TayRose Design interior design custom Archives - Page 2 of 6

Shareathon Cutting Edge Stencil Project – Sofa Table and Pillow

I again was invited by Hometalk.com to participate in a Shareathon project featuring Cutting Edge Stencils on any item of my choosing and sharing the process. I haven’t used stencils very often and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try them on a larger scale.

I went to the Cutting Edge website, www.CuttingEdgeStencils.com and tried to choose just one of their beautiful array of various stencils for my project. I had just been to an auction and purchased a sofa table that I thought would be a great candidate for stencils. I chose the “French Poem” allover stencil, from the website because I really liked the writing style and since I don’t speak French, the mystery of what the words say….

While waiting for the stencil to arrive, I decided that I would prep my table so it will be ready for stenciling. The sofa table had a factory finish, meaning it had a shiny finish over the paint that had to be sanded down before applying any new paint so the paint had something to grab onto.

After sanding, I wiped off all of the sanding dust and wiped down all of the surfaces of the table so it had a clean, dust free surface to start painting. Cutting Edge Stencils recommends acrylic or latex paint which I would have used if I painted my table with a latex paint, but I chose to try the mineral based paint again from Country Chic Paints in the color Cheesecake, for that color is a warm cream and goes with everything. I wanted a contrast color for accents and for the legs, so deciding the 2nd paint color was between Dark Roast and Licorice….dark brown or black. I chose the dark brown color, mainly because again, it would have a better chance of blending in with most decor, and I also wanted to add some metallic highlights, and an antique gold would best suit a dark brown color.

So with paint colors in hand and after the top of the table was sanded down, I used a sanding block to rough up the surface on the legs and apron of the table. One of the features that I liked about this table was that the ends flip up or down, and transforms from a really long table to a shorter version depending on the space allowed. Another feature is that there is a drawer, which is very nice to have to store items for buffet, desk or playing cards .

I painted 2 coats of paint on the top and on the bottom shelf and let it dry. I used a roller for the 2nd coat to smooth the layer, although the grain in the wood still showed the pattern, at least the paint was smoother without brush marks for an easier surface to stencil on. I also painted the legs and the border in the contrast color with 2 coats as well. The stencil arrived and there was a nice instructional sheet included along with a mini foam roller with several replacements and a small stencil brush. The instructional included everything I needed from materials, getting started, stenciling techniques, tips and tricks and finally, cleaning and storage of the stencil. Cutting Edge Stencils also have wonderful tutorials on their website that I referred to before I got started so a lot of the uncertainty I felt melted away.

The stencil I received was an allover stencil, which means it is made for large surfaces like a wall. Since the top and shelf of my table were on a much smaller scale, I ended up taping the stencil on the ends to stabilize the stencil so it wouldn’t move as I painted.

The table was also longer than the stencil, so I needed to re-lay the stencil after the paint had dried on the first half and line it up with the lettering to continue the poem. Since the stencil is clear, it was easy to line up lettering as the pattern continued on the surface. I started to use the small stencil brush using a small amount of paint on the brush, then dabbing on a paper towel before dabbing on table surface, and this process worked fine, but it was going very slowly, so I opted to try the foam roller instead.

What a difference! With the roller, painting went super fast and very easy. I still rolled off a lot of the paint on a paper towel before applying on stencil and was careful how I rolled so that the roller didn’t catch on the letter edges and pull them up while rolling. The chalk based paint seemed to work fine, no problems at all with the stencil. I wanted to also try the stencil on fabric, so after finishing the table, and laying the stencil on the pillow cover to see how I wanted to line it up, I used windex to spray on the dried paint and wiped clean with paper towels and rags. Easy peasy.

After all the surfaces were painted and dry, I applied some antique gold colored rub n’ buff metallic to the legs and a little on the borders to bring out some highlights on the curves and brighten up the brown a bit.

After applying the metallic, I used the natural wax offered by the same company as the paint and brushed on all the surfaces and buffed off the excess until all the stickiness was gone.

I found a wallpaper roll I had onhand that I used to line the drawer, so a bit of a surprise when opened, and the colors seemed to work well with the paint colors.

