Our house was built in the mid 90’s. In the kitchen we have honey oak cabinets and white formica counter tops.  The appliances are white, all the molding in the kitchen is white. We are currently pulling down the wallpaper, texturing and painting the walls a neutral sand color to match the rest of our open floor plan walls.

We are also and replacing a hideous light box with recessed cans. The flooring will be a medium to darker colored tile. I want to either paint my cabinets a lighter white or cream color OR stain them much darker. I also need to get new counter tops as the Formica is lifting in places. Color wise, what do you suggest? Are there any hard and fast cabinet/counter/flooring color combination rules?  ~ Stephanie

* * * * *

Painting over previously stained cabinets is not that great of an idea and a last resort. I only recommend it if the cabinets are not in great shape or have some other insurmountable design flaw. Anytime you paint over stained wood, you will get chips, sooner or later. Even with a high adhesive paint, kitchen cabinets get a lot of abuse, and your chips will come sooner rather than later.

Additionally, in your case, I think if you paint your cabinets a light color, it will be too much of the neutral tones everywhere.  As it stands now, the dark cabinets are in good shape, provide a nice horizontal band of dark contrast to your light countertops and walls, and my recommendation is to leave them alone.

If you are looking to replace your laminate with granite, Giallo Ornamental pairs nicely with the sand colored paint you have chosen.  If granite is not in your budget, then look for a warm beige matte-finish laminate, something with a small fleck or design in it that reads as a texture.  Additionally, a 4×4 tumbled marble or a 12×12 ceramic with a stone appearance placed on the diagonal on your backsplash would add warmth, texture and interest and increase the wow factor substantially. 

There are no hard and fast rules of design, there are only design concepts. Whatever works for you is whatever appeals to YOUR eye!

Stephanie’s kitchen make-over in progress.

To give you a rough idea of how the horizontal banding of contrasting colors would work, in the picture above I blotted out the box lights, left the cabinets as is, added a Giallo Ornamental granite countertop and a tumbled marble backsplash.  Even though the cabinets are dark, the tone is warm and works well with the overall design. 

Giallo Ornamental granite - an elegant choice that I use often.

Do you have any recommendations as to what color I should paint my bedroom to go with this new bedspread? There are two large windows on either side of the bed and I have tan grommet top drapes with brushed nickel hardware.

I purchased a quart of celery/lime green paint and brushed some on the walls to give me an idea of how it would look. I LOVE the color, but I don’t know if it would look good in such a large room.

Also, my husband is conservative (our last house was almost entirely one or another derivative of white). I want more color in this house, but I want him to be happy with it too. I’m just afraid our whole house is going to be white or boring beige!  ~ Katrina

* * * * *

First off Katina, I love your new bedspread! Aptly named Moroccan, it is fabulous and exotic and your new white furniture is beautiful as well. 

As the rooms stands now, there are two wrinkles in your design as I see it.  One is that your beautiful white furniture gets lost against your white walls, so I will take your side on paint  — you need some color on the walls to feature your furniture and bedding.

The second glitch is your curtains. I know that they are probably brand new and you probably love them, but I don’t think they are right for this room.  I would describe the mood of your bedspread as exotic (Hello? Moroccan!) vibrant and cheerful and the curtains as quiet and subdued — a definite conflict.  If possible, I would replace your curtains with something more in keeping with the spirit of the bedspread and use your curtains in another spot — one of your beige rooms perhaps!

Okay then, paint.  I looked at a couple of different paint scenarios for you. The first one is using a green similar to what you have described.  I think if you are willing to change out your curtains, the green will work okay and look nice, although when I look at your bedspread the bit of green found in it is too subtle to use in such a big way as wall color, at least for my eye.  In person, it may read differently.

The second paint color I looked at will probably make your husband sit down on the floor and weep - cinnamon!  I understand this color may be too overwhelming for some people, but to my eye, it is exotic and rich and romatic — everything I want in a Moroccan boudoir.  And your white furniture will definitely stand out nicely against it.

In the true spirit of compromise, and because I don’t think I can convince your husband to go with cinnamon, I really and truly think that if you will change out your curtains to something more similar in color to your bedding that, you could both be happy with a nice warm beige.

