Traditional Home Inspiration Continued

 Once again, it's wallpaper that would look much better if it were a custom painted decorative finish.

Did you notice the fireplace?  Look at that gorgeous mantle!  Notice the simple lines...  Is it painted Builder White?  NO!!!!  There is no reason to have a white mantle anymore.  Resist the blah white blah mantle!Paint, glaze or leaf IS your friend!

 

Friends, if you have a gorgeous architectural element like this ceiling, please take note....Silver, gold or bronze leaf or foils are beautiful ways to accent great architecture!  Plasters (especially metallics) are also gaaawgeous!

 

If you have gorgeous architecture like this, WHY would you not accentuate it?  I just don't understand why you would keep this white!  You could at least use an off white that doesn't blend in with the trim work!  Please, look at your ceilings.  Think of them as the jewelry that "completes" that great little black dress.  The ceiling is the fifth wall.  It can make or break the overall look of the room... If you have popcorn ceilings what should you do?  Get them smoothed!  No need to "float out" the ceiling if you have a plaster of foil applied.  They are forgiving finishes and it saves you from the messy sanding if you were to float out and just paint the ceiling. 

Traditional Home Inspiration

I found these pictures from the Traditional Home website.  I just love these silver leafed ceilings!

I know it looks a lot like gold but it is silver....  Isn't it FAB????

I think these walls are wallpaper (yuck).  A decorative finish would be much better but I love the color scheme.  I think a silver metallic plaster would be fabulous!  What do you think?

Vesta Home Show

Things have been crazy busy lately.  Talk about burning the candle at both ends!  Take a look at what we have been up to.

This is an "in progress" picture of one of the ceilings we transformed in our "Show House".

This shows the powder room "in progress"

This is the dining room completed...Eight layers of yummy goodness!  Venetian Plaster, with hand applied waxes, buffed to a high sheen.  It is beautiful!  

 This shows the powder room completed.  We used the same eight layer process but changed the color way.  We also fauxed the trim which really gave the room that WOW factor.

 

The plain white cabinet just needed a little love so we added a rich umber glaze and continued the same with the baseboards.

 

We also applied a subtle Venetian Plaster to the study ceiling to keep it from feeling too dark.  It is much more subtle than the other finishes but just as luxurious!

 

Last but not least, we fauxed the mantle because that plain white just was not working with this gorgeous house.  

 

Doesn't this room look incredibly inviting?  We are very proud not only of the work that we did in this beautiful "Show House", but we are thrilled that we have had the opportunity to see the reactions people have to this beautiful home.  We have made it a point to be at the home during the past two weeks to meet and greet the people on the tour.  We have met a number of very charming people and I can admit that it has been heartwarming to hear the "Oohs and Aahs" as people first notice the ceilings then actually take the time to feel the walls in the powder room.  VERY rewarding!

Unfortunately, I have been meeting and greeting at the Vesta House in the mornings and then trying to complete projects all afternoon and evening. My house and family are really feeling neglected but when the home show ends next Monday, I am taking the week to PLAY with my kids and CLEAN my house!  Maybe I will even throw together a garage sale to get rid of the clutter in my NASTY house!  I seriously think the only way to get my house under control is to start purging!  I hate throwing garage sales, but I am desperate!  What do you think? 

Faux Retreat Was...

Amazing... I laughed so hard, I cried... We painted... We laughed... We stayed up late... We woke up early and painted again... Did I mention how much we laughed? Oh yeah, we ate wonderful meals... I honestly can say that I made some truly wonderful friends. We still talk, text and Facebook regularly and I am sure that my family is sick of hearing funny stories from Faux Retreat. So you wanna see some Photos?

My sleepwalking and sleeptalking room mate, Lisa.  Sweet Sandy and Adorable Tiffany.  Oh, and I can't forget Eddie....

Some of our canvases and samples in process...

What the Heck?...  Our big night out in Spooner, Wisconsin.  Don'tcha know...  The name of the bar was actually called "What the Heck"!  And the bar actually had a DOG....

I promise to show some samples next!

Color in a Traditional Home!

 Have you seen the new Traditional Home Magazine this month?  I am in color love!  Finally, photos of rooms IN LIVING COLOR!  Happy Day, Happy Day!  I am so tired of seeing neutral and monochromatic color schemes in magazines. I appreciate the idea behind why they are so popular...  It just doesn't fit my personality.  This month's Traditional Home fits my personality...



Don't you love these happy colors?



I just wish I was bold enough to paint my dining room PINK!  The boys and hubs would fahhhreeeek!




Wouldn't you just  luhrve one of these?



I am really loving this aqua room.  Did you know that you can get the look of custom wallpaper with paint?  Paint and stencils or modellos and you can design you own wallpaper in your own color palette.  I prefer a more random, organic look over the very structured look shown here but it is still gaaaawjuss!

All photos are courtesy of Traditional Home.

What do you think?