Yay…I finished the ceilings today. I was done by noon, which was great, since we had another little snow storm here again today. That gave me time to pack up my car, drive home, unpack and then shovel my driveway, once again. I’m definitely getting my exercise these days between the ceilings and all the snow. I’m always sad to leave this client’s home because they are such a kind and loving family. I’ve done so much work in this house over the years, that I have seen their 3 kids grow from when they were in grammar school to now… 2 in high school and 1 off to college. Of course, I am not aging at all during all of this! 😉 I remember the first week they got their dog and the youngest boy and his cousin decided to give the puppy a bath with 409 cleaner. 🙁 The dog survived, is now 9, is is queen of the house! It’s nice to finish up with this house being one of my last jobs of this year and knowing that I will return in the beginning of the new year to do a little more work. I feel that sets a good tone.
Here’s a far shot, so you can see the full view of the ceiling. The next shots will show the details.
Remember that fireplace grate, pictured on the left? I traced it, made a template, and then put it on the ceiling.
This shows a portion of the ceiling, up to the vent.
Here’s a look of the wood graining, up close, with a glazed wine border and metallic gold band. Then, the crossed garland stencil design begins and fades out toward the center. There is a light gold glaze under the crossed garland design too, but it is not showing very well in the pics. This was a hard room to photograph. I was lying on the floor for most of the shots!
This is a good view of one of the corners.
An odd angle, but a good shot! My clients refer to this ceiling as their "rug on the ceiling". The dog has destroyed many rugs, so they decided not to put another rug in this Family Room.
This is the Hallway ceiling that connects the Family Rm to the Kitchen. I just used part of the Kitchen ceiling design stencil for this. The ceiling has a soft yellow/gold glaze on it.
Here you see the end of the Kitchen ceiling at the top of the photo, then the Hallway ceiling, into the Family Rm.
…and here’s the Kitchen, once again.
Here’s what I’ll be working on when I return after the Holidays. This column has to go. Several yrs. ago, I did the wall finish in the Family Rm., but they did not want the finish to extend into the Hallway. Since there was no natural break in the wall or separation from this rm to the hallway, I put this column on the wall. A yr or 2 later, they had me extend the same finish from the Family Rm. to the Hall and into the Kitchen. So, the column then started to look silly. The gate was added to try to keep the dog out, but you know how it is w/kids. No one would keep it closed, so the dog got in and ruined the rugs.
The gate will come off, the wall will be patched, and I will paint out the column and blend that area to match the existing wall finish. (I hope!)
These will need to be removed, wall repaired and finish restored.
Here’s another gate, at the other end of the Hall, which leads into the Foyer. This gate will stay, but I will repair the wall where the paint has worn off from the gate, plus there are some black marks on the wall and chips. Note that stenciled trompe l’oeil frame. I did that a few yrs. ago too. It’s held up great and is one of my favorites! Here’s another view…
The center of the panel is done plaster that is crackled and then glazed.
Here’s a full view of the panel. To the left, is a column I marbleized. This leads into the Dining Room. There are 2 columns and 2 panels… one on each side of the opening to the Dining Rm. Can you believe this house had All White Walls when I first met this family?! Now, there is barely a wall or ceiling left untouched by my brushes. 😉
When I return, I will also add some of that dark wine color glaze to these roses. Now they are too pink and I want them to relate to the ceiling design more. I’ll leave some of the pink because they match the window treatments.
You will be seeing this picture again, because I intend to get my hands on this ceiling too. 😉 We are discussing designs…
I’ve done this room twice! First, it was a very formal sitting room. Lots of off white furniture and beige toned glazed walls. This was back in the early days, when they were timid about color and decorative painting! Well, a few years went by and no one was using this room at all. The furniture was slip covered and moved to the basement for the kids and this became the home office. Now, everyone uses this room because it is so warm and inviting. There is an armoire with a computer in it on the wall opposite the fireplace. I’m definitely seeing a design on this ceiling!
This is the newest room. A Sun room that was added last year. The walls are glazed with a soft gold tone and I did that stencil design behind the tree. This ceiling is also a good candidate for a little stenciling!
I can see some type of simple scroll design, outlining the 2 ceiling panels…I just wish this ceiling as not so high. You know my fear of heights, right? I think I’d need to call in some help to do this room. I’d be over on the right, clinging to the wall. Someone else can hang from that chandelier!
Tomorrow I am off to do a quick striae in another home…
