Accent Walls

Love bright colors but afraid to put them on your walls?  Try an accent wall!  This gorgeous living room gets the perfect dose of orange with a bright orange accent wall. The fireplace wall is the perfect choice for a punch of color.  The decorative molding and starburst mirror as well as strategically placed vases lend scale and balance. Notice how the orange cushions and coffee table bring the color into the room.

This silver and gray Venetian plaster finish on the far wall draws the visitor in to this contemporary office lobby.  It lends visual interest to an otherwise stagnant space and makes an important first impression for the company.

How about a mural on a feature wall?  This tree shadow mural was painted with flat black paint and glossy black paint for a "silhouette" effect.  This upstairs hallway/catwalk in the open floor plan post and beam contemporary is open to the great room below.  A set of double doors painted gloss black in the entry ties in the wall and wrought iron chandelier.

Painting the wall behind your bed a deep color can make the bedroom feel cozy and warm without turning it into a cave.

How about an accent wall as art? Love this idea of using reclaimed shutters! Simply beautiful.

Fauxing A Faux Fireplace

One of the coolest things about decorative finishes is the ability to fulfill unusual requests and think outside the box. The owners of this fabulous post and beam contemporary inherited this lifeless looking cultured stone fireplace. The cold uniformly light gray cement color looked like just what it was, cement. This seemed a little "off" when compared to the natural wood tones of the floor and ceiling. The "stone" being very rough and porous, painting it would have been much too labor intensive and not give the greatest results. The option demolishing and rebuilding the fireplace was expensive, messy and time consuming. What to do?

Well.. we used zero voc powdered Earth Pigments diluted in water and "washed" them into the stone, layering and blending the colors as we went. We then sealed our work with Faux Like A Pro dead flat varnish, added some whiting while still damp, and viola field stone! The whole project took us 3 days start to finish.

"Leather" finish family room

This family room is the center of activity for this active family of five. In an open floor plan like this one, it can be a challenging decision figuring out how to use color to define different areas without losing the "flow".

A warm terra cotta colored plaster finish with the look and feel of antique leather was applied to the walls in 3 layers. Notice how this color brings out the beauty in the field stone fireplace.

Color was used around the entertainment center and up the fireplace wall to add warmth and define the "family room" as an inviting space. We did not carry the bold color to the second story walls as this could feel top heavy and overwhelm the space. By using color on just three of the walls, we have created a cozy place to relax and entertain while still keeping the "open" feel of the floor plan.