Back splashes and more

We've been talking about so many things, that I am going to talk a bit more on kitchen back splashes.

I was talking about many different ways to do a back splash.  I am just going to list them:
Paint, wallpaper, stencil, faux paint, use mirrors, hang pictures, or small pediments, different types of tiles, and yesterday glass tiles.  There are a lot of other  types of tile to choose from.  If you are using granite countertops, you can us the same granite or even matching granite tiles  I prefer tumbled marble tiles, not because I have them, but I like the look.  Remember, We did not build this house, so we made no choices as to what was here.  I always said it was the perfect house, as I loved everything.
The people who built this house even used mural tiles and painted tiles in between.  Here are
 a few pictures:

 

This is a mural painted on the tumbled marble.  It was purchased this way, and I think it may be an Italian piece.  Below are the painted tiles that are interspersed with the plain tiles.

 

You can purchase plain glazed tiles and use glass  paint and do some yourself.  Get a how to do it book, or go ahead and ask me!

 

You can clearly see the imperfections in the tiles,  It adds texture to the room.  I have a friend/client who has the plain tumbled marble and she has small pictures and pediment hanging on them.  I will ask her if I can take a picture of hers and show you.    Remember to use a sticky hook.  The sticky stuff can be cleaned off with either lighter fluid (if you can find it or Goo Gone).  I keep goo gone all the time, it works for a lot of things.

 

Tell me what kind of thing you are thinking about for a change in your kitchen.  If you ask, I will answer.  Actually, ask about anything and I will answer.

 

Remember yesterday I said I have projects to get done.  Well, I started painting the hallway and I am so glad it is small, because my painting wall days are over!!!!!!!!!!!!  When this is done, I will hire a professional.

 

I also started on my leaf painting to go with my retro leaf dish.  I chose banana leaves as I can see them right out my kitchen window.  Here is the start!

 

 

 

There will be very little sky left and it will probably have a lot more colors in it as it faces west, and we have the most beautiful sunsets in the world (At least I think so).

 

I will probably paint a little more on it tomorrow.

 

We will talk a little more about flooring tomorrow!  Do you have a project list?  Is it a honey do list, or is it your list?

A Bit More on Walls

We've been talking lighting, walls, color and a vast amount of things in between.  Let's go back to walls and wallpaper.

In the 1950's and 60's, grass cloth became a popular wall covering.  Whatever type of paste was used, sometimes it was applied directly to drywall, a fairly new thing on walls.  Most walls were plastered until the late 50's early 60's.  Since drywall was not prepared, the paper stuck to it almost permanently.  It is comparable to Masonite that has been wallpapered.  It doesn't come off.  Great place for paintable wallpaper.  Today our walls are usually prepared.  If you are in a brand new home with contractor paint on your drywall, you may want to paint it with a good paint before wallpapering.

Back to grass cloth, it gives great texture to the walls.

In 1972, we bought a home that belonged to Al Capone.  In the 50's it was added on to, to make a 5000 sq. ft. home.  The huge living room and front hall were wallpapered in grass cloth, that had been painted over.  At first I tried to remove it and realized it was bonded to the drywall.  No alternative but to paint it.  I ended up painting it an antique white.  Then, there were only a few whites.  Today, there are so many shades of white.  We loved it and the texture it provided worked well for us.  In the 80's grass cloth made it's debut again.  It was a big trend, with many options, textures and colors.  It was very impressive and quite expensive.  As a designer, I used them a lot, even in commercial uses. 

Today,  2013, grass cloth is again making a big comeback.  "What goes around comes around".  It adds warmth and texture without pattern, so artwork or whatever you want to hang work perfect.

In teaching watercolors, I tell my students that every painting has a star and the rest is the supporting cast. Your eyes need to go into a painting, be drawn to the star and back out again.  Wallpaper is a good supporting star in a room to add so much.

 

 

This painting was sold, but I do have giclee'  copies of it in any size you want that is a great example.

 

 

 

 

This is a great example of a lot of design pieces.  1. The mother is the star.  2. The babies are the supporting cast 3. The background shows lights and darks giving great contrast 4. Your eyes travel around the painting in and off.

