Monday, January 31, 2011

Simply Beautiful, Simply Green




We would like to showcase one of our finishes...Jadecor. JaDecor is a natural wallcovering created from a unique combination of natural cotton and/or silk fibers. With the addition of dyes, metallics, mica and threads, the decorative possibilities are endless.

Believe it or not, this is JaDecor in it's 'before' state...a big pile of fluff. Hard to imagine putting this on a wall or ceiling. And, believe it or not, JaDecor is applied with a trowel.


In it's wet state, JaDecor resembles oatmeal. Perfect for trowelling!




Because the palette is endless, the finished result can be casual,


elegant,



or casually elegant.


We have installed JaDecor in bathrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, foyers, restaurants and a variety of commercial spaces. Like all of our finishes, JaDecor is a custom, one of a kind treatment. And, FWS is one of only a handful of certified installers in Connecticut.






Simply beautiful!


Susan & Tracey
FWS

Monday, January 24, 2011

Bathroom Nightmare




This was truly a bathroom nightmare. Very scary cherubs painted on a light blue bathroom ceiling. In the ladies' room... of a restaurant. The restaurant owner had expected roly-poly cherubs. Instead, she got skinny elves with pointy chins.






We are not bashing the artist. The client was just not happy with the work. She had let go of the idea of a cherubic ceiling and was looking for a quick fix. And a quick fix it was!

We went in immediately and painted the offensive ceiling black. Getting rid of the blue ceiling (not to mention the cherubs/elves) was an immediate improvement. The walls had already been glazed with a metallic bronze over black, so the black ceiling gave the ladies' room a more cohesive look.

Of course, we did not stop there. We decided to layer a stencil over the bronze glaze. And since this was a quick fix, we went to our library of stencils. The large damask cartouche that we had used in Julie's dining room was the perfect fit. The all-over stencil went up quickly, using a copper metallic glaze.


The owner was thrilled with results.

Small bathrooms can be jewel boxes. Have we mentioned this before? A professional opinion here: the best way to ease color and pattern into your home is in a small bathroom.

Start with a bathroom!


Susan and Tracey
FWS







Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Yes, We Do Windows



Yes, we do windows...


and roosters




and fountains


and mosaic counter tops


and a Celtic Cross.



Bring it on.

Susan and Tracey
FWS



Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Blue Buffalo Co.






The folks at The Blue Buffalo Co. are sooo lucky.  They get to bring their dogs to work!!  Blue Buffalo is a natural, holistic pet food company, based in Wilton, CT. Very cool company...the dogs and their people.



The Blue Buffalo Co. offices had moved into a new location, prompting a redesign of the lobby. Although an interior designer was involved with the overall plan, the company had a very clear idea of what they wanted. The vision was to feature the logo on an accent wall of imported barn siding from Canada. Kind of a vintage, old feed store look...as if the buffalo logo had always been on the side of that old barn.



We first projected "Blue", the buffalo, onto the wall. Next, we used a Modello stencil for the positioning of the lettering. All images were painted with iron paint.



Once the paint had cured overnite, we carefully spritzed and sponged on a metal reactor. This is a solution that forces the iron paint to rust. We let the images 'rust' over the weekend.



Having achieved the desired rustiness, we dry-brushed the images with a custom blue glaze, then randomly sanded back color and rust. We went back and forth with the glaze and sandpaper, until we felt the logo was as aged as the barn boards.



The end result was just as The Blue Buffalo Co. had envisioned. It's as if their logo had, indeed, been on the side of that old barn in Canada.





Bring your dogs to work if you can!


Susan and Tracey
FWS