Ask Tessa

Tessa - your work is exquisite! I found your site online and am totally captivated by the designs and subtle colors. I am going to "attempt" to faux paint a bathroom in a metallic pewter finish and apply a raised stencil design - either a swirl effect or a simple fleur di lis. Any advice for a complete novice? Thanks!
Jean

Hi Jean,
I love your idea for the bathroom! As you have probably noticed, I incorporate a lot of metallics into my finishes. I especially like to combine matte paints and earthy textures with metallics to mimic nature-like the inside and outside of an oyster shell. I would think of the finish you want to attempt in three stages: base-coat, pewter metallic, raised stencil application. You can get an infinite amount of variety by varying each stage only slightly. I always say that it's like cooking, and it's important to do a sample to refine the process before you start on the walls. If I were doing this finish, I would base-coat the walls a medium valued gray, such as Sherwin Williams 7066 Gray Matters, in satin. Then I would mix the pewter metallic paint with latex glaze (I use Modern Masters, Behr, or Benjamin Moore) and a little water to a workable consistency. How you apply the pewter glaze will create the overall textural look and feel of the finish.

For a mottled look try using a large sea sponge loaded with pewter glaze and then tapped off first on newsprint. Use your whole palm to hold it flush to the surface and working in small sections "walk" the glaze back and forth to get even coverage. Use a small brush to pounce in the corners and edges.

Metallic glazes applied with sponges.

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An easier technique is the strie-or dragged glaze. Use a large 4" brush ( I like the cheap "chip" brushed with the bare wood handles and blond hairs) dipped in glazed, dry-brushed onto newsprint and then dragged vertically onto the wall.

Strie finish. Gold metallic glaze dragged over golden-green base color.

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Or you could also try a product like Shimmer Stone, which is an acrylic "plaster" with metallic pigment in it which is applied using a trowel or bondo knife.
Shimmer stone finish with additional bronze metallic layers.

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As for the raised stencil, there are products out there designed for that purpose, or you can make your own with the gray base-coat color thickened with joint compound or spackle. Use a flexible trowel to skim the mix over the stencil. After the raised motifs are dry, use the stencil and add some pewter to each one.

Raised stencil motif and Shimmer Stone finish.

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If you want a staggered pattern, measure out the pattern placement using a level and tic-marks on pieces of blue tape. Center the stencil then remove the tape. I like the idea of a classic fluer di lis in a staggered pattern, but a swirl is more contemporary and could be "scattered" here and there.

"Scattered" bontanical motif.

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Best of luck Jean!
Tessa

Opulent powder room

This is the kind of room that drops people's jaws when they walk into it. This is why I love doing powder rooms-they can be really over the top! This powder room is in the formal entry of the Casa Nova.

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This finish was created to more or less match the silk fabric used on the sconce shades, and the colors in the onyx slab. The walls were base coated with a matte terracotta color and then we did a strie-or dragged glaze-with gold metallic. The damask stencil was one I purchased, and I stenciled the pattern with sea sponges using a variety of burnt sienna and venetian red glazes to create a lot of depth and fading. Interior Design: Denton House Interiors.

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Gilded ceilings with scrolling border

In this home there is a formal dining room and a formal living room on either side of the entry. We gilded-or gold-leafed-the ceilings in both rooms and created the chinoiserie scroll border.

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The ceilings were first base coated in red to mimic the traditional bole clay used in gilding. We used a chalk line to create a grided guide to keep the individual leaf in straight lines. I used dutch metal (a brass alloy) rather than gold, applied with Aquasize water-based size. After burnishing, the leaf was finished with multiple layers of shellac.

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The formal sitting room on the opposite side of the entry. Here you can see the beautiful asian-style painting above the mantle that we took inspiration from.

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In this detail you can just make out the silver flower detail that we applied in a staggered pattern over the gold. I designed the scroll stencil and hand-cut it from thick mylar. We used an adhesive spray with the leaf for the border. Incidentally, we did the second ceiling in half the time of the first. I am always amazed how quickly the work goes once the problem solving has been worked through and the order of operations has been established. Whenever possible I do things assembly-line style. Architecture and design by Robert MacArthur.

