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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

This idea came from Denton House Interiors.

---

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.

---

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

---

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.

---

Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

---

French "grain bag" stenciled chairs

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

---

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

---

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!

---

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.

---

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

---

Creamy white burnished and waxed Venetian plaster.

---

Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

---

Damask stenciled powder room

View of formal powder room from the hall. We stenciled the walls and ceiling using an all over damask patterned stencil. The walls were finished in a smooth interior plaster in taupe beige.

---

Copper sink and travertine tile.

---

Detail of upper border: egg and dart style custom made stencil with trompe-l'oeil effect. Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

---

French scrolls powder room

I really enjoy researching historical patterns and motifs when I am doing design work. This is a French textile pattern from 1849 that caught my eye. I liked the delicate, interlocking scrollwork, and so I used it to inspire the stencil below.

---

Detail of the French scrolls stencil I created for this powder room, based on the textile above.

---

---

Powder room with gold metallic French scrolls all-over stencil. Interior Designer: Marilyn Lewis

Stenciled Entry Wall

For this entry accent wall I used an all-over stencil pattern. The wall was glazed and mottled to create depth and then the pattern was stenciled in different tones to create a softly faded feel, with a little metallic to catch the light as the front door opens.

---

The Casa Nova

The master bedroom suite where we stenciled custom designs in a staggered pattern on the bed wall.

---

Softly aged walls with a warm metallic trowelled base in the Master Bedroom.

---

Dining Room ceiling with layers of metallic plaster.

---

Parchment glazed walls in the Great Room. This technique adds so much warmth to the walls and to the whole atmosphere. Interior Design: Denton House Interiors

---

Carved footstools made by Antique Old World Reproductions from the Great Room above. Detail of my hand-painting in gold on the leather seat.

---