May 8, 2014

Deep Space and Chalkboard


I worked for this family a long time ago.  I did some work on their front door and painted the two rooms on their 3rd floor.  This time, they wanted me to paint their 2nd floor.

Some people contact me and just want their house painted.  They really don't know what they want, what colors to use, or how to create a space.  This is fine.  Not everyone is good at it.  This woman, however, had a vision and did not compromise it at all.

Her son's room was scuffed up, the baseboard was missing in some places, there were nail holes all over the ceiling and walls, and it needed some new life.  She showed me a picture from a design website and wanted what she saw.  So, we made the ceiling and the top 2/3 of the wall one off-white color.  We covered the bottom portion of the wall with chalkboard paint, even the closet.  She did not necessarily want her son drawing on the walls.  She just liked the look and the durability of it.  I had the chalkboard paint color matched for the trim.  So, the door frames were the same color as the chalkboard paint, but in a standard semi-gloss product.  We made the line go right over the trim.


Before

After
Her bedroom was a huge project.  We stripped the wall paper from the ceiling and made extensive repairs to it.  Then we painted the walls in Benjamin Moore's Deep Space with a Matte finish.  The trim and doors were also Deep Space, but in a semi-gloss. Considering the name, I was not shocked by the color.  I was shocked that someone would want it, though.  The ceiling was the same color as her son's room.  I did not understand it at first, but I do like the results.



Before
After


Before
After







Kitchen Makeover

I know that is has been quite some time since I updated this site.  The winter was filled with rather uninteresting jobs.  I patched a lot of holes due to water and ice damage, painted several rental units, and simply forgot to take pictures of the other jobs.  Now, that my busy season is starting up, I am engaged in more interesting projects and can get photos worthy of updating this blog.

The people in this house did not want a full upgrade of their kitchen, but needed to clean it up and make it look nicer.  The walls had a lot of texture (which you cannot see in the pictures) and were rather dirty from years of use.  Beautiful, old, hand-made built-in cabinets were also rather worn, and the hinges were caked with paint. The homeowners wanted it clean and nice.

Here are some pictures of the kitchen as it was when we got there




After repairing and skim coating the walls, painting the ceiling, stripping the cabinet hardware, and painting the cabinets and trim, the kitchen looked wonderful, bright, and clean.