Zzzz….

What is the best way to spend money on an older house to get it ready for market? The brief story of this house is that it was built in the 1960’s by my grandparents and suffers some of the woes of a house from that era such as ugly kitchen cabinets and wood paneling. The shag carpet has removed and for the most part, it is filled with beautiful hard wood floors. We have freshened the paint in many of the rooms but it is sitting empty (almost no furniture) with no one staying there on a regular basis.

It sits on an acre of land on a dead end street, very conveniently located to town, so it’s in a great location. The kitchen needs to be updated but that is more money than our family is looking to put into the house at this point. We have tried to improve the curb appeal with a new mailbox, cleaning up the bushes, etc. but I was just curious if you had any thoughts on what else could be done within a budget of say $5,000 or so to help it sell.   ~ Kerri

* * * *

Kerri, it sounds like you’ve done all the prudent things to get your house ready to sell.  $5,000 is actually a substantial amount of money to get a house ready for market if all that is needed is cosmetic.  If you want to sell that house sooner rather than later, I would spend it.

First and foremost, pay attention to curb appeal.  In order to sell the house, you have to get them to stop and look so that they will want to go inside and look.  That means a neat and tidy yard with bushes trimmed back and a pop of seasonal color in flower pots or beds.  Beyond that think about repainting your exterior trim color a darker stronger color. 

It is amazing what a good trim color - eves, gutters, shutters - can do for a house.  The exterior trim color is like a picture frame. You can take an ordinary picture and put it in a nice frame and all of a sudden you’ve got art!  Most people, in my opinion, play it too safe with the trim color and opt for a sandy beige.  If your house is brick, look for the darkest color in the brick and go with that.  PPG/Monarch has an exterior trim color called “Mesa” that I’ve used a lot for homes with a brick that had a dark brown fleck. 

Keeping in mind that the two rooms that sell a house are the kitchen and the master bathroom, I would hire a professional painter to come in and paint your cabinets and any panelling that you have a nice neutral creamy white.  Contrary to conventional wisdom, in your kitchen I would put a color on the wall – a subtle, warm, cheerful color will make all the difference.

If the counter tops are not in good shape, replace them with an inexpensive attractive neutral laminate.  Update cabinetry hardware with simple knobs/pulls. After that, I would look at updating lighting fixtures.  Depending on the fixtures, you might be able to repaint the existing fixtures with a matte black paint.

I would also probably go ahead and remove any existing shag carpet and replace it with something else, anything else. 

Beyond that, I think it would be prudent to spend a little bit updating your kitchen appliances, especially the refrigerator and stove. 

If you can afford it, staging a house with a bit of rental furniture to define the spaces has proven to help sell a house.  I think if you are creative, you can do all these things and more for $5,000 or less. And any good real estate agent will tell you that you will probably get it all back and maybe even a bit more.

Good luck!

We recently bought a home from a builder who builds space, not luxury.   One of the luxuries they don’t include is knobs on the cabinets. So my question is what do I look for when choosing knobs? Are they supposed to match the fixtures or do you match the cabinets?   In the bathroom there is a spice colored maple cabinetry with black marble looking formica and chrome fixtures. In the kitchen we chose tawny oak cabinetry with a tea biscuit marble looking formica, and chrome/stainless in the sink Thanks!  ~  Seallen

* * * * *

Cabinets don’t have to have knobs if they have the little hand grooves on the underside for opening. Sometimes I think knobless cabinets are nicer because it’s just one less design element to work around. If you really don’t want knobs, then a good trim carpenter can rout out those grooves for you easily enough. I kind of like the “knob-less” look - it’s a cleaner look and that always appeals to me.

On the other hand, cabinetry hardware can be like jewelry and really make the design sparkle. On the other hand…. $$$$$!  When you first start shopping for cabintry hardware, you think “Oh this knob is nice and it’s only $5!”  And then you start adding up how many you need. Then you faint right there in the hardware department and when you come to, there will be strangers standing over you and fanning you with a store circular. See, there are more problems with cabinetry hardware than they cover at those clinics at Home Depot.  They never mention the fainting part.

