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"Where better to care for the soul than in the details of our daily lives?....The soul has an absolute, unforgiving need for regular excursions into enchantment. It requires them like the body needs food and the mind needs thought... An enchanted world is one that speaks to the soul, to the mysterious depths of the heart and imagination where we find value, love and union with the world around us. As mystics of many religions have taught, that sense of rapturous union can give a sense of fulfillment that makes life purposeful and vibrant." ~ Thomas Moore.

Friday, October 19, 2012

"Ethereal" Silver Walls Bedroom Update

Hello Everyone,

How do I begin? I wish someone would stop me next time I say I'm going to paint...anything.....however....it needed to be done. Lots of pics to follow! And, I realize this post is really 3 in one, but I don't want to make three so its here now.

Today after a week of tedious work and agonizing pain, I'm seeing light at the end of this long tunnel.

So much I could say, but I simply must post some pics of the process so the next one will be simply the finish. Let me just say here, that NOTHING, turned out the way I thought it out.....but I made it work.
So the title of this post is not Ethereal White Bedroom anymore...it is Ethereal Silver Bedroom....here's why.

 



So...for example....I wanted palest grey, almost white, on the walls with a pearl finish....and to have white furniture and silver accents.....all changed.....why? because my innocent and cant-go-wrong pale grey/almost white color .....Olympic's "Moondance".....




combined with Modern Masters White Pearl....



gives you what, may you think?? I would think pearl grey?? Well.....when these two precious colors get together, one and one do not make two, they make three.....an entirely different child is born of this combination....and the result is....Silver! LOL.... that's right....a surprise indeed. Silver ??? I did want silver but not all over the walls, did I?? Or did I really want it and something made me do it? Whatever....I had to make it work.
I did many experiments to see how to get the effect I wanted, and though its not Mother of Pearl, it is still reflective, magical, ethereal and the silver is very much there not as accent but as the star of this show LOL...but I love it!
 

This is the door with the pale grey Moondance by Olympic, zero voc...... and the White pearl on the panels.

These panels is the first place I applied the White Pearl to see it. This pearl paint is the SHIMMER version NOT the OPAQUE version of the same pearl paint....they have different variations on their pigment. I wanted sheer and chose the Shimmer.


 





You can see the walls without the treatment yet......very different!!







You can see the Moondance (pale grey) on the closet door.....no pearl there, but the walls have it.





I did a faux treatment on the walls. There are so many youtubes on this, and I've done this before.
How I did the effects was simple. The Moondance is already up and dried. To apply the Modern Masters White Pearl, I wanted to just experiment at first so I mixed a bit of the Pearl Paint in a plastic container and added about a third water and mixed well. It is a thick product and can be watered down to stretch it. At this point I needed to stretch it because I could not buy another quart and I wanted to see how it looked. I added this to the painting tray. It worked fine with this much watering actually, and added quite a bit of pearl shimmer to the walls! I can only imagine the opaque version which is more coverage! Then I put an old t-shirt into a plastic bag, the kind you get from shopping....and bunched it up, dipped it into the pan and began dabbing at the wall, moving my hand around at the wrist clockwise to anti clockwise and back again, to avoid obvious patterns, and then going over it again and even dragging it a bit to add extra pattern and movement. I did this with all the walls in just a couple of hours. You will get lots of paint on your hands but it is so pretty, LOL I never saw such pretty skin with white pearl paint over it all!  LOL
These pics are in natural light. This is decidedly a grey pearl.....! I love it :D:D:D



The "Texture" you see is not the walls, but the way I applied the White Pearl paint





But the effects with the Modern Masters White Pearl are amazing....and this is their Shimmer' coverage which is their lightest!, and not the opaque.








Windows before with just the Olympic "Moondance" ....







Here I painted straight out of the jar White Pearl on the window trim. Over the gray it makes Silver....or is it grey pearl? humm.....






I have decided after much contemplation, it is grey pearl :D


 

Then the choices and plans had to be revised a bit...and everything was decided upon the moment. After I finished the walls and windows, I decided white was definitely needed so the furniture would be that. But I still needed something fun at the top of the walls by the ceiling....so I decided to paint in some white lace. LOL

I used Martha Stewart stencil and used plain straight white paint that my roommate had to paint the outside gate on the south side of the house to match the first one I painted.  And I thought the white would stand out soooooo white....but that too didn't come out as I thought...it was actually subtle but it did come out gorgeous.




and no, I didn't get anything on the ceiling, it was that way, and its staying that way. :D






 I asked my housemate John to look at it, and I said I liked it alot...it reminded me of some Italian Villa.....then he somberly said....''France". I said "France??!"  "Old France" he says. I just look at him and think again,...'there's that French thing again'.....so I ask him ''how old?" he says.....''1700's''.... "How do you know John??"....."I don't know, maybe I was there".
How very interesting is that!

