Whenever I bump into friends and colleagues, they're always curious about any exciting projects I'm working on. And lately, we've done so many beautiful finishes that I wanted to share a few of these with you! It's incredible to see how finishes can change the look of doors and cabinetry. In this first home, we've taken all the new, wooden elements and given them a reclaimed look and feel.
Designer Mary Nell Corson designed these exquisite doors for the entrance to the dining room. Once constructed by Goodchild Builders, they were given to us in the raw wood state. Even though they were brand new, Mary wanted the doors to have an old look as if she had found them and retrofitted them into the space. Jerry's beginning the layering process here!
Wow, I just love how they turned out! They have an old, antique quality without looking contrived.
We also aged the custom-made, wrought iron insets - what a spectacular detail for a dining room!
In the kitchen, we started with an island that had been primed, and then used a layering and staining technique to create a rustic, pine look.
The first step was to bury colors underneath the glazes to produce a darker, more worn effect in certain areas.
It takes several glazes and extra detailing to achieve the perfect finish! In the panel, you can see the finished look, while the surrounding, lighter portion of the cabinetry shows our progress after the second glaze. By applying layers of paint and adding dimension, the island really becomes an interesting focal point!!!
The breakfast room attached to the kitchen has wonderful built-in cabinetry! As the first step in the glazing process, we distressed the originally pale blue cabinets and added a few cracks. You can see the final sample in front.
It turned out beautifully! I love the black grate insets and hardware that Mary incorporated to finish off the piece. Steve's Goodchild Builders carpentry team does magnificent work!
For our next project, we were tasked with embellishing the walls of this gorgeous entryway. Because the entrance is connected to a hallway leading into the master suite, there wouldn't be a natural stopping point if we did an all-over, wallpaper-like stencil. Instead, we highlighted a few areas with a beautiful pattern.
The homeowner, who's also named Leslie, loved the floor graphic we did at our office, so I suggested we create a paneled version of that design for her entry.
This was all done by hand using a template, not a stencil! Notice how the hand-highlighting and embellishments give it so much more dimension!
I adore the finished look! We added the same paneled design to the opposite wall as well as to the wall with the door, achieving a sophisticated, dramatic entry without having to paint all the way down the hall.
In the next home, we plastered the walls and vent hood and then painted a special motif on the hood inspired by the tile. This additional touch really ties it all together and complements the wonderful work of builder R.D. Allen and designer Mollie Mercer.
This custom, built-in piece in the same room is a showstopper!!! Designed by Mollie and built by Rick, this cabinet was textured and gold-leafed, making it a statement piece in the space.
One of my favorite tasks each week is meeting with designers in my showroom and developing a finish design to match their fabrics and surfaces. Designer Bobby Farkas picked out some beautiful fabrics, and I'm so excited about the color and finish choices we made!
I also carved out some time to create a few commissioned art pieces for my clients and art gallery. Now that Segreto is completely cleared out of my garage, I'm so happy to have the additional space to work on my art! This piece was created to hang in our gallery. I think all the lavenders of today are so beautiful!
This work "A Happy Home" found its way into a lovely den, adding a bit of contemporary flair to the room's traditional decor without being too out there!!
I also revisited a home where we had done all the restoration stain work in this grand corridor - so fun to see it years later!!! I can't wait to do more work in this amazing, historic home!
In this dining room we plastered the ceiling and left the walls to flow in this open floorplan--but wait!
To complete the look we hand painted a custom medallion complementing the old world style of the fixture but bringing in the contemporary elements of the sconces. Soft but sophisticated I may have to have this design at my own home!!
To the right we plastered the range hood around an old plaster fragment the homeowner had built in. We didn't like the transition of the fragment and the hood so to make it look seamless we hand painted corners and a molding to create a seamless transition. Sometimes little touches make a world of difference!!!
Here is our neighbor's little dog ready for our big trunk show event at MAI building 2!! We will be bringing all sorts of Holiday gifts from our new store! I hope to see you all there! See below for the Book-give-away contest!!
November 29th: Holiday Trunk Show and Book Signing at Memorial Antiques& Interiors Building 2 Time 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Segreto will be premiering a sampling of the unique items carried at our new store. Great gifts for the Holidays--come see one of a kind minerals and corals, candles, tabletop, hand carved candlesticks, jewelry, art and of course the book Segreto: Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors. Coupled with many different vendors this will be a Holiday shopping extravaganza!! Located at 8731 Katy Freeway, Houston, Tx 77024. ( MAI Building 2) www.maihouston.com
Dine+Design Luncheon- Dallas Market Center- December 4@11:30--For designers only! For more information contact Pat Zajac | Dallas Market Center. P (214) 583-8792 pzajac@mcmcmail.com
Now for the book give-a-way!!! It is time for me to write another article for the oh-so-fabulous magazine Antique Shops and Designers. I will send the book Segreto:Secrets to Finishing Beautiful Interiors to any idea for a story that I decide to use!! Just write a suggestion on a topic you may find interesting that relates to what I do!! I constantly have to write these articles so there may be more than one winner!! Thanks so much for your help with this!! xo Leslie
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