Well, as predicted, this WAS one very fun job! I had some company visiting this week and it was also my daughter’s 24th birthday, so I had no spare minutes to post here until now. I did, however, take some photos during the process.
One of the first pieces of this project to be completed was this mini mural. This was created to insert behind a real window in the store front, so it looks like the pets are inside the house, looking out.
Here you can see what I am talking about. You are also seeing part of a fourth of July banner in front of the window. The dog was free handed, but the cat is an old stencil I had on hand designed by Kari Butler. The pattern on the curtain is a scroll repeat design by Royal Design Studios.
Under this window, I painted some bushes, using sea sponges.
I stenciled in some shutters, using another stencil from Andrea Designs, I’ve had for years. You can also see a close up of the painted wooden slats.
There is a full sized door that leads into this little store front window area. The problem was that the floor for the window area is raised up about 3 feet from the actual floor in the building. I painted the real door knob black to blend in with the door, added the trompe l’oeil door knob and mail slot, as well as some panel detailing on what once was a plain door.
I forgot to take some shots of the faux step you can barely see in front of the door. This was a plain box made of wood that I painted to look like a granite step.
A closer look at the door knob and keyhole.
To give this door a little more height inside this store front area, I added a row of window panes above and to the right of the right of the door. To the far right you can see the large store front window.
Another view of the glass surrounding the door.
The mail slot.
The glare was too distracting to shoot pictures from the outside looking in, so I had to shoot my pictures from within. Here you can see the completed shutters around the real window, a real trellis leaning against painted clapboards, indoor/outdoor carpeting for grass with a picnic scene set up.
The stone walkway was done as a floor cloth in my studio and taped down into place I cut the grass rug out around the path. A carpenter created a miniature sign post to hold the For Sale/Sold sign and a local newspaper is thrown on the walkway.
I am going to pick up a few more props for this window over the weekend and will return on Monday to further decorate.
Everyone here at Prudential Realty were so supportive and enthusiastic of this project. This store front is on a very busy main street in the center of town. By changing out the props each month and keeping it interesting and fresh, I hope the window will bring some welcomed attention to this business.