Revamped French Provincial Ladies Desk

Zees French lady is suffering from an identity crisis....

I mean ... she's got the french accent but she's not dressed like

zee belle femme, No?...

I feel my pepe le pew accent coming on!!

Zee front....

Zee back....

Hmmm..... zome nice panels to do zomething nice, no? ...

It's makeover time!!

We wanted to do something daring with this piece.

Go big or go home, No?

Zuh Reveal!!

We found 2 amazing complimenting french scences

(that I briefly imagined myself in) and adhered them on the back panels.

Here is a close up, look at the quality of the finish.

Huh! Huh! Oui! Oui!

The details were hand painted with a fine brush.

This was truley a labor of love or should I say labor of "amour"

We could of gone with clear glass knobs but these scarlet color pulls are like that finishing touch of red lipstick, they really add interest to her "face" No?

C'est Magnifique !

BAM!!!!!

We crackled and glazed the beautuful french scene to give it an antique feel.

For the finishing touch we hand painted the scroll accents in a metallic bronze.

We applied several layers of topcoat for a durable finish.

Another beutiful makeover, Isn't she a knock out!!

Pepe le pew said it best when he said....

We really enjoyed the process and creativity of this project, but we cannot become too attached to this little lady, for we will be parting with her.

Oui ! ... She is For Sale !

Contact Mitch 816-516-4824 for inquires

www.kcfauxdesign.com

Zee End....

Tango Classes

Tango Classes for Beginners & Intermediate Dancers Sundays from 11:00 am to 12:00 pm Location: 1325 Odd Follows Rd, Liberty MO, 64068 Ph: 816-200-1811

New class schedule begins Jan. 2012

at the Belvoir Winery located in Liberty MO . Annette and I will be teaching Tango for beginners and intermediate dancers starting Sunday Jan 8th, 2012. The classes begin at 11:00 am will last until 12:00 pm. The class will be on-going every Sunday.

No partners needed all are welcome

The link below is of our TV demonstration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCt3AKOYeE&feature=player_embedded

Tango Video

It takes 2 to Tango

We invite you to take a look at our recent interview regarding our love of Tango

The link below is our interview and tango demonstration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSCt3AKOYeE&feature=player_embedded

The link below is a beautiful example of a milonga,

In an earlier posting we list and describe tango definitions.

Please look in our archive for the information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p6GiX84-_s&feature=player_detailpage

Oak or Pine Cabinets Transformed

Old World Aged Cabinets

Below is an example of a typical builders grade cabinet unit, which can be purchased from any number of DYI home stores.

See how we turned these low-end cabinets into a one-off high-end look

We base coated the raw wood to seal it up, then applied a texture medium, ( secret sauce & special application ), which can be seen on the right side of the cabinet. This created a distinct pattern which is used later when rubbing back the final layer of paint. We then applied a gold metallic layer, shown here on the left side of the cabinet.

The following close up shots shows how the texture is highlighted by the metallic paint.

We then applied a special paint compound ( more secret sauce ) which allowed for a mild rub back with a damp cheese cloth. Notice this effect is different then sanding back to your subsequent layer.

The effect is amazing and creates the Old World Aged look that can be hard to achieve

You can see more of our work at:

www.kcfauxdesign.com

Ralph Lauren paints

We love metallic paints

Some are easier then others to apply. This project required a special roller to apply the Ralph Lauren paint. When applying metallic paint be sure to use a fine fabric heavy nap roller. Always roll your metallic paints in the same direction. Never changing the position of the roller. For example, if your handle is faced to the right, always roll with the roller cage to the right.

Notice in the image below there are no hard lap lines

After the base coat was applied I troweled on a heavy pearlized acrylic textured medium. Then stained and glazed it, which creates depth.

This is another example of a beautiful finish using the same Ralph Lauren paint color but with a different treatment. Below we used a plaster compound to give the walls considerable texture.

I then glazed the walls, which causes the texture to pop-out.

This dining room was commissioned by a well known regional builder and was featured in the Kansas City Homes Tour.

You can see more of our work at:

www.kcfauxdesign.com

How to paint French Provencial Furniture

So I'm flipping through some pages of the June 2011 Architectural Digest Open House addition and saw this priceless corner cabinet ...... and I wanted it! BAD!!

Yep, wrap it up and ship it to my house asap, also I'll take an oompa loompa, a live in helper and mama needs a pony...

Ok back to reality!!!

What's a girl to do?.......

Oh Honey!!!!!

I showed it to my Husband/Artist/Chef/love of my life and Faux finisher,

He fell in love with it as much as I did.

Alright then, I gave him his mission which he gladly accepted

Your mission Mitch ... If you choose to accept it.......

We found this beaut on craigslist

Its solid, nice curves, it's french provincial and in great condition

Let the Games begin!

He Striped it down, cleaned it, sanded it, and primed

b.t.w. who needs a formal dining room when you can have your very own indoors warm paint studio which you can paint to the wee hours of the night

I'm going to miss it when the tile is installed.

We used faux effects Kettle glow which is a metallic charcoal color.

Drawers and side panels were painted in faux effects metallic Pewter Gold

(My Fav)

Which was aged and glazed with Vandyke Brown

Then detailed and pinstriped the drawers with metal glow Toasted Coconut

It's starting to take on a personality now

It's ALIVE!!!!

We chose a beautiful french scene and adhered it to the panels.

We sealed the front surface and a used a clear 2 part crackle to give it depth and texture.

Then lightly glazed it to give it that antiqued

"I've been around since the 18 th century" look

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

It takes my breath away beautiful! This piece for me really shows a persons creativity and most important... Love Thank you Honey Are you ready for you next mission ... Mitch?

Fireplace re-do with Faux tumbled tile

There she is!!!

The eye sore in our living room. We painted the fireplace in a beautiful metallic finish then softened it up with a walnut stain but now the tile doesn't go.

OK..... I'll just rip out the existing tile a replace it with a tumbled marble tile ..... pretty right?

Yeah pretty expensive!

This is my inspiration so..... It's time to raid the paint vault!

Step 1. Clean the tile with a tsp

Step deux. Sand with 150 grit sandpaper

Step 3. Clean tile with tsp

Step 4. Prime tile with Styx water base adhesion primer (good stuff)

I filled the existing grout lines with a high end synthetic venetian plaster

A good tip I learned the hard way is make sure your tile is room temperature if it's too cold the venetian plaster will droop and sag.

Ughhh... Those are the worst words a lady can hear.

I then rolled a "scratch coat" layer of plaster over the entire surface and re-filled my grout lines because the plaster shrinks as it dries.

Patience young grasshopper ... we will let dry and finish in the morning

Having no concept of time I pull my Husband into my timeless world....

Wake up Mitch and wash my brushes PLEASE!!!...

that's 12:03 am

And like a good Husband .... he does it

I think his eyes are still closed

I purchased a mosaic tile stencil online for 11 bucks!

I then applied a thin layer of plaster with a Japan scraper

I use a level and measure as I go

Here is a close up of my faux tumbled stone mosaic tile

I sanded the finished product with a sanding block to get excess plaster off and smoothed out.

And here is the finished look!

This project was very inexpensive but looks like a million