One thing to keep in mind as you are shopping for cabinetry hardware is that a simple design will stand the test of time better than something more ornate, like what is shown on the right.  And no, you don’t have to match the fixtures.  You can match the fixtures if you want, but you can also match another design element,  like the style or color of the room. 

As you are looking at cabinetry hardware, pay attention to size and style.  Some pulls are difficult for men with large hards to use because they are too small to get their hands under.  I avoid knobs that have a specific orientation or a pattern because they always seem to turn and that bugs me.

It sounds like a satin nickel finish would work for your kitchen. There is a small satin nickel button, something like is shown here on the left,  that is inexpensive (less than $3) that you can get at Home Depot or Lowes.  Ikea also has some very inexpensive simple knobs that come in a variety of finishes.  I thought I saw some in their store for around $1 that they don’t show on-line.  Another resource for inexpensive hardware is Knobs and Pulls.

For the bathroom, a knob with a brown patina might work well with your spice colored vanity.  I like this one shown here on the right (Home Depot/$3.79).  I usually select knobs for cabinets and pulls for drawers, but there is no absolute rule, it’s whatever is functional and appeals to your eye. 

I suggest you go to your local hardware store, buy several different styles of knobs in a variety of finishes and take them home and see which one,  if any, appeals to you.

“Help!  We just bought our first home and I have no idea what to do with my dining room.  The problem is that the walls are contractor off-white with white trim. It has a chair rail, but I have no idea what to do with it.  I do not want to use wallpaper, or more beige. I have a cranberry wall in the living room, and I would somehow like to bring that color in, but the chair rail trim is just stumping me. Should I take it down, or just paint the same color above and below? I have no idea what to do, but that off white is killing me.   ~ Jenn”

* * * * *

Jenn, I couldn’t tell a lot from the pictures you sent, but I loved what I saw.

The red living room wall color is a strong color and works well with your modern/traditional furniture with the clean lines.  In think in your case, one strong color calls for another and the best way to achieve this might be with what is called a “triadic” color scheme. Instead of choosing the color directly across from the color wheel for contrast which would be green, go left and right of green which is your deeper hued yellows on the right and blues on the left.  

I would consider using a rich yellow ochre shade with a tinge or brown below the chair rail, one shade lighter above the chair rail and then even one shade lighter on the ceiling (if the ceiling is isolated with crown molding).  You want to avoid shades that you might describe as sunny or lemmony.

The chair rail helps to break up the space and adds a bit of visual interest, but it wouldn’t ruin the space either if you decided it had to go. Unless I was planning to retexture the wall anyway, I would not go to the trouble to remove it.  Another option is to paint the chair rail either black which will really make it stand out or the deepest shade of yellow ochre to make it analagous to the wall color.

If you go with the yellow ochre idea, your cranberry/indigo/yellow accessories are what will make it work — think red matted and black framed art contrasting against the yellow walls and curtains with a splash of cranberry.

Any other ideas for Jenn?

“My question is about paint color, specifically how to use color on the walls in decorating a home.  How much of the house should match, is there an ideal number of colors to use in a house, do the rooms need to match each other, etc.  Basically I want to walk the line between boring beige on every wall and too much color and would love to hear your thoughts on it. ~ Liv”

* * * * *

Well Liv, that is a really good question and one I wish I had a really good answer for, but it all depends.

I think everyone should use color in their home in a way that expresses their personality and style and makes them happy.  For some of us, that will be beige everywhere.  For others it will be a rainbow in every room.

When I am working on a home for a builder, because I am trying to appeal to the widest audience of buyers, I generally limit my palette to three colors - a shade of white for the trim and mouldings, a strong warm beige for the walls and then another accent color for the dining room or kitchen, which we sometimes jazz up with a metalic glaze.

One way to get the visual appeal of a variety of colors is to use varying shades of the same color.  In other words use three shades of the same color in any given space — think below the chair rail, above the chair rail and then ceiling.  If you are able to put a glaze on top of any of those shades of the same color, you get even more mileage out of your single color.