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Crushed silk finish with staggered stencil

I love the look of a staggered stencil motif over a more organic-looking backdrop. In this case, the periwinkle blue base coat was treated to layers of metallic glaze using newsprint in an additive way to create the warm undertones. Next I applied a slate colored glaze and used the newsprint to lift off the color in a subtractive way.

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A small, windowless powder room like this one really benefits from rich color and pattern. Whenever I do patterns, I plan out where everything will fall and determine the best placement before I start.

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Metallic squares

I never tire of working with metallic paints. This dining room finish was created by base-coating the walls in a pale honey-due matte latex paint (which is the lightest color you see) followed by vertical bands a shade darker. Next, we taped off alternate squares and used two custom mixed metallic colors, one silvery blue and one bronze, to create the checkerboard effect. Notice how the squares are perfectly tiled to fit the walls?

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Old book wallpaper

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This finish-for the mens and womens bathrooms at the Alpine House-was created by tearing apart old books culled from the basement of Sam Weller. I focused on subject matter pertinent to skiing and the West, seeking out 19 C farmer's almanacs, survey maps, books of flora and fauna, and botanical illustrations to work with. I also found a very vintage Jean-Claude Killy book with great skiing illustrations from the seventies that we had a lot of fun with.

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We used heavy duty wallpaper adhesive to collage the paper to the wall, and then troweled-on a thin layer of joint-compound mixed with matte gel medium that was tinted a warm parchment color. This sealed the paper, filled in some of the thin gaps, and created a nice striated quality.

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Gilded squares on barn-wood walls

Alpine House in The Canyons, Park City. I did this reverse gilded signage for them on the glass doors.

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This idea came from Denton House Interiors.

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I cut the dutch metal down to the size of gold leaf, and we applied Rolco Aquasize to the slats using tiny rollers and a square stencil cut slightly smaller than the metal leaf.
We also did the rusted patina on the metal encased half-wall you see here.

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After burnishing, the gilded squares were individually sealed with clear shellac.

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We concentrated the application through the center of the wall and petered it upward. The opposite wall is all windows, so the leaf catches the light, creating clusters of constellations.

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Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

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French "grain bag" stenciled chairs

Seating area at the Alpine House in The Canyons, Park City.

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Detail of our stencil-work on the burlap/linen armchairs.

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I am using permanent ink (from a pre-inked pad) with a blotting tool I found at the craft store to apply the red color. I hit on the idea of using ink because I was concerned about paint bleeding through onto the course fabric. I was mortified of ruining these chairs!

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I hand-cut the stencil based on a French pattern taken from an antique grain bag. We turned the pattern every which way and let it run off the chairs to create the feel of salvaged piece-meal fabric. With the ink, I was able to get an authentic stamped and faded look.

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A view to the vestibule where we rendered the walls in Venetian plaster.

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Creamy white burnished and waxed Venetian plaster.

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Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

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Mountain Homes

We were hired by Denton House Interiors to do a parchment glaze on the walls and ceilings of this Park City mountain home, built by Thomas Mcphee Construction.

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The beauty of this finish is its subtlety. I don't care for glazed walls that appear dirty or heavily "fauxed". I don't like to see rag or brush marks that betray the tools used by the painter. Instead I have spent many years perfecting a glazing technique that leaves the walls awash with even, delicately mottled color, that feels integrated into the environment.

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The finish makes the walls glow with unexpected warmth when the light hits them.

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The walls look more tactile than standard painted walls, and the finish relates visually to the local mountain stone and weathered wood.

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We also glazed this tree wallpaper, at the designer's request, because it felt too stark.

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Earthy pink walls in the girl's bunk room. Custom beds by Old World Antique Reproductions.

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Detail of the hand-painted wildflower sconce shades. Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

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Mountain Homes Continued

These textured walls were given a layered wall finish using lime-wash and acrylic glazes.

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I do a lot of work in mountain homes in Deer Valley and Park City. The foor plans are always very open with a lot of windows and richly finished cabinetry, wood beams, and wood floors.

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I find that standard wall paint just doesn't cut it in this environment. The walls are better off with a decorative finish to impart texture and depth.

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Parchment glaze in the Great Room. Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

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