My weeks are so fun working with clients to make their homes their own - I love finding new ways to bring in the homeowner's personality. I wanted to share a few of these projects with you and give you a glimpse of what I did last week!
Homes 1 & 2: Floors!!!
For this floor design, I worked with homeowner Alicia and designer Lisa Rowe to create a statement in her new entry hall. They wanted something with a contemporary edge to set the tone of the rest of the home. Since there are wood floors throughout, we decided to do something bold and paint the floors in the foyer in a rich gray and cream graphic combo! The beautiful landscape painting by artist Darlene Wall, purchased from Segreto Gallery for Alicia's previous home, looks great in its new setting.
The newly laid wood floors were painted BM OC-53 first with an acrylic floor paint. A sticky paper was applied to the floors so we could hand draw the pattern. Segreto artist, Debbie Moseley, who also has artwork in our Gallery, is calculating the math to layout the design. I never thought I would have to remember those high school geometry classes in my line of work!!!
After the pattern was drawn on the floors, we used an exacto knife to cut out the design, leaving areas of the basecoat exposed. A coat of BM-HC-166 floor paint was rolled over the entire surface.
Here is Alex, my main decorative artist, pulling the remaining sticky paper from the floor to reveal the white undercoat of the graphic pattern. This home is simply wonderful - I hope to take you on a tour of the house in its entirety once the gals have finished!
In the second house, which has a more traditional style, we worked with sweet Melinda to create a border in her entrance that would set it apart from the open floor plan of her home. Taking inspiration from a beautiful tile mosaic, we added a shadow line to the custom painted design for a beveled effect.
Homes 3 & 4 - Shutter Doors!!!
I just can't get enough of antique shutters! Ever since I first took the shutters from my dining room and figured out how to give them a beautiful aged look, we have been mastering the subtle art of antiquing new or existing shutters for many of our clients.
These newly built and aged shutters designed by Steve (who is both the homeowner and builder on this one) and designer Darla Bankston May, add so much character to this butlers pantry! The architect of this home is none other than the famed Kevin Harris - can't wait to show you more of it at a later date!
These 200 year-old distressed shutters from France that I found for display at our shop served as our inspiration to transform the shutters in our client Jill's master bedroom suite.
Jill's 35 year-old shutters, previously sprayed a 70s gold color, were stripped and then layered with paints and glazes to emulate the antique ones we have. Designer Lindsey Herod, who just opened a Houston branch for the New York firm, Celerie Kemble, is spearheading the master suite makeover.
Homes 5, 6 & 7 - Wine Rooms, Stone and Brick!!!
What a cool feature for a wine room - old barrels embedded in the brick! I had a lot of fun creating a mural for designer Janita Lo that would complement this unique element of the home!
For the Tuscan countryside mural (still in progress), we framed the beautiful scene with painted bricks to emulate the real brick in the room. I would love to share a glass of my favorite Chardonnay in this interesting and inviting wine cellar!
This is a close up of another brick feature wall that we had applied in a boys room for designer Sheila Lyon. Seeing the whole wall painted with the trompe l'oeil brick really tricks the eye!
For this kitchen, homeowner Nita wanted to pull in some of the Austin stone that they had used in the adjoining den. The painted version we did really ties the two rooms together!
Painting the label of a favorite wine onto a cabinet or wall is always a great personal touch for a wine cellar or bar area. The curved cream element of this wine cabinet seemed a bit out of place. But by aging the cabinets and painting a soft design, we were able to pull everything together in a charming fashion.
While we were busy painting in the cellar, talented homeowner Gwen was getting ready for a dinner party! Look at that table, just masterful!!!
Birthday Wishes and a Graduation Extravaganza!!
I also turned 51 this week, and it wasn't so bad!! I started the day with a company meeting that evolved into a birthday surprise and ended the evening with a wonderful dinner with my family. This huge bouquet is just one of the thoughtful gifts my Segreto team showered on me!
Then we were off to College Station to celebrate my daughter's graduation from Texas A&M University. So proud of her!!!!!!!! Congratulations, Kirby! I hope everyone has a wonderful week! 'Til next Monday - xo Leslie
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