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 ... Honey!!!??

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

New Faux Finishes for 2012

We are very excited about these new looks.

These are unique textured treatments utilizing new italian rollers with contemporary combinations of color and stencils.

Sometimes pictures do no justice, these rich colors and textures are breathtakingly gorgeous! We can't wait to show you before and after pictures of upcoming projects.

This new croc roller is going to be a hot look which can be customed in any color

Cabinet re-finishing

We love this look. I have used it on furniture, cabinets and vanities. It is a high-end look that makes anything it is on appear elegant.

Harrison Crackle

This weathered look is great for vanities and furniture pieces.

Tidewater Mist

This is a great look that was develop by the a talented instructor here is Kansas City. Training is very important in this industry. We spend so much time in the field that we forget the world moves forward with new trends, treatments and fashionable looks. The center application is an Italian style ornamentation provided by a local company that produces thousands of designs for trim, frames and more. This ornamentation can be applied by steaming it, which activates the adhesion proprieties. Take a look at our website: http://www.kcfuaxdesign.com/ under the furniture section. Look closely at the before and after images of the French Hand Painted Zebra Writing Desk. We used these applications to dress up the desk

Copenhagen Blue

Crackled finishes

These cracks here, although appear random, are much harder to achieve. This was hand rolled and applied very carefully to the surface. After which it was glazed to back fill the cracks

These cabinets were sprayed with two or three coats using a two step crackled process. After which two coats of French red were spayed and lightly glazed to bring out some of the details.

This is a beautiful effect.

This effect was achieved by spraying the two part crackle through an HPLV sprayer. The second part of the process, the black crackle, was watered down enough to get it through the sprayer. A 1.5 mm or 3.0 mm needle was used due to the thickness of the material. Only a single coat was used here resulting in smaller hairline cracks

Types of Faux Finishes

We just completed this look in a dining North of the River in Kansas City, WOW, what difference in the look of the room. Take a look below.

This is the new Tribecca Bronze. A great treatment which can be seen on our website at: http://www.kcfauxdesign.com/ in the Gallery" section on the "Rooms" page. There you will see before and after images to show how these types of finishes can change a room.

Many people are surprised by the different textures we can create. Following are a few examples of finishes we can put on walls, furniture, mantles, you name it!