For the average homeowner, using a lot of different colors in one visual space is difficult and hard to get right. More often than not the effect is disconnected and chaotic.  However, when it is done right it can be stunning — think of Mexican or Italian pottery.   

If you are using a variety of colors in one visually connected space, then those colors should relate to one another in some way — they are all warm, or all muted or all something.  However, in private spaces like bedrooms, then all bets are off and you should choose whatever color you like with no regard to how it relates to the dining room.

So how many colors are in your palette?

“I want to get rid of the vertical blinds on my sliding glass door.  I HATE VERTICAL BLINDS.  I also don’t care much for regular drapes.  I was wondering what you would suggest I replace the blinds with since I need to have the versatility of having the glass door covered at night and open in the day.  We also have a dog who goes out that way … so easy in and out is also a must. “

 ~ Iowa Mom

* * * * *

Dear Iowa Mom,

I’m not a huge fan of vertical blinds either. Aside from the fact that they scream “corporate office” there is all that flapping and swishing that happens anytime they are disturbed in the slightest. 

Hunter Douglas has a product called Vertiglide which is a cellular shade, only on a track.  One thing I really like about the product is that it’s sleek and swish-free and it does not have the tangle of pulls and cords that you get with regular vertical blinds.  But, it’s not especially cheap if you’re on a budget. You can expect to pay anywhere from $300-$500 or more depending upon the size and level of product you choose. 

I checked out a number of other products for sliding glass doors from plantation shutters that stack back to sliding bamboo panels — but frankly, they all seemed a little cumbersome to operate and none provided the clean look that I like.

I know you said you didn’t like drapes, but I think they are your best option because:

1) Pinch pleat drapes on wooden rings hung on a substantial wooden rod with beautiful finnials at either end will bring the eye upward to an otherwise uninteresting space and add a dash of architechtural interest.

2) Depending on the fabric you choose, drapes are most likely the cheapest option, even custom made.

3) Fabric is a great way to warm up a room, reduce noise and bring personality, color and texture to a space.

4) Drapes can be pulled back to one side, even beyond the door if there is enough wall space, and be completely out of the way all day long, and then pulled across for privacy as needed - mechanically simple and highly functional.

5) Drapes are easy enough to change out as the season or mood changes — sheer and light for summer, heavier for winter.

Any other window treatment ideas for a sliding glass door for Iowa Mom?

Hello Antique Mommy,
 
I need help.  My husband and I just purchased our first home.  It was built in 1976 and has the original everything.  It’s hard to know where to start, but the two things that are bothering me the most are the ceiling and the fireplace in the living room.  The living room is the first thing you see when you walk in our home and it sets the tone.  The ceiling is a cedar tongue and groove and it continues down one wall.  We don’t know if we should paint, stain, or rip it off.  Also the ceilings are vaulted and there is a red brick fireplace that is floor to ceiling.  I’ve painted the walls olive and it looks terrible with the red brick and cedar ceiling.  HELP!!

 ~ Amanda

First off, congratulations Amanda on your new house! Let’s all stop and hum a few bars of “We’ve Only Just Begun.”  Seriously, so much ahead of you - broken water heaters and possibly even a front door that won’t pull shut just as you are leaving for the airport.  Homeownership is just a lot of fun.

Second of all,  from what I’ve seen, I LOVE IT! What a fabulous view you have and I just see a ton of potential in this space.

Let’s start with the fireplace and your options and then my recommedation.

There are many many ways to reface a brick fireplace.

You can lay big 18×18 travertine/slate/granite/ceramic tiles on the diagonal for a very clean, modern look.  There is also a great product out now that is a lightweight stone that comes in a variety of flavors.  It really looks like a piece of stone (and trust me, I would not tell you it did if it didn’t) except that it is flat on the back like a piece of tile and it’s lightweight.  You would find this product at your local brick yard.  It is applied just like tile, except by a stone mason.  It can even be used outside.

You can also reface your fireplace in panelled wood for an ultra-traditional library look, although I don’t think that would be a good choice for your house.  As you mentioned, you can sheetrock over your fireplace, and frankly this is my least favorite option.  I think it is just too modern of a look for this home.  And finally you can simply paint over the existing brick, and that is my recommendation - good old fashioned paint.

