a wonderful old chest-on-chest-style dresser had been languishing in a lovely client’s attic, but will now have a spot in her son’s room, where the color scheme is a lively and happy blue, orange & red. there is a knockout-fabulous old blue-painted piece next to his bed, and when she came to town to bring the dresser and [...]
6 February 2010 – 11.44 am
as you know, mrs. jones is here to share any and all relevant, appropriate tidbits…that’s the purpose of this little journal, right? this time around, however, i do have a tiny confidence to keep. for now, here’s a sneak peek at some small but fun projects from the past few days. soon all will be revealed.
these frames were in the attic, and needed a [...]
25 November 2009 – 4.14 pm
as you know, mrs. jones does not suffer chromophobes gladly, and is delighted when color-seekers come calling. this graceful little table from a lovely client’s attic is the perfect piece to deliver the requested healthy shot of pratt & lambert’s chinese orange (#4.10 ) to their living room. it was given the full high-gloss treatment…just to make sure no one misses it.
here is the before [...]
25 October 2009 – 9.41 pm
it’s a sort of well-kept secret that mrs. jones runs a very selective summer sweatshop internship program. only the most exceedingly qualified applicants are considered! this year, the choice was easy, and lovely libby moore spent some time with me covering furniture painting basics. she then (with only a tiny bit of help) made over two pieces from the family attic for her college apartment. she’s [...]
a lovely client’s request: lighten (and glam) up this piece from her mother’s home.
before and after:
and some details:
benjamin moore cameo white #915, with raw umber glaze and wax…liquid leaf and then gold leaf, aged, on the fillets and pulls.
(i’m hoping to have on-site photos soon, but it’s headed out of town to a beautiful breakfast room in jackson, [...]
teamed up once again with the fabulous gwen driscoll and her lovely client, more bbf (big brown furniture) from storage was given a fresh new look…before:
gwen specified black & lacquered with platinum-y hardware. here’s after:
to get the pulls just right, they were primed, glammed up with coats of silver “liquid leaf“, and ralph lauren’s regent metallic in ambassador sterling (rm.14), then sealed with a [...]
these pieces, out of a lovely client’s storage, needed a strong, lively finish to hold their own with a knockout wallpaper chosen by talented memphis designer gwen driscoll. after removing the old varnish, they were given the full-on fancy flea-market treatment: heavily distressed layers of wax, paint, glaze, and gold leaf.
here they are before:
and after:
please accept my apologies for not having a “before” photo of this little project. the chair is a favorite handed down to my lovely client by her grandmother. painted, lined and aged just a little to match their knockout wallpaper, it’s the perfect perch for putting on shoes in their master bath/dressing room. here are some details:
well, since there is only one choice left in each category, this question is a giveaway…the chest from a grandmother’s attic that had been painted sassy, glossy black needed sweetening up, to work with a different scheme: a young lady’s room with pretty toile and plaid fabrics in pink and green. here’s another “before” close-up (for the full “before”, [...]
if you guessed that this cute and curvy victorian chair (pictured “before” in a post below) would be finished in high-gloss white, you would have been correct…except that a last-minute change of mind on color occurred, and the rescued and repaired chair ended up being painted pale blue (pratt & lambert’s #24.26, “boucle”) and then lacquered, destined for re-upholstering in white duck-cloth and [...]
so, did you guess that the sofa (picture #5, 2 posts below) would be finished in creamy whites & gold leaf, distressed and aged? very good! but i bet you couldn’t have guessed how fab it looks now that my lovely client had it upholstered in white duck-cloth.
here are some details:
bullet tells mrs. jones that he likes [...]
okay, turn your papers over and pass them to the front…let’s see how you did. if you answered that photo 4, the chest & hutch, would be painted in two shades of gray-blue, rubbed and distressed, you are right!
my lovely client had used this piece in several places before it ended up in storage, where little be-whiskered visitors took up [...]
wow — all of a sudden, things are a little stacked up at the studio (in an exciting way, i mean, gratefully) with “befores”! since i know you’ve been paying close attention, here’s a little quiz:
match each photo to the finish mrs. jones is planning for that particular piece…
1. hanging shelf 2. chest 3. victorian chair [...]
24 January 2008 – 9.27 am
this curvy-front, drop-leaf desk was built by a client’s great-grandfather. she had a brilliant idea: fix it up and cover the inside with wallpaper! then decided it would be easier to let mrs. jones stencil it in the damask pattern and color she wanted. after cleaning it up, rubbing down the existing paint to enhance its little bumps and flaws, silver-leafing [...]
11 January 2008 – 12.36 am
these sconces have been swankified for a young lady’s bathroom with bittersweet-chocolate paint, silver leaf, and tinted wax.
before… and after.
9 November 2007 – 8.48 pm
my friends know that i have serious landfill guilt about having used so many disposable diapers on the little joneses. i strive to be ”green” in my painting practices, using acrylic and low- or non-VOC products whenever possible, and environmentally correct techniques always.
of course, being green can also involve re-using or re-purposing existing materials. one of my favorite re-use projects was [...]