I also had to paint some pieces of furniture, and I only wanted to do 2 pieces, but that became three. The last one I finished today, and it was the most pain in the neck one because I had to do 3 whole coats of paint and I don't like to paint furniture, I prefer it in its natural state....so I was willing to do one coat, then it needed 2 and when I have to do 3 I get angry....I'm so done with painting, I used to like it and painted on a heartbeat, but ever since I had to paint the outside of this entire house myself....while I was sick, in August the middle of a Florida Summer!!....I had to do primer then the color and I think that cured me of ever being sympathetic with paints again. So, if I have to paint, I'm a one coat kind of person. But this piece was not being cooperative. I did the second coat and gave it the ''warning eye''...... and then after a long meditation, I did the third and still it didn't cover and showed brush marks and I didn't want a lengthy process. I wanted simple but pretty.      NOT.      So as I layed down to contemplate what to do because I was not leaving it that way, and not painting more white.....a little forest fairy came and whispered in my ear and told me what to do, so I got up from my slump on the sofa in between coats of painting, and mixed the color from some old acrylic paints and treated the cabinet and this was the magical touch it needed and it was the simplest thing I could have done! LOL  It came out gorgeous too. The fun part being the pink crystal knobs I had bought on a whim some months ago. I will take pics of that and show later, but here is the beginning. I loved it as it was a nice green piece for my Garden Bedroom but not for the Ethereal Silver.



The white goes on starting from the inside.....




After 3 coats. You cannot see the marks but I could and I wasn't about to ''work'' on this piece of furniture with distressing etc, its just not worth it. But it needed something. The crack is getting a few U nails with some glue.


Mixing the paint for the ''pink''....I should have begun with the white and added the red, but I acted too fast.



I treated the inside of the door to test the look. All I did once the right color was attained by adding white paint to the red, and adding some water to thin it out so I had good spreadability and time to work it....I took a paper towel.....all I had!.....and dipped it into the paint very very lightly and started streaking it on.....then I went over it quickly to spread it in and remove streaks and lighten it, to form some kind of soft color.....the pink is gorgeous! You can see the white inside.




After I treated the whole piece I stenciled with the same pattern I used for the ceiling border in Martha Stewart's Metallic Silver.....
and added the pink crystal knobs. This is looking very much like a Marie Antoinette shabby chic piece which I had not intended but I love. The hinges are not holding the paint so will get treated with silver rub n buff.



The top part was painted pure white and then topped with the White Pearl finish which is soooooo pretty!
 This picture is blurry, but once it is dried and done I will take pics of all of it and it will be clear.




The inside of this cabinet gets Rose Paper Wrapped shelves. LOL how fun is that! I was desperate to save myself more painting, and so I ''got'' the idea to line the shelves and since I already had some pretty paper and some mod podge, that is what I did. One roll from the dollar store! did these three shelves. All I did was cut the wrapping paper to size, mod podge or glue the entire shelf on one side, lay the paper on, roll it over and mod podge the other side and finished ''wrapping'' the shelf in the paper, trimmed the edges, and its ready to be put in.



This cabinet is probably, though the most ''problem child'' of them all, the most rewarding in terms of transformation and delight in its pale pink and white color, rose shelving and pearl top!. LOL pink furniture!

Tomorrow I begin to put these pieces back in their place, and fill them with the items I want, and then I will paint and ''treat'' the remaining 5 pieces, some baskets and wicker storage that need some silver/white treatment.
Then!..........I need a hutch/cabinet to take the place of one wall I had many little collectible things of.....which I want put away for a simple easy- on- the- eyes feeling. Some miracle is going to have to happen quick. :D

In a few days I should be done with this room. A dramatic undertaking for me, but again it needed to be done.
I hope you enjoyed these pics and if you have any questions about what I did just leave a comment.

Soon I will finish this room and when the flowers are in place, I will sit in there and eat the pink silver and white cupcakes my friend is making for me like before.....LOL...... and not come out for a while!




blessings of beauty!

Sharing this post with FRENCH COUNTRY COTTAGE : Feathered Nest Friday

and with The Charm of Home

and with At The Picket Fence

and with No Minimalist Here

and with Shabby Art Boutique





11 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness--I love this post! I am in love with that pearl paint. That is what I want to stencil my bedroom with. I bookmarked the link, thanks for giving it. It is kind of expensive--will have to try and figure out how many bottles I would need.

    I love your walls--what a great technique! You did a lovely job.