I think that probably the brick on your fireplace is the same brick that is on the front of your house, so I think it would be wise to maintain that small thread of continuity.  Since you have already painted your walls an olive green, I vote for painting the fireplace an olive green with a good bit of brown to it for a tone-on-tone look. Additionally, I would paint the half-bricks that surround the firebox  and the hearth an even darker shade of green-brown.

Also, I would really really like to see you get a mantle on this fireplace to break up that tower of brick, something chunky and wooden to go with the ceiling.  Any trim carpenter can easily do this for you.  If you win the lottery, think about putting in some hand-scraped hardwoods in a dark finish.  Until then a flat patterned berber in a rich green-brown would be great!

The next issue is the ceiling.  Quite honestly, I would just leave it alone. When I messed with your picture in my design program, I painted it white and it just looked… dumb.  If you paint it white, then it’s the only white element in the room. If you paint it green, then if you change your wall color, you are stuck with a green ceiling. No other colors look very good.  At least live with it a few years before you make a decision. If at some point down the road you are able to add some hardwoods in a similar color, I think it will make a world of difference in how you feel about the ceiling. 

 Abpve, Amanda’s den before she painted it.  I’ll bet that’s olive green paint in that bucket. 

  Amanda’s den after I painted it, laid some carpet and put in ugly curtains. The brown strip across the fireplace is supposed to represent a mantle.

Below is a swatch of the fabric you are planning to make into stationary panel curtains.  You mentioned using bamboo or matchstick shades for privacy and I think that is a great  choice – it will bring some interest and texture to the space, as opposed to standard two-inch blinds.  I think the window to the left of the fireplace is going to be a challenge to dress.  Maybe some of our blinds/window coverings distributors have some ideas? 

Be sure to pull in the red with your accessories — pillows, art, lamps, etc. — to make this fabric work. Also, I’m thinking adding another color to your palette would really make things hum in this room - maybe yellow? What do y’all think?

The journey of a home improvement project begins with a single trip to Home Depot. And then another trip to Home Depot when you get home and find out you bought the wrong thing.  And then a few trips to Lowes and maybe even one to Ace Hardware, the place with the helpful hardwareman. Come on! Sing along!

Welcome to the wonderful world of homeownership Amanda!

Christie’s got a Man Room in her basement and we need to help her y’all.  She writes:

“We have a very large room in our basement that we would like to change into either  a kid’s playroom or combined offices for my husband and me.

Problem #1 is that there is light colored wood paneling all around the room. One entire long wall has the light paneling with a hunting/duck motif on it. What’s the best way to lose the paneling? Paint, spackle, take it out? We don’t have much $$, but are willing to do some hard work.

Problem #2 is that there is also horrible black and white speckled Berber carpet in the room. It does not match at all with the paneling. I can’t imagine it matching anything we would want to do in there. Can we take out the carpet and paint the floor? Can you put snap in wood flooring in a basement?”

Also, can anything be done about the drop ceiling/fluorescent light combo overhead? Our style is contemporary.”

Included was this picture.

She also sent a shot of the carpet, but you’ll just have to take my word for it, it was yugly.

 Being the kind, sensitive and compassionate designer that I am, I quickly wrote back,
“Oh yeah. You got yourself a Man Room there sister. You need some help. Will get back to you. After I go bleach my eyeballs.”

So then, what to do about Christie’s Man Room?

The pictures I have don’t provide a lot of information about the space, so operating on a lack of facts as I am prone to do, I think the first thing you need to do Christie is decide how you want to use that space. A playroom? An office? Or both. Having said that, combining a playroom with an office is an odd marriage and a challenge to make work.

After you decide how you want to use the space, the next step is to settle on a color palette that appeals to you. I am choosing a calming creamy white, sable brown and muted blue on your behalf. 

I think it goes without saying that the ducks gotta go. Since a truck hasn’t backed up in your driveway and dumped a load of cash, let’s assume we want to spruce this place up for as little money as possible.

