Oh, What A Ceiling!

After completing a powder room, 7 ceiling medallions, 4 corbels, a dozen cartouches and many, many feet of crown moulding, we moved on to Dave & Rita's dining room.  The decor is Empire~Louis XIV, which is quite ornate.  It was decided that we would go big on the ceiling, yet subtle.  Is that possible?!  D and R wanted their dinner guests to be seated, casually glance upwards and...ooohhh!  The wow effect.

So...go big or go home...we brought a carpet (in the form of a stencil) up onto the ceiling, filling the 8' x 10' tray, as well as all four corners.  To accentuate the tray, the 4" soffit was gilded.  As well as the medallion.

We applied Lusterstone in a pale, silvery grey on the ceiling.  The medallion and soffit were base coated in black, then gold leafed.  Just this change alone created a dazzling effect!

Next, the ceiling stencils were installed.  We painted 3 layers: a 1/2 tint of the wall color, the Lusterstone, then highlights of gold.

Wow!!!

Although there were many elements to this design, each was important to the end result.  We had to to keep the design well-balanced.  Otherwise, the dining room would have appeared unfinished.  The ceiling is truly bold, yet subtle at the same time.  Our next project is Dave & Rita's master bedroom...yep, you guessed it...the ceiling!!!


Susan & Tracey
FWS

The 5th Wall

A few posts back, Julie's dining room, we mentioned our 'strong' opinion regarding ceilings. Well, here we go again, a dining room and it's ceiling. The dining room walls had recently received a strie treatment. Strie is a combed glaze finish created by pulling 1 or 2 tinted glazes over a base color, resulting in a very fine pin stripe. The clients, Mary & Paul, weren't sure if the color or the strie were right for the room. We offered 3 solutions: paint an additional stripe over the existing colors on wall, add color and a medallion to the ceiling or do both.

It was decided to start with the ceiling. Replacing the expanse of the white ceiling with a warm, complementary color would change the entire feeling of the room. And adding a medallion would anchor the chandelier. Mary & Paul's existing walls were blue and the window treatments gold dupioni silk. We chose a gold lusterstone to 'warm up' the blue walls and balance the fabric and hardwood floor.

We won't bore you with the details of the installation...standard trowelling and stencil procedure for FWS. What we will share was the exuberant reaction of the clients: It's as if the ceiling color and artwork had ALWAYS been there!!! They were beside themselves. And it's true. The 5th wall just shouldn't be ignored.

We are currently doing some personal shopping for them, assisting them in completing some unfinished decorating projects.

No more white ceilings!!

Susan & Tracey

FWS

Inspiration: Found

The inspiration for Julie's dining room was found in her choice of fabrics, and her desire for an all-over damask.  After presenting the initial sample boards, Julie decided on a combination of technique and color. The damask pattern was then chosen; the same 'chandelier' cartouche used in the samples, 14" high.  For   the ceiling finish, we opted for Lusterstone, custom-tinted to match the draperies with the medallion stencil complementing the wall pattern.

We would like to express a professional opinion here.  We feel VERY strongly about ceilings.  This is the 5th wall...never leave it white!!  Especially if you have beautiful crown mouldings and coffered beams, as this dining room does. Color on the ceiling completes the room, makes the trim pop and will feel like its always been there.  You'll want to paint every ceiling in your home...no kidding...clients have done this!!  Either bring the color of the flooring up, or use a color that is a slight contrast to the walls.  Trust us on this!!

First up...the coffered ceiling.  It was basecoated in Richmond Gold, followed by 2 passes of Lusterstone custom tinted in the same.  The medallion stencil was then installed.

The walls were then basecoated in Blue Danube.  We trowelled on 2 coats of Soft-Tex, also custom tinted to match.  Soft-Tex is a plaster that adds soft highs and lows to the wall, giving the appearance of fabric.

 The walls were measured and marked for the registration of the stencil.  The first pass of color was Lusterstone tinted in the Richmond Gold.  Working with a production stencil of 2 images up, we worked our way around the room with the 'whole' cartouche and then went back in to complete the corners, tops and bottoms. 

After the first pass was completed, we toned down the entire damask pattern with a wash of the Blue Danube Soft-Tex. 

The completed dining room walls have a very soft, aged feeling.  A little shimmer, but not too formal.  And the ceiling...the icing on the cake!!  As mentioned earlier, we have very strong opinions about the 5th wall.

This particular ceiling has very dramatic architectural features that were lost against the sea of white.  Now, stunning in gold!!  Need we say more?

 

The sitting room across the hall was completed in a similar color palette: Richmond Gold on the walls, and a very pale blue on the coffered ceiling.  Perfect visual balance upon entering the home's foyer.

Julie recently informed us that she and her family are now using their dining room on a daily basis.  Amazing what artistic inspiration can do for a room.

Until next time...

Susan and Tracey

FWS

Finding Inspiration

 

Some clients know exactly what they want...they have a very clear vision in their head. Others work with a designer, who helps create that vision for them. And some clients are in-between.

A recent client was 'in-between'. Julie had ordered window treatments for 2 formal living spaces; her dining and front sitting rooms. A designer had helped her select fabrics based on existing upholstered pieces. And then recommended us for wall and ceiling finishes, rather than wallpaper.

