Fabulous Copper Leafed Dining Room Ceiling

As you know, I am not a professional photographer. My work is very visual and sometimes the camera just doesn't do it justice. If I have done work for you, I am sure you know decorative finishes always look so much better in person. Throw in the metallic, shimmery element of many of my favorite finishes and it's even worse. That being said, many of my projects go unphotographed or unblogged because they are lost in translation of the photos.
However, this particular project, that was not the case. Leafed or guilded ceilings always look AMAZING!

 

The process is really cool, albeit labor intensive. After all, hand applying hundreds of 5" square, very thin "leaves" takes some time. I've shown you silver leafing on some furniture in the past. http://savardstudios.blogspot.com/2012/04/silver-leafed-1900s-chest-of-drawers.html
http://savardstudios.blogspot.com/2012/05/animal-print-silver-and-gold-leafed.html

Painting the ceiling chocolate

So the process is the same, only larger. We started by painting the ceiling a chocolate brown in an eggshell finish. One coat is sufficient since it will mostly be covered by copper, but you want a color to peak through here and there. Next, it is very important to layout some grid lines so that you can keep your leafing somewhat on track. Otherwise, it will be curving allover the place and your client will think you've been drinking. The lines are more a guideline, but extremely helpful.

Gridlines

If you have a million dollars, they also put the leaves on a roll and you can roll it on in straight lines if that is important to you. I like the distressed old world look, so the old fashioned way works for me. If you forget this step and do it after the sizing, the leafing won't stick to your lines (I know this from experience. I know, I know, but I do occasionally make a mistake). Next, is the sizing (the sticky stuff that the copper sheets stick to). It's milky going on, but dries mostly clear.

Sizing

Then, we start applying the leaves. You can't breathe during this time or you'll blow the leaves to the floor or worse, breathe them in. Mmmmm, six hours with no air...I think I'm beginning to understand my problem. With multiple people applying the leaves we try to spread out in different directions so that we are not all bunched up in one corner of the room at the same time. Reminds me of a Tetris game. A bad Tetris game. If you've played, you know what I'm talking about.

Now that the entire ceiling is leafed it's very shiny. Unless you are a raccoon, it's a bit much for most peoples taste.

So we use an oil glaze or stain to tone it down. I used a rusty tone for the copper to really make it rich looking. It's quite a different look with the glaze.

The finished look is gorgeous! I am newly inspired to work on a few of my ceilings. To finish off the room, we added a soft copper metallic glaze to the walls. It all tied together beautifully! 

I will be posting these to Houzz soon. If you want to keep up with more of my new projects, follow me. http://www.houzz.com/pro/paintingthetownus/painting-the-town-inc  And as always I would love your reviews and feedback and feel free to share. Enjoy!

Distressed Turquoise Buffet

For my first ever blog, I thought I would talk about a beautiful piece of furniture that I just posted to my Etsy store www.etsy.com/shop/savardstudios  and will also be placing it in my Eeeklectic Town booth at the Dilworth Blacklion www.eeeklectictown.com .  I love refurbishing old, solid wood furniture. I picked this piece up from Craig’s List for $65. It was solid maple and very heavy.  A steal!

 But I quickly had buyer’s remorse. It needed some re-gluing, one of the bullet catches was broken and the hardware was horrible and not a standard size. It was requiring more work than I had hoped. So I let it sit…for months. Finally, I had a vision. I didn’t want to go with same old same old antiqued ivory. I wanted something bold and spectacular! Turquoise! And bronze! Perfect! I found some time to work on it. I decided I wanted the top to remain stained, but it was pretty scratched up. I retrieved my trusty palm sander and striped the top down to the bare wood. I wanted a warm but dark finish. I started with a coat of cedar stain. Looked a little like the original early American style (yuk!) When that was dry, I put a coat of jacobean stain over that. Jacobean is a dark brownish black. It was perfect to tone down some of the red, but still beautiful and warm. I also strategically placed the Jacobean stain to be darker in some areas. I varnished it with a satin varnish. I thought it turned out great!

For the base, I wanted the boldness of turquoise and bronze (love some metallics!).  I used a bronze metallic base paint that’s actually a primer and basecoat in one. One day I will turn you on to my favorite place to get my furniture primer. Of course I scuff sanded the old finish so my primer would bond properly.  I also filled the original hardware holes. I measured and redrilled new holes for the new hardware.  I coated the base and inside the drawers and doors in another primer tinted to Porter/PPG Calypso blue. I used a primer for this also, because I didn’t want to do the bronze inside the doors and drawers. Just saving a little time.

After this dried for a few days, I used a 100 grit sanding block and lightly scuffed all the high points (areas that would naturally wear). I also add some in the body of the doors and drawers and sides. To tone down the blue, I made a glaze using van dyke brown acrylics and latex glazing liquid. I brushed on the glaze and buffed it off with some cheeseclothe. After drying for several days, I top coated the finish with a flat latex varnish.

I searched the web for new hardware, which I found in two different places online. http://www.etsy.com/shop/WenziPlace
http://myworld.ebay.com/alforu2buy

 The final product!

Obviously, it’s not for my dining room. It wouldn’t match my turquoise silk drapes. But it’s available at the local Dilworth Blacklion in Charlotte, NC or online through my Etsy store. I would love to hear your comments!