CHOC Home Tour Client

I have a long time client whose house was a stop on last friday's CHOC Home Tour. This client lost her home in the Yorba Linda fires in November of 2008, and rebuilt her home from the ashes, and did an absolutely amazing job. Her deadline to get it done by the time of the Home Tour was a tough one to meet, but she did it! Here is what I did to help get it pulled together:

This is the downstairs Powder Room which already had the beginnings of a Faux Finish done by a sub-contractor of a sub-contractor, and not to my clients liking. She was talked into using this other artist by the Color Theorist she hired to help choose paint colors for the entire house inside and out, and was very unhappy. The room was described by the florist doing the arrangements for the tour as looking like "the inside of a heart". The walls had ben painted a brick red color, then a metallic gold was applied to the surface, and gold "veins" were drawn on. I came and and gave the room texture and depth, by adding a coffee colored glaze to the entire surface to tone down the gold paint, and soften the veining. The desired effect was an Old World finish, and I was able to salvage what had been done to these walls with a nicely applied glazing to mask the imperfections and bring in some class.



In the Foyer, the client wanted her favorite Bible verse above the door, with her collection of crufixes, and in a small alcove she wanted to have a custom script painted with a few lines from a favorite song. The lettering above the door is an adaptation of "Parchment" - most people have it on their computer, and the lettering for the alcove is my own handwriting, which has actually been made into a font, and is currently used by Target, and has been used in magazines, yearbooks, a VW ad, OC Restaurant Week 2009, and probably more that I am unaware of. You can view/purchase my font here: Fontgarden

And in the Master Bedroom, I created a 4 color faux finish to give the room some Ooomph! With her dark, carved and gilded furniture, the walls needed to be able to hold their own. Using a combination of colors used elsewhere in the adjacent rooms and Master Bath, the faux finish brings in the color she wanted, creating a showcase for her custom bedding and ornate furniture.

Tuscany in the Suburbs

This mural was painted in the inset section of a pre-fab poured concrete fireplace, and the fireplace surround was faux painted to look as if it were hewn from an old, weathered piece of stone. The mural is a typical landscape from the Tuscany region in Italy, featuring a vineyard. Many new homes in the area have this kind of fireplace and the options for painting and making it really stand out are endless.

The kitchen of the same home has this stove hood which I painted with a faux background that played off the paint on the walls and the granite countertops. The lower edge was primed plywood and I painted that to match the existing cabinetry. The decorative painting of a grouping of grapes, pears and olives extend the Italian theme into this room, as there was not a lot of wall space for other artwork.

Faux Marble Walls

This technique is something I do quite a bit of in powder rooms and other small spaces. Bathrooms and hallways are a perfect space for this look. In a large room, depending on what you have going on, this may be way too busy. In some I use metallic paints, some have just metallic on the veining, some have no metallic...each room is as different as each client and their wishes are. Custom sample boards can be worked up for your specific project.