 

Choosing fabric first is always the best inspiration for selecting paint colors. There are MILLIONS of colors that can be matched to fabrics. Don't arm yourself with a paint chip and expect to easily find fabric to match...let the fabric do the choosing for you.

Once you have chosen your fabrics, grab a fan deck of paint chips, and choose colors in the space to be painted. You will need to purchase samples, paint swatches on the walls, then watch what happens to the color in the changing light. Phewww!!

Working with Julie's fabrics, we selected a palette of blue and gold to be used on the walls and the ceilings in both spaces. Julie had a vision of an all-over damask pattern in her dining room. She knew she wanted some texture and not an extremely formal feeling. Based upon this and other factors (flooring, lighting hardware, adjoining rooms), we created four wall sample boards for Julie to choose from. Sample boards are just what they sound like...samples of techniques and colorways on 1' x 2' hardboard.

After living with the sample boards for a week or so, Julie was having a difficult time making a decision. She loved 2 boards...so we reworked the technique and color, creating 2 more boards to choose from.

Two more decisions would follow the final choice for the dining room walls: the actual all-over damask pattern and the finish for the coffered ceiling and medallion stencil. Our next post will show Julie's choices and the step-by-step process of an all-over damask.

Until then, get inspired and go paint a room!

Susan and Tracey

FWS

That 70's Bath

Back to Sally's apartment in NYC!!   We were puzzled with what to do to this tiny 5' x 7' guest bath.  One wall is mirrored with an open fluorescent-tube fixture;  the remaining 3 walls painted white.  Black and white tile covers the lower half.   Overall, it had a very 70's feel about it.  The challenge again was to update the surfaces without a demo.

Before

Sally had considered leaving the walls white, and hanging large art prints.  Or possibly...dare we say it?..wallpapering the space.  Well, you can guess what we had to say about that!!  We tossed some ideas around and came up with a great design...a custom, all-over art stencil...funky, yet with a deco feel that would work with the existing tile 

First, we started with a slate grey Lusterstone plaster.  Lusterstone has a beautiful shimmer when it is burnished. We also did the ceiling in a very pale silvery-grey.

Lusterstone was applied first to the wall and ceiling. 

Next we transferred the art onto contact paper, then installed the paper.

Installed stencil

 Using an exacto blade, we very, very, carefully cut and removed the negative areas.

Cut stencil

We then applied another coat of the plaster in a much deeper grey Lusterstone.

Applied a 2nd coat of product

Finally, we removed the contact stencil and...

...Ta daa!!

Please note the infinity effect of the pattern in the mirror...this, of course, was by design ;-).

The pattern wraps PERFECTLY around the room!

One bathroom down, one more to go.  We'll post the 2nd bath soon, along with final photos of the apartment...new stainless appliances and backsplash in the refurbished kitchen, and decorating updates in both bathrooms.  Until then, we're back in CT, busy with other jobs.

Susan and Tracey

FWS

So, what's up with that kitchen?!

Yeah, what IS up with that kitchen?!!

To begin with, the cabinets were 70's white melamine with 70's white hardware.  The flooring was an out-of-date 70's almond tile with a very scary grout situation going on.  The walls were in a 70's state of disrepair.  And the counter and backsplash were...just bad.  Get the picture?  Well, actually, you SEE the picture.

Sally had already shopped for new, stainless-steel appliances.  She had also decided that she was not interested in a complete demo of the kitchen.  The first design decision would be how to refinish each surface, then the colors would be selected.  During our inital brain-storming,  we just happened upon this beautiful glass tile at Tile America for her backsplash.  The colors were an exact match to Sally's new LR and DR color palette...the rich chocolates and blues would continue in the kitchen.  That was easy!!

We decided it was not necessary to replace the cabinets.  And because they are a melamine finish, we opted to NOT refinish them; any finish over melamine (which is a plastic) can be compromised with normal wear and tear.  Adding new brushed-chrome hardware would instantly update them.

The next surface was the old tile floor.  Without a demo, we could install over the old tile: a) stick 'n peel tile, b) new, ceramic tile, c) floating laminate flooring.  Or, d) install Skimstone concrete, as we had done in Sally's CT powder room.  This decision was easy...Skimstone.  Although the process of prep and installation would have to take place over 5 days,  the end result would be a high-end polished concrete floor.  And...how gorgeous would a chocolate concrete floor be?! !

The first step in floor prep is cleaning.

                                   

Vacuum, mop and wash down with TSP (a super-duper cleaner/degreaser).  We then backfilled the entire floor with a tile patch compound; this eliminated the grout lines.  We did a second coat to ensure the grout lines would not 'ghost' thru the concrete.

Once the floor was dry,  the skimstone concrete was mixed and trowelled on. It's a 3 coat process-applying each coat thinner to backfill and smooth out.

The final step is to apply the sealer which gives it a beautiful polished stone look. We also applied a custom blue lusterstone finish to the walls.

Ta Daa!!

During this process, there was a good amount of  'watching concrete dry'.  And, obviously, the kitchen was off limits...so we kept busy with several other projects in Sally's apartment (hint: two 70's style bathrooms).  We'll save those project details for a later post. And by that time, we will also be able to update the final

'Ta Daa' photo with the new appliances, backsplash tile and the new cabinet hardware installed.

For now, however, we will end this post by sharing a view from Sally's balcony overlooking the East River.   This is what traffic looks like after several glasses of Merlot...

To be continued...

Susan and Tracey

FWS