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Murals in the Home

Before & After

By Marcy on July 10, 2013 in Childrens Furniture, Faux Finishes, Furniture, Party Decorations

BEFORE

AFTER

I could look at Before & After photos ALL…DAY…LONG! The subject matter is irrelevant. So long as the difference is dramatic, I’m all over it. That’s probably why I love painting so much. Because even going from one paint color to another, you could look at the very same thing in a whole different light. When something, like an old piece of furniture, has been neglected for a while…and it gets a fresh coat of paint…it’s even more gratifying. It’s almost like I could see the clouds parting and hear the angels singing the sweet sounds of redemption! I’m not even exaggerating. That’s how I feel. So I encourage you to take Before & After pictures of any projects you take on, so that satisfying feeling can last as long as you hold on to those photos. That said, I thought I would share some of my favorite Before & After photos of projects I’ve done.

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Go Bold, or Go Home Faux Finishes

By Marcy on July 9, 2013 in Faux Finishes, In the Home

When I first started experimenting with different faux finishes, I thought I needed to Go Bold, or Go Home. Red, purple, burnt orange… those were my go-to colors. My house was psychedelic! I even faux finished my garage! Don’t get me wrong, I still love bold colors, but I’ve learned to use them more sparingly now.

Take my home office. Seven years ago I painted it a cherry red, then put a black glaze on top to give it the look of leather. You can do this glazing technique using a stipple brush, or do what I did and use lots and lots of plastic bags (Yes, the ones you get from the grocery store). I crinkled them up and used them to pound over the freshly rolled on glaze, creating dark and light areas throughout. It took FOREVER…. but the end result was AWESOME!!! Seriously, the pictures do not do it justice. The only problem was, the whole room felt heavy and dark.

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Painting My Very First House

By Marcy on July 8, 2013 in Exterior Paint

My first big project: Painting the house I grew up in.

I painted my very first house recently. Yes, Im talking about the exterior of the house…but I’m also talking about thee VERY FIRST HOUSE I ever lived in. It was built by my Dad, and in it, my two brothers, two sisters, and I were raised. It’s a rental property now. My family hasn’t lived there since the late 80’s. But all my childhood memories are rooted in this home in the southern New Mexico farming town of La Mesa.

Things no longer look the way I remember them. In some cases, it’s a good thing. In others, well..it kind of makes me sad. This is how the house looked when I arrived with all my painting gear. Notice the lovely stucco patchwork and inconspicuous phone & TV dish lines. Seriously, it aggravates me. Who ever installed them made no effort to conceal them. There’s not a darn thing I can do about that, but I can camouflage these unsightly wires as best I can with paint.

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Call Attention to Architectural Features

By Marcy on July 7, 2013 in Faux Finishes, In the Home

Whether you have a coved ceiling, an archway, or a little niche, painting is one of the best ways to call attention to the architectural features that are unique to your home. You can faux finish them, or use them as an excuse to introduce a different color to the room. Just look at the difference a pop of color can make:

A pop of color calls attention to a nice feature

This is what it looked like BEFORE

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Archive | In the Home

Before & After

Go Bold, or Go Home Faux Finishes

Painting My Very First House

Call Attention to Architectural Features