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    1. Hi Sandy, thanks lol.....that pearl paint is worth it, every penny....it goes far too. I stretched it by watering it by a third and used it that way, that's what is seen on the walls! One quart was $35.00.....not bad for special effects that stretched far. I still have half a can too! It makes everything magical LOL...and would look beautiful in your white home! swoon!
      blessings
      lady

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  2. How positively MAGICAL! You are truly a visionary, dear Lady...
    Oh my goodness...the silver...it's so beautiful! I love the stencils...and the lovely shabby cabinet...I have pink crystal knobs on my living room hutch...I also added tassels...supposed to be good for energy.
    Do take care of yourself, you are working big time!
    Gorgeous!
    Hugs,
    - Irina

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  3. Oh my sweet friend, I am so excited for you that you have finally done this! THE TEXTURE and the colors are exactly what I have sought after and isn't it peaceful? EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE MAGIC! BRAVO and the cupcakes under the cloche, OH IT IS ALL SO MAGICAL!!! LOVE TO YOU, Anita

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    1. Hi Anita! I'm kind of glad but more relived I'm doing this, it was desperately needed since I had not ''created my space'' for over 10 years when I moved into that room. And the colors are pure love, I think they express who I am spiritually more than anything....silver, white and pale pink touches.
      I'm kinda craving my friends cupcakes now too. I'm not a sweets person but when I get stressed I do. I was at her house yesterday as she is re doing her laundry room and was stuck a bit and I went over and we worked out how to place things and I think it looks great! All she has to do now is to decorate, the fun part! So I said I think I deserve my cupcakes now LOL and she's making some with cream cheese frosting!!! my fav! cant' wait....they'll be silver and white she said and I think we'll have to eat them in my room LOL.
      blessings
      lady

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  4. Lady, it's turning head-turning! :) i also share your exhaustion over painting... used to be fun.
    i especially love how your cabinet changed. i have this old heavy cabinet that belonged to my grandparents, it used to be black, then i painted it pale yellow years ago, used paper in the drawers and shelf too, now i'm tired of it, doesn't work with the room anymore, i tried sanding to show the wood, there's NO way i can finish sanding that. so i'm considering adding another layer to the paint-thickness in white... maybe white and gold? yours is very inspiring, the gorgeous knobs made it even more delicate! :)
    many hugs to you, rest well from excess paint work :)
    ~*~ kaisa

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    1. Hi Kaisa,
      yes its becoming "head turning"...
      when its all done, with the little surprises I have in mind, it will be stare worthy....I can see it in my minds eye....lots of sparkle. I'm hooking up a pale pink rose quartz water fountain too....nothing like the tinkle of water and delicate lights from Pink Rose Quartz! should be nice.
      Today I begin the 'monster' piece....I'm not happy but it has to be done. I'm online looking for the hundredth time recipes for chalk paint since it is easier.
      You should go for painting your piece, it creates a renewed appreciation for what one has. If you go for the chalk paint, no sanding is needed, and no priming because the look of old fashioned furniture is that is not perfect, the base colors show through, and this is the way to go for me and I find I'm attracted to this kind of imperfection so it works! try it. :D
      blessings
      lady

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  5. Dear sweet Lady, visions of faerie boudoirs!!!!Next time try a home made chalk paint recipe, Home depots little paint pot testers, flat,primer and paint combined, a little calcium carbonate or plaster of paris, a little water and there you go! OOOOOh add some mica, paint then sand down to see the mica, well the possibilities are endless and cheap!!!! Can't wait to see everything in it's special place. Thanks for sharing this with us. And may the painting faeries refresh you and help you have fun with all the paint projects!

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    1. lol Faerie Boudoirs! precisely! thank you!.
      Yes I did try to chalk paint for the green cabinet just like I did it previously but it didn't work out this time even with the same recipe and the same brand of paint...it came out too gritty, and I mixed the baking soda, as before with the water first. Maybe the 'grit' would have softened but I didn't want to deal with it so I went with straight paint. Sanding is too much trouble at this point, I'm at a point where I need easy or I shall quit. :D This time, for the "monster piece" I'm doing chalk paint all the way! no choice...and I know it will be gorgeous. Thanks for much for the painting faeries refreshing wish! I shall keep that in mind all day! many blessings, lady.

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  6. I share your lack of enthusiasm when it comes to painting too Lady. I just dread it. That said however, I LOVE how your room room is turning out!!! The treatment on the walls is lovely.

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    1. Thank you so much for saying so June, I feel sooooo alone in this space, all my friends having moved away, and I'm questioning my sanity in this project but it had to be done....:D I didn't think of the amount of work, only of the end result. But because I'm taking pictures and seeing it in that context, its helping me to see how pretty it is coming out. Thanks for the support.
      blessings
      lady

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Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated and responded to when possible.