The first thing I would do is clean, prime and then paint the paneling a creamy white in a satin finish to neutralize it. Sure, you could rip it out and put up sheet rock if you don’t mind going to the expense and trouble and if the texture of the paneling really bothers you. Otherwise, paint is the least expensive way to address the paneling issue.  This will provide a neutral and clean palette for everything else you bring into the space.

If you choose to use that space as an office, then the snap-together style flooring will work as long as you put down a moisture barrier underlayment, but it depends on your basement. Check with a professional for sure.  If you go that route, then look for a dark pecan color to play off of the creamy white walls. 

If moisture is a problem, then another option would be to simply paint the floor with concrete-suitable paint. I would go with a dark chocolate brown, something like Sherwin Williams Sable. Then to cozy up the space, you could bring in a big rug, something like this on the right (5×7 $170, 8X11 $340).  You would then use the blue in this rug as a basis for your accessories -sofa or chair pillows, canvas baskets, art – and other furnishings.

If you plan to use this space as a playroom, I would think you would want an easy-care carpet of some type, a flat patterned berber or maybe even something industrial in nature.

As far as the drop ceiling, If you Google “drop in ceiling tile” you will find a number of ceiling tile  manufacturers that offer tiles in a variety of styles and colors. Beyond replacing them, I would be inclined to paint the whole kit and caboodle the same creamy white color as the walls in an effort to make them disappear.

Since lighting is always a problem in a basement, if you don’t want to go to the expense of adding some canned or track lighting, then make sure you’ve got plenty of lamps for task and ambient lighting. Look for icy blue crackled ceramic or metal and geometric in shape with simple shades.

Any other ideas for Christie’s Man Room?

AM: Hi everyone! Today I have in my design studio DeeDee who writes the famously funny blog It Coulda Been Worse. Welcome DeeDee!

DeeDee on the left and her much much younger sister Antique Mommy on the right.

AM:  DeeDee is going to tell us how to turn trash into treasure in ways that Joan Steffend can only dream of.

DD: Thank you, it’s great to be here.

AM: So then, let’s get to it. You used to live in Los Angeles where you were the faux finisher to the stars, is that right?

DD: Um, well, no, not exactly. Back in the day, before children, before stretch marks, before the mommy van, it was not an unusual sight to see me cruising Burbank neighborhoods on trash day, in my black Toyota pickup. It is unbelievable what people throw away.

AM: So you were trash collector to the stars?

DD: Um, no. Not exactly.

AM: Is it fair to say that you were trashy?

DD: Well… could I just finish?

AM: Sure.

DD: I was a regular on the…

AM: Did you ever see George Clooney? What’s George like? Really? I’ll bet George throws away good stuff.

DD: What I was going to say is that I was a regular on the garage sale route. Not seeking out priceless valuable heirlooms, or one of a kind china from days gone by. No. I was looking for junk. Furniture. Old wood furniture, that no one else in their right mind would have looked twice at.

What began as a hobby in the early 90’s, soon blossomed into a business. I started out painting old furniture, simply to give it a fresh look and because I couldn’t afford anything new. Soon, I was finding other pieces, painting them, and putting them in hoopty ploopty stores in Los Angeles.

AM: I aspire to be hoopty and ploopty.

DD: This was about the time that the “shabby chic” look was hitting the market. I had no artistic training, or ability, for that matter. I just had a desire to make something pretty out of something not so pretty. And I didn’t mind getting dirty in the process.

AM: What qualities are you looking for in your junk DeeDee, besides, you know, junky?

DD: When I was seeking out junk, I was first and foremost looking for potential. It became a game with me — find the ugliest, most disgusting piece of furniture, and turn it into something beautiful. One of my favorite pieces was a corner desk I found. Someone had taken a magic marker to it and the color was just hideous. I bought it for maybe a dollar. Made it beautiful. And sold it for $250.00.

AM: Wow! $250? Amen and you go girl to that. Is there anything that would make you pass on a particular piece? What if it had 85 coats of paint on it?

