I got a call from my good friend and fellow decorative painter, Chris Smith, over the weekend, asking if I would be able to do a quick dining room job before Christmas, for one of her clients. Chris is busy on another job and knew she’d never be able to take on this job before the 25th. Since this client is only about 10 minutes from my house, and would only take 1 day, I decided to go for it.
This new client just had her walls painted, so she was ready to go. She knew she wanted a light gold finish and luckily I have quite a few gold toned sample boards in my portfolio to show clients. She selected a fairly light, ragged gold finish. I did not have enough of the gold she selected, so did a quick run to the paint store in the a.m. before I headed out to her house. When I began mixing the metallic gold w/my glaze in a container I realized this was the wrong shade of gold. I returned to the paint store to get the right gold! Now, of course, it was 10 a.m. and I was just getting started. Luckily, I only had to do from the ceiling line down to the chair rail. So, in spite of myself, I was able to get this done and was out of the house much earlier than I had thought.
The finish is a very pale gold. The client really wanted a striae or something a little deeper gold, but her husband and daughter would not allow her to do more than this light glaze. 🙁 After I finished the first layer, which was to be the only layer, I could see she was pleased, but still wished it had a little more depth and was not quite so subtle. I went around the room once more and added some highlights using a sea sponge. The look is still subtle, to appease the husband and daughter, but now she has a little more shimmer!
I just thought I’d throw this picture in for all of you decorative painters. Don’t you just love trying to reach these far corners when there is a built in??? I actually was able to stick my arm through the openings to get to the wall, which was easier than trying to go up and over the top.
Btw, take a look at that chandelier. It is one of the prettiest ones I have ever seen.
Quick Kitchen