 

This is the same with a room.  Also, using grass cloth or plain walls, any art work can be hung. 

 

In the past, wallpaper was used everywhere.  People bought older homes and the first thing they did was remove the wallpaper, it was not the thing in the 2000's.  Kitchen and baths were pretty much always wallpapered.  They added punch to what were classified as drab rooms.

 

Tomorrow, more on this piece of information!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

A bit on Faux

Back again to Faux finishes. 

Back in the 90's faux finishes was a really big thing to do to walls.  A place in Vero Beach, FL., started teaching classes on faux techniques. At that time I was a snowbird to Melbourne Beach about 30 minutes to Vero.  However, in downtown Melbourne, they started classes on faux painting at the time frame I was here, so I decided to take the classes.  Following are some of the things I did:

 

This is a striping technique, where I rag rolled over the top of striping.  I explained earlier about rag rolling with paper towels.  Not as messy as using cloths.  this particular one was with a creamy white background and a beige stripe with the white background color rolled over the whole thing.

 

This is rag rolling using paper towels.  I used 2 shades of white.  The bottom is pure white and the top is a beige white.

Another great way to add texture is through a texture paint or mix in sand with your paint and roll in on.  Remember, if you decide to redo the finish, you will have to sand the walls.  Ralph Lauren and others have made paint especially for faux painting.  In my home , I have a linen look that was painted on the walls when we bought the house.  I like that look, however, now it needs to be redone and the wall must be sanded first. It is a messy job as the grit gets all over everything.  My alternative is just to paint over it and let the cross hatch look come through.  Not sure what I am going to do.

Another way to make a neat finish is a knock down plaster look.  This is easy to do.  You can use joint compound, available at all paint stores, Lowe's, Home Depot, Ace, Hardware, Menards, or other  home improvement.  I believe Menards is a Midwest store.  All you do is take a trowel and trowel it on the walls.  Go over it flat and you have a knock down look.  Don't ever be afraid to ask the people who work in the paint department to help you, they have an amazing bit of knowledge.

 The next picture is of wallpaper that has a rag rolled look.

 

 See how close this looks to the rag rolling.  It is difficult to see, but on the wallpaper, there is French writing, very faint.

 

With rag rolling, you can use a stencil to put writing on your wall.  When you are ready to change, just pant over it.

 

I really don't want to get you all mixed up as what you should do, get some poster board as I said before, and practice on it.  It works well as you can tape it to the actual wall and see what it looks like.  I have a box full of boards ( poster board ) up in my attic, from jobs I did in the 90's.  Once you get into this, you will love it.  There are many professional painters who do faux finishes as well as wall murals, painted furniture and floor cloths.

 

Here are a few examples of painted furniture:

 

These stools were painted to match the clients everyday dishes.

 

This nightstand was purchased for $40.00, was painted white with hand painted ferns on it.

 

Today, you can buy spray paint in a can that has a primer in it, to get a much better finish then you used to get. I use a professional paint sprayer to paint furniture.  I am going to buy a can of the white spray paint with primer and see how it works. I'll bet it is much less messy.  I am for much less messy.  If you are artistic, you can paint or stencil anything on any piece of furniture.  I absolutely  love painted furniture.  It adds great character to a room.  This was an old French Provincial piece, wonderfully made and fruitwood as the base wood.  . It was so scratched and nicked that I really felt white distressed was the best.  Some of the most beautiful painted furniture comes from Habersham.  They used to have stores, but  they closed all of them to my knowledge, but I see ads in magazines still.  There is a lot of pictures of painted furniture in all magazines.  Study those pictures of those rooms, look at the details.

 

My art students are  so aware of details everywhere.  I try and teach everyone to look at thing a little different than they did.  This evening after teaching, I met a few friends at the Chart House.  I noticed that all the wood pilings were yellow green on one side and gray on the other.  I looked immediately to see which way the yellow green side was facing, to see if the sun was causing that.  It was although it was raining at the time, I checked on the direction of the sun at that time of day.  My question was answered..

 

Pay attention to the sun side, light, color and any other tiny little detail. More pictures later in the week, as I dig out my boards.  I will give you some information on how to do them.

 

Bits of detail, pieces of knowledge!!!!!!!!!!