As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to try the stencil on fabric, so I used a solid velveteen pillow I had onhand, and I first removed the pillow insert, then laid the stencil down on top of the fabric and lined up the lettering as straight as I could, then taped down the edges of the stencil to the floor to keep it steady as I painted. I was able to use the foam roller in the same application procedure on the fabric as I did on the table top and shelf and it worked like a charm! I even used the same chalk based paint that I used on the table, for I read that the paint could be used on fabric as well. I decided to flip and have the cream stencil words on a brown surface to show a different look with the lettering, plus I did have the pillow on hand, so no added cost there!

When staging the photo with the table, I used a table lamp that had originally been brass and I painted it in the same color as the table with the chalk based paint, and I also took the lampshade and stripped off the fabric and painted the wire in cheesecake color as well. I found at Hobby Lobby back in the dollhouse furniture area, a small wood dresser that I painted in same paints as the sofa table to pull in the colors as your eye went to the top of the lamp, and to have a little unexpected finial idea.

I love how the stencil poem gives enough of a pattern but doesn’t feel too busy and can be decorated easily. (Of course, when my husband takes such beautiful pictures, everything looks awesome. See more of his wonderful work at eRegalStudio.com. )

Cutting Edge Stencils recommend storing the larger stencils flat and under a bed as an option, so that is where my stencil is heading….but not for long for I’m sure I will have more projects in the future that will include this stencil!

To receive posts via email click HE RE Subscribe in a reader or signup in Subscription box in sidebar.

Photo-Art pillows add big punch to Home Decor

Taylor

22 Apr 2015

Art, Interior Design Room, Office, Theme Room

Africa, Art, Clay NY, contemporary, custom, decorator, Eregal Studio, Home Decor, Interior Design, lion, mood boards, office, Parade of Homes, photography, pillow, TayRose Design, unique, Wall Art

Hanging pictures on our walls has always been a way to showcase our families, remind us of a favorite movie with a poster, frame school art from our children through the years, or reminders of places we have been. Wall art evolved to paintings of subjects we were drawn to, or abstracts with colors that melded with our sofas, that filled our walls with pattern and color. With the many styles of design, from Contemporary Modern, Country, Shabby Chic, Traditional, Rustic to Eclectic, all of them have some home decor style that we identify with. The graphic bold colors and stark black and white for Contemporary, the painted distressed wood for Country, the creamy whites and floral for Shabby Chic, and so on, and with all of these, photography, framed has been there to hang on our walls.

When you think of all the photographers in the world, and all the different styles and subjects they portray in their work, for Interior Designers, photography is the go to decor item for adding emotion and even drama to a room. I am so fortunate to be married to a photographer, eregalstudio.com and have used his art photography in several of the Parade Houses I have designed, and I have marveled at how it fills a space with a powerful statement.

I feel a beautiful photograph can be compared with a beautiful painting, for they both affect an emotion, and they both capture a moment frozen in time.

The other day, my husband told me he had sold a pillow online from his Fine Art America store,http://fineartamerica.com/products/majestic-king-everet-regal-throw-pillow-14-14.html

I had to stop and ask, “a pillow?” Now, I know this concept of a photograph on a pillow is not new. I remember seeing children’s photos on pillows, or their favorite pet, but it got me visualizing an office or living room with accent pillows with beautiful photographs on them, and my mind started creating artful photo pillows! Imagine an home office with dark mahogany furniture and a zebra colored rug, leather sofa, soft throw and a lion pillow?

(I had so much fun designing the mood boards!) Or a more contemporary sleek office with chrome and glass and a pillow with a closeup of bridge cables or a tall building ……there are so many ways that photography as an art form has grown from only on the walls to decor accents in pillow form.

Just another way to live with art!

Check out Fine Art America.com and see how any photo can be made into a 100% cotton pillow 14″ x 14″ up to 26″ starting $27.00 photo printed on both sides and insert included!

To receive posts via email click HERE Subscribe in a reader or signup in Subscription box in sidebar.

