moore, and my favorite alternate brand is Behr from Home Depot. I have always been happy with these brands.

4. Tint your primer. If you are covering a dark wall, ask to have your primer tinted to the new color. This will require less coats of paint.

5. Learn from the experts! I have had the opportunity to work with four great color experts, all of which can be seen on television. They have great tips and excellent control over color, each in their own way:

Shannon Kaye - interior designer and decorative painter

David Bromstad - interior designer and artist

Danielle Hirsch - decorative painter

Karen McAloon - interior designer

Condo Chronicles: The Guest Bedroom »

My extremely talented mother made me some gorgeous curtains for my much-neglected guest bedroom. This teeny-tiny room is home to a queen-sized bed, an adorable re-vamped vintage dresser, and every other posession I own that I’m not quite sure what to do with. Well, her beautiful drapes have left me with no option: I must do them justice and finish the room. I’m calling it my flea-market bedroom, because the pieces in the room are rare, well-loved and unique!

Also, see the pillows my mom whipped up with some scrap fabric I had, and a burlap pillow I made to compliment them.

Now, I need to pick a paint color and a finish. I, of course, cannot just paint a solid wall color because, well, it’s just not how I work. I like too many colors, too many patterns, and to paint a solid color would put me to sleep. I was a smart and coservative homeowner with my cremes and beiges in the other rooms, but with a guest bedroom, it’s time to have a little fun. Below are some swatch ideas, and I’ll be looking for pattern ideas. Hint: I think a painted headboard is in store.

Notice my colors aren’t too vibrant - I’ll be stuffing that room chock full of colors and patterns, and I don’t need the walls competing.

Images from Benjamin Moore’s Virtual Fan Deck

Shannon Kaye (my sister) on View From The Bay »

My adorable and talented sister was on View From The Bay on ABC Network yesterday. She did a spot on creating your own stencils with posterboard, tracing paper and an X-Acto knife. This is such a great way to make patterns in your home. You can design your own, or Shannon says she gets her inspiration from fabrics and artwork.

Check out the video here… click on the segment titled “Personalize Your Space with Stencils.”

Love This »

Wonderful Graffiti creates all kinds of different vinyl lettering for a range of projects. I love this set of vinyls as applied to a painted vintage highboy.

screenshot from http://www.workstatetest.com/.

Condo Chronicle: Living Room Makeover »

Still in dire need of small decorative items, but the transformation is nearly complete. Here are the before and after pictures of the living room in our new condo.

Highlights:

• Walls painted a warm beige color (Lady Finger) by Benjamin Moore. Ceiling painted slightly darker for a cozy feeling
• New dark chocolate hardwood floors
• New ceiling fan with dark blades to match the flooring, brushed metal finish on the lights
• Brushed metal star lanterns hung from the ceiling
• New sofa from Basset Furniture
• Refinished vintage dresser with drawers removed as TV bench
• Mounted TV
• Velour drapes from Ikea
• Inner drapes: Coverlets from Target on curtain rings
• Moorish Tile rug from Pottery Barn
• Frames from Aaron Brother’s Penny Sale, with patterned scrapbook paper

Long Live the Stencil »

Okay, I know stencils can sound hokey. But in moderation and good taste, stencils can look phenomenal. I have put together a collection of excellent uses for the stencil.

Okay, so how can we learn from these successful applications of stenciling?

• those that have the ENTIRE surface covered in stencil chose a low-contrast color combination. Choose two colors that are close to each other in the color family, to keep it from being overwhelming. If you want blue - chose a blue and a lighter shade of that blue.
• Those that had smaller applications of the stencil treatment could afford to use brighter colors. A neutral background (black, tan, white) looks great with small areas of reds, blues and brighter colors.
• Smaller doses keep the area looking special. Stenciling a dresser makes that piece unique and gives it personality. Then using the same stencil on the wall makes it kitschy and less effective.

I found a great website that has beautiful stencils that I would like to try out for myself. Stencil Gallery has everything from floral to lettering. Look at their impressive Photo Gallery.

How can this apply to your home? Do you have a stencil success story?

Teaching an Old Dresser New Tricks »

The Scoop:

• bought this dresser at a garage sale for $30 (thanks Clare!)
• sanded down all of the paint
• the wood was a little too dry and spotty to stain, so I colorwashed the piece with latex paint and water.
• sealed the paint, and protected the wood with varnish
• removed the drawers
• had MDF cut at home depot ($7 total) into two shelves for the cable box, dvd player, etc.
• covered the MDF with calico fabric from JoAnn’s
• Cut holes in the back of the dresser to feed the cables to the electrical outlet
• Voila! Our new TV Bench

before

after

Painting Wall Panels »

Well, thanks Christine for asking! Sometimes painting lines can be tricky on walls, especially on a heavily textured wall, but it doesn’t have to be. You will have to forgive the terrible pictures, but hopefully you will get the idea.

Here is the step-by-step process for painting your own panels.

1. Choose how large you want your border to be around your panels. I chose 4 inches, and my sister chose 5. I took the smallest wall that I had in the room, and made the border as large as possible without making the panel look funny in the room. This might be above the door for you - and maybe only 3 inch borders work depending on your wall height.

2. LIGHTLY draw pencil lines using a ruler and level to create even borders for each wall. (For added interest, you could break a large wall up with three panels, and center the bed in the largest panel.)

3. Place your blue painters tape just NEXT to the pencil line. If you tape over the pencil line, after painting, you’ll pull your tape up to reveal your pencil line intact and you don’t want that. If you tape outside of the pencil line just a tiny bit, you will ensure that the paint covers the pencil line and there will be no erasing needed.

4. Burnish the Tape. To make sure that the tape adheres to all parts of the walls, even in the nooks and crannies created by wall texture, take a large eraser and burnish (press real hard to make sure the tape is sticking to the wall) the edge of the tape that will be touching the new paint. Burnishing will create a tight seal between the wall and tape, and help ensure that less paint seeps underneath.

5. Seal the Tape. This step is a helpful one, although in the interest of time, I did not follow this step and still came out okay. After burnishing the tape, you can use glaze or varnish to seal the tape. Take a small artist brush and lightly paint along the edge of the tape that is getting painted over. These clear mediums will seep under any gaps left between the tape and the wall. This way if any paint is going to get under your carefully placed tape, it is clear paint, and won’t be seen. This is will give you a nice crisp edge for your borders.

6. Roll the paint! Start in the center, and as you get less paint on your roller, carefully go over the tape. The less paint that is on the roller for these edges help to make sure paint doesn’t go where it shouldn’t.

7. Remove up the tape and touchup. Take a small artist brush and touchup any little paint that managed to sneak under your tape.

It sounds like a lot of work, but these are a lot of quick steps, and it will make a GREAT impact in your room. Please comment if you have questions and I can help you through it!