Crocodile Finish

I mentioned last Friday that I would be showing you some photos of a fabulous crocodile finish I helped my friend and fellow decorative painter, Susan Siefer, out with a few weeks ago. This finish really is best with an extra set of hands!

Susan started out by having the walls base painted in this great shade of red. We had 3 identical crocodile stencils from Faux Effects to play with. Since we were troweling a metallic dimensional product thru the stencil, we had to wash the stencils after every 3rd repeat or they would become too clogged with product. These stencils are very fragile, so you need a good sized area to wash and dry and spread out.

The more repetitions we added, the more we liked it.

We were working in a mudroom and a small hallway that led to the garage. You really need a large utility sink nearby to keep washing off the stencils, so this location was ideal. I’d think twice before I’d do this in a room that did not have easy access to such a set up.

/> Of course, it also helped that this was an absolutely gorgeous house, with layers of moldings and detailing.

A rare shot of me at work, since I’m usually working solo!

After all the repeats were done, we added a final toning layer to soften the gold and give it a richer, deeper look.

You can see the contrast well in these two photos

All finished! You can see the hallway (far right) that goes to the garage in this photo.

This shows another hallway that leads from this mudroom to the main part of the house. The croc finish stops at the edge of this wall.

Susan later glazed the ceiling. This job was a lot of work but we both kept remarking how much fun it was and how we got more excited about it each day. Thanks for the opportunity to try out this finish, Susan!