How to wallpaper a bi-fold door to use as a headboard or screen

I’m writing a trilogy of sorts-a series of projects using wallpaper as an accent with the remnants from wallpaper rolls after papering a wall. I will be sharing 3 projects; a chair, a lampshade and the project in this post is a bi-fold door. I was invited to participate in a program to try a product and then share how it works and hopefully inspire others. Since I never really used wallpaper before besides lining drawers, I jumped to the challenge. We were given some choices of papers from Walls Republic, found here, http://www.wallsrepublic.com/ and I’m telling you, they have so many beautiful papers to drool over, plus, if you have trouble deciding, they will ship up to 5 samples free so you can touch and feel the actual paper before purchasing a roll….such a great option! My paper choice was Adeline in Duck Egg which is a soft pretty blue color on a creamy white background. The paper is nice and thick and had a pretty sheen when the light hit it. We haven’t had any sign of Spring here in Upstate NY in March, so this wallpaper design was my way of bringing in a little Spring-

Wallpaper label from Walls Republic

One of the projects I decided to apply wallpaper to, was half of a bi-fold door set. My husband is a photographer and uses different items as back drops, and I thought this would be a great way to try wallpaper on a surface before applying it to a whole wall, since I was such a newbie with wallpaper. I laid down my drop cloth on top of a piece of masonite board on the floor in the photo studio and brought my sawhorses in….it was freezing out in the garage…March and snow….you know, Upstate NY…brrrr.

I decided to paint the raised panel side of the door and add wallpaper to the inside of the raised panels, and then on the other flat side I would lay a full sheet of the wallpaper. I found a lovely shade of blue paint color from Sherwin Williams, called Quietude #SW6212…isn’t that a great name? For the cream color in the background I chose a paint color from the Country Chic mineral chalk based line, Cheesecake, which matched the wallpaper nicely too.

Cheesecake mineral chalk based paint

After painting the edges, I traced out on paper the inner panel sizes and cut out the shapes on the wallpaper. The other great thing about this wallpaper is they have a newer technology where you don’t have to paste the back of the wallpaper, but apply the paste to the item you are papering. You can still apply the paste to the back of the paper if you want to, but with these newer papers you don’t have to do that step. The adhesive paste that Walls Republic recommended is Romans and you can find it at Lowe’s but any good wallpaper adhesive should work, and if you have any questions, Walls Republic has great customer service.

Also, included with the wallpaper roll, are instructions, complete with drawings, which is so helpful for me who has to have a visual to see how something is done.

Once I had all my wallpaper patterns cut out, I brushed the adhesive paste to the raised panels and lined up my paper to the edge of the panel and slowly laid down the paper, smoothing gently as I laid it down, pushing the air bubbles to the sides until smooth. I used a wallpaper brush to gently go over the top of the paper again, wiping away with a damp cloth any excess paste from the edges, trying not to get the paste on to the surface of the paper. If I did get glue on the paper, I quickly wiped it with a lightly damp cloth- And the best feature of this wallpaper? It’s dry strippable, which means you peel back a corner and pull it off in one sheet- Isn’t that awesome!! This feature alone, makes using wallpaper as a decorative wall option much more inviting!!

After the paper had dried, my husband trimmed off the wallpaper at the edges with a sharp razor blade. My husband is very precise which was so helpful with this project! I noticed after the paper had dried that some of the glue residue on the paint after wiped was still shiny. So I just touched up the paint on those areas and it all blended away.

I flipped the doors over and wallpapered the flat side so it looked more like a wall. I unrolled the paper so that it went beyond the ends about 3 inches and cut it. With a large brush, I generously brushed on the wallpaper paste then with the trusty aid of my husband, we held the paper at both ends and gently lined up the paper along the straight end and slowly laid it down while gently smoothing out the bubbles underneath with the wallpaper brush. Once dry, wallpaper was trimmed along the edges.

For the 2nd door, I laid it next to the other door, then unrolled another wallpaper panel lining it up against the other paper on the door so the pattern matched the other door as close as possible. Luckily, this pattern repeat is close, so there wasn’t much waste.

The final step was painting the hinges and I painted them with the blue color using a q-tip to dab the color onto the screws once installed.

With the bi-fold door, depending on where it is used, I was going to add some knobs or hooks to hold scarves or jewelry; in a large bath to hang a robe near the tub, or it can it can be a headboard for a twin, or queen sized bed if you do the double doors. Lots of uses for these mobile wallpaper units as I like to call them!