DD:   I would never bother to strip off the old paint.  WAY too much work.  I just sanded down the finish, washed it, then applied primer to get the base coat to stick.  I really loved it when a piece had a lot of pre-existing paint, because, as I distressed it in the end, sometimes I could get other colors of paint to peek through, giving it a wonderful patina and well worn look which is great when you have children.

The only thing that would make me pass on a piece, besides a ridiculous price, is the construction. If it wasn’t well constructed, I passed. Elmer’s wood glue can only perform so many miracles.

AM: So once you’ve found an exquisite piece of junk, what’s your process for spinning wood into gold?

DD: First, inspect the piece to make certain that nothing needs to be glued. Next, lightly sand it with 100 grit sandpaper, to give it some “tooth” so that paint will stick. Then, give it a bath. Use a mild soap (I used TSP which you can get at any hardware store) that’s okay to use on wood, dampen a sponge, and lightly wash the piece down, removing all traces of dirt and residue from the sandpaper.

After the piece dries, give it a coat or two of a water based primer. My favorite is Kilz. Then you’re ready for your base coat of acrylic paint.

Here’s a tip just for your readers, because I know they are special:  Search home improvement stores for their “oops” paints. These are paints that were mixed and for whatever reason and not sold. I saved a lot of money that way. I always used water based paints. The clean up was much easier and less toxic. My favorite base colors were flat white and antique white.

AM: I personally am a big fan of “antique” white.

DD: Then I would go crazy with trim colors.

When it comes to decorative trims and embellishments, you can keep it as simple as you want. Stripes are easy with painters tape, and you can use stencils for anything more complicated. I finally got comfortable painting flowers and vines freehand. First, I watched a video series on oil painting, using the double loading method. About this time, Donna Dewberry came out with her one-stroke method of using two colors on a brush to get a three dimensional feel with acrylic paint. I melded the two, and came up with my own style.  And people, it’s just paint. If you screw it up, paint over it and try try again.

I love the “distressed” look of worn furniture. Probably because I can relate to it. After I completed the painting, I took some fine sandpaper, and sanded off the edges, where wear naturally would occur. Then, using a tack cloth, or good dust rag, clean off all the dust.  Finally, seal the piece using a satin water-based clear top coat then stand back and admire your work. Call your friends over and let them admire it. Serve drinks and chips.

AM:  Who was your most famous client? Or are you sworn to secrecy?

DD:  Most famous client?  Val Kilmer and then wife, Joanne Whalley Kilmer, bought a high chair I painted as a gift for a baby shower.

AM: Val Kilmer, oh so hot as Jim Morrison.  Give me a moment so I can fan myself….

AM:  Okay! Thanks DeeDee!  Great stuff!  You prove that it’s never too late for the old, unwanted and trashy. Uh, you know what I mean. Might I just say here that you’ve got great hair!

DD: Right back atcha’ sister.

AM: Hey DeeDee, thanks for stopping by Inspired Spaces!

Below are some examples of DeeDee’s work:

On the left, a trifold screen helps to create cottage-style ambiance.  On the right a charming night stand for a little girl’s room.

When DeeDee came across this old army trunk it was in her words “truly awful and army green” which is redundant.  She redeemed it with a little paint and imagination and eventually sold it to a soap opera actress. 

Here are some examples of my trash to treasure stuff.  Child insisted on being in the picture, so whatever.  When I want to take a picture of him he runs away.

On the left is an old sideboard I found in a junk store for a few bucks which I used as a changing table for Sean’s room.  Because it wasn’t really a changing table, after we were through the diaper years, I simply removed the changing cushion and it became a low-boy style dresser.  I painted it black and then did a torn brown paper finish on the drawer fronts. On top of that I added some torn safari paper in keeping with his Serengeti safari-themed room. I lined the drawers with black felt.

On the right is a dresser that is Early American in style that belonged to Antique Daddy when he was single which should give you an idea of how old it is.  I removed the spread eagle-style drawer pulls and replaced them with simple black pulls.  I used leopard print scrapbooking paper that I tore into pieces and decopauged on the drawer fronts. 

Do you have a trash to treasure success story? Send me an email telling me the story of how you found the piece, what you did to it, along with a picture and I may feature it in an upcoming post.