You can view my other posts showing steps for Walls Republic wallpaper accents on a chair and lampshade on my other posts found here: http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/taking-a-vintage-pendant-and-adding-wallpaper-for-a-fresh-look/ http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/how-to-wallpaper-a-bi-fold-door-to-use-as-a-headboard-or-screen/

http://www.eregalstudio.com/ credits for finished wallpaper project pictured in this post

To receive posts via email click HERE Subscribe in a reader or signup in Subscription box in sidebar.

Taking a vintage pendant lamp and adding wallpaper for a fresh look

I was given the opportunity to try a new wallpaper product from Walls Republic www.wallsrepublic.com. These particular wallpapers use a newer technology of pasting the object surface rather than pasting the paper first, cool, right? I have never really used wallpaper before besides lining drawers, so I was willing to challenge myself, and pick items that could be papered using the leftovers rather than tackle a”wall” to paper. Walls Republic have mega choices for paper in every style and color you can think of, so when you go to the site have fun! Plus they ship out up to 5 samples free, so you can see the paper in person before ordering…a nice perk!

Supplies I used for this project:

Wallpaper roll from Walls Republic pattern Adeline color Duck Egg #97411

Wallpaper adhesive paste brand Romans from Lowes (brand recommended from Walls Republic)

Wide brush or roller for pasting the adhesive

Wallpaper brush to smooth out air bubbles

scissors

ribbon and hot glue gun to attach

paint for painting inside of shade *optional, my shade just needed some freshening up

I had this vintage pendant light in my stash for years and once the wallpaper arrived, I knew this shade would be one of the perfect candidates for this project. You see, I had 3 items in mind…

lamp before wallpapering

Oh boy, this lamp was not the prettiest flower in the pot, but I could see the potential. I disassembled the lamp so I could paint the parts later, and concentrated on the shade since that was what I was going to wallpaper. I first removed the old fabric trim and since there were some age discolorations on the inside of the shade, I painted the inside. At first, I used a spray primer paint, but didn’t like how the paint was dripping, so I smoothed out the drips while still wet and let it dry before painting over with the same color paint I was going to use on the metal parts, which is from Country Chic https://www.countrychicpaint.com/paints in the Cheesecake color that matched the wallpaper background really well.

spray paint inside lampshade

Painting the inside with the mineral chalk based paint worked much better than the spray paint…just want to spare you the mis-step of using spray paint for this project. I always live and learn many times it seems, and usually from this, a much better way to do something presents itself…thank goodness! HA! While my paint brush was still wet, I went ahead and painted all the metal parts their first of several coats.

Cheesecake mineral chalkbased paint

I laid the shade on the backside of the wallpaper that I unrolled a bit, and began to roll the shade holding on to the paper end so I could determine how much paper I would need to cover the shade. I was sure to leave about an inch overlap at the end. Walls Republic suggests that ends meet rather than overlap on walls, and that makes sense, but since I was doing a lampshade, I wanted a bit of an overlay. I cut off the piece and lined up the straight edge of the paper to the edge of the lampshade. On the other side of the shade will be the extra width of the paper that will be trimmed off after I pasted down the paper. I got my large paint brush and started brushing the paste onto the shade…remember, you don’t need to apply paste to the paper but right to the surface of the object. Try to avoid getting the paste on the surface of the paper, if I did, I used a damp soft cloth to remove….

laying lampshade on wallpaper to cut to fit

I continued to paste and slowly roll the shade onto the wallpaper, smoothing gently as it rolled until the whole shade was pasted and the wallpaper was in place. Then I went back over the paper with one hand inside the shade following my other hand on the surface using the wallpaper brush to smooth out the air bubbles to the sides until the surface was smooth. Having my hand inside ensured that I didn’t press too hard on the shade and dent it. I let the shade dry before I trimmed off the excess paper on the end. Walls Republic have a nice hanging instructional that is included with the wallpaper complete with drawings which always helps us visual people!!

wallpaper on lampshade

I knew I was going to add ribbon trim to the ends of the shade, so if my cut line wasn’t exactly straight that was ok because it was going to be covered by the ribbon. I was so lucky to find only 2 ribbons that came close to matching the colors in the wallpaper and I grabbed them…plus, at Hobby Lobby, they were on sale for 50% off…can I hear an Amen!! I used the hot glue gun to attach both ribbons, first the larger ribbon in blue, then the thinner cream ribbon.

hot glue ribbon to lampshade

I reassembled all the lamp parts, after I used Windex to clean off the glass prisms, then added the shade. One last step I did was to take the creamy color paint and dry brushed the chain. I didn’t want to completely cover the whole chain with the paint, for I like to see the metal coming through. You could also make a chain cover in a color matching the fabric would be pretty too.

All finished and ready to hang..I love how it seems to breathe a fresh breath- like putting on a new floral dress after wearing long underwear for months…HA! Can you tell I live in Upstate NY?

Check out my other posts showing how I used the same wallpaper to accent a chair and and bi-fold door so they would all coordinate together.

Seeing vintage in fresh new ways is always inspiring and keeps perfectly good treasures out of the dumps!

To view the other wallpaper inspired items using Walls Republic wallpaper you can find them here: http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/how-to-wallpaper-a-bi-fold-door-to-use-as-a-headboard-or-screen/ http://tayrose.com/2015/04/16/wallpaper-challenge-at-least-for-me/

http://www.eregalstudio.com/ credit for finished group photos on my wallpaper project with the chair, bi-fold and pendant light.

To receive posts via email click HE RE Subscribe in a reader or signup in Subscription box in sidebar.

Sea Shells far from the Sea Shore…..A mirrored view

One can’t say enough about shells….their shapes; colors; and sizes from a tiny spiral to a large conch- shells have been a part of decorating through out history. Shells add beauty whether displayed in a dish, or on a shelf or, in my case, adhered to an old mirror.

I have 2 examples of mirrors and a memento box that I have made that changed their entire look just by adding shells. On one mirror, I painted the shells, and the other, I left the shells in their original colors. Both I feel have done shells proud…

The first mirror I had a large oval gold-painted mirror that had some rose bas relief along the rim but only in a few places so I wanted to fill in the whole rim to make the mirror more sculptural looking.

Whenever I see shells at garage sales, or thrift stores, I try to scoop them up for I know they will be used one day, in one way or another. Or I just admire them in a bowl or jar- reminded of the waves from whence they came.

I used a putty type product called Laticrete to apply the shells to the rim, working in small sections so the adhesive wouldn’t dry out too fast.

It’s waterproof and used to set tiles. It has a creamy consistency and I used a putty knife to apply then set the shells into the soft putty.

After the putty was dry, I decided to paint the mirror plus the shells in white, with several coats, using up some white paint I had leftover in my basement.

I thought white was an appropriate color, where I could envision the mirror in a beach house at the Cape, or in a contemporary loft in the City, or cozied up Shabby Chic style in a vintage cottage. I love the mirror in white, it’s so sculptural with the shells, and you really have to walk up and look closely to verify they are shells, which makes it all the more interesting.

For the 2nd mirror, I decided to keep the shells in their original forms, and I again used putty to attach the shells, but I added some black acrylic paint to the putty to darken it to a gray color so the shells would stand out more. I also painted the inside rim in black so the shell color would pop, and give a nice contrast rim around the mirror.

I worked with the putty in small sections at a time, fitting shells and adding tiny shells into small openings, filling as many gaps as I could find with more shells. This mirror was in pretty bad shape, so by covering it with the shells, the life was saved with a little hint of it’s history at the top. The mirror too is timeless, and really fits into any style of decor be it eclectic to contemporary. It has found a spot in my bathroom, and if I tire of it there, it will find another wall in the house to be appreciated.

(And yes, the mirror is hanging on some bead board that I painted the wall color and then hand painted the seams of the bead board slats in gray….call me crazy, but for this accent wall in the bath, it works really well and didn’t take all that long to do.)

The last piece I did with shells, but certainly not the last piece I will use shells on, was a memento box I had covered in shells as a card box for my wedding. This box now holds trinkets and memories and the shells encircled a favorite photo of ours on the lid.

Shells will always be a part of my home decor, and though I may not live by the seashore, the sea is remembered by the tiny treasures found on beaches and in thrift stores that share their natural beauty… off shore.

To receive posts via email click HERE Subscribe in a reader or signup in Subscription box in sidebar.