Color Buzz

Friday Project Series: Salvaging Wooden Furniture with Faux Boise

I was out to lunch the other day with friends when someone mentioned an old painted door they wanted to refurbish. I told her I would love to help and I thought I would share the technique on Color Buzz.

“Faux Boise” translates from French as “Fake Wood.” It’s a great decorative painting finish that we use a great deal at our Beehive Studio, especially when people don’t want to go through the trouble of stripping down a painted wood surface.

There are many levels of this technique from the very basic to the very complex. Artists have been able to recreate the look through layering various paints resulting in the familiar oak look to more exotic patterns like Zebra wood. I want to share with you all one basic approach...

To begin, I took an old armoire that had been painted white. The first thing you need to do is start with a strong base color. A deep yellow like Cowslip 6 from the Laura Ashley collection is a great all around base for this technique.

 

Once you’ve painted your base color, tape off the intersecting sections so that you can keep the paint moving in the direction of the “grain.”

 

Next, take a deep, brown paint and add a bit of water. For this demonstration, I used Boston Legacy. Brush the brown paint on the wood, keeping the strokes in the same direction as the grain. Once this coat is applied, go over the surface with a dry brush, again following in the direction of the grain. This will create stripes.

Once this section is dry, re-tape to close off the sections that still have to be painted. Repeat the previous steps in these areas. Now, you’ll have one last step...when the magic happens!

Le Petit Ecailler

By Michele Coppin

A few years ago, I decorated and painted a seafood restaurant called, "Le Petit Ecailler," which means "the little oyster shucker" in French. I began by painting the sign in ultra-marine blue which has been fading beautifully in the sun...and wind, and rain.

Inside the entrance, I created a beach scene with a lighthouse mural using fresh white and blue tones, reminiscent of the surrounding coastal environment. 

I painted the main dining room to resemble the wood planks of a sailboat's hull with rusty browns and oranges. The orange tones offer an elegant and classic look to the interior. Studies have shown that orange is actually an appetite stimulant, so it’s a great color to add to a dining room or kitchen.

In the stairwell leading down to the restrooms, I painted waves to suggest a descent underwater.

To complete the marine theme, I laced the restaurant's ceiling with white canvas sails. The look was ethereal and intimate.

Just recently, the bartender opened an explosive bottle of champagne spraying the ceiling. This, unfortunately, created enormous, yellow stains and I was called to the rescue. The work involved to take down and wash the canvases was too daunting, so it was my job to disguise the stains. In keeping with the nautical theme, I decided orange fish would fit in perfectly with the existing decor theme and the color palette.

I began by drawing templates of the fish design on paper.

Then, I traced the outline onto the ceiling and filled in the designated areas with an orange wash,  which actually blended nicely with the champagne. Next, I outlined the fish with off-white, loose brush marks to cover up the remaining splatters from the bubbly.

Finally, I added the final details, including a few white bubbles just for fun. I am told that happy hour customers enjoy the new addition above the bar!

 

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Megan's New Farmhouse

By Megan Leblond

Sometimes a home project may seem overwhelming. The commitment might seem daunting, but with your home and your taste, there’s nothing to be scared of.

I am the proud new owner of a farmhouse built in 1902. The prior owners called the home Casa de Chandeliere. The chandeliers in every room are kind of charming, but it is the wallpaper that I’ll have to override first.

With an entire home to tackle the task really can seem daunting, but I’ve decided to take my own advice and work from the heart in a systematic way to achieve optimum results! I thought about some of my favorite interiors and how I could incorporate elements of them into my home.

At one point in time I worked in a gallery that had the most awesome purple walls. I also had a dear friend growing up who dreamed of and actualized a lavender tree-house bedroom. I think I loved it as much as she did. After finding myself purchasing primarily purple flowers for the garden this year, I’ve decided to commit...

As a child I used to love to accompany my father to his office.  You could just soak into the deep chocolate browns and mahoganies of the woods and plush leathers. I would douse myself in a novel some weekends while he played catch up. It was quiet, intimate, cozy and safe...

Another one of my favorite interiors includes a spa I frequent. The caramel marble is so elegant I just might have to acquire some of my own! Or I might just steal the color for a wall...

So I’ve decided: lavender in the dining room and chocolate browns in the family room. And the gold caramel is on deck for the kitchen or master bedroom.

I’ll keep you posted.

When planning my home I also kept in mind my affinity for celadon, the light green colored glaze used in ceramics; I own some pieces with this glaze and know I can’t resist it! And my affections for red colored objects were also considered in these color choices.

Just remember to keep it simple when starting. Don’t try to make too many choices at once. Think about your favorite color schemes and how you could make them work together.

Trip To Bordeaux, France

By Michele Coppin

I just returned from Bordeaux, the wine capital of France. This beautiful city on the banks of the Garonne river, 20 miles from the Atlantic, started out as a Roman trading post, but was eventually passed into the hands of the English who owned it for 300 years. Bordeaux was later returned to the French and reinvented into an active metropolis and jewel of classical architecture in the 18^th  century.

The city is affectionately referred to as Bordeaux la Blonde as all the buildings are built from lime stone - palettes of yellows and ocres glowing gold in the afternoon sun.

This historic part of the city is so beautiful and unique that UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization) has placed it on the World Heritage List as an outstanding urban and architectural feat of the 18th century.

Wandering along the narrow streets and tree-lined avenues, I had the strangest feeling of being watched and yet no passers by seemed to pay any attention to me....but then I looked up and there they were. . . Dozens—actually hundreds—of eyes. A quiet crowd suspended under balconies and above windows staring, laughing silently, grimacing, dreaming... little stone faces everywhere alive with emotions.

As it turns out, when Jacques Gabriel, the architect, redesigned the medieval town into a handsome classical city, he commissioned the local sculptors to adorn the facades of the new government buildings with representations of  Greek and Roman divinities, symbols of the river commerce, fishing and of wine mythology. Soon, it became fashionable and wealthy merchants decorated their houses too, sometimes with self portraits or personal references to their particular business.

The intention of these mascarons (from the Italian mascara or mask), was to attract the protection of the gods and the benevolence of the spirits of nature. Among these deities are Bacchus god of wine, Minerva goddess of commerce, cornucopias and the goddess of abundance, sirens, Zephyr god of the wind of the West, lions, slaves, devils, princesses, satyrs and city notables. It is interesting to note that on "Place Gambetta" in the center of town, these stone eyes witnessed the decapitation/beheading of more than 300 aristocrats.

Inspired by my trip, I wanted to recreate the look of these majestic sights. It is easy to create the effect of lime stone by painting a stone wall. This technique can transform an old surface into something new, giving it character and warmth.

 

To paint on stone or brick:

• If necessary use a scrape or wire brush on flaking paint
• Wash off surface and remaining debris with Tri Sodium Phosphate - cleaning agent/stain remover/degreaser, available in almost all hardware stores
• If surface is damaged or new, first apply sealer
• Apply undercoat - you may need two undercoats to cover a dark color with a lighter one
• Apply final coat - use Latex

 

For a the “Blonde Bordeaux-look,” a combination of these colors works very well:

        
  Hint of Honey 3005-1C            Amber Pearl 3006-3C        Summer Gold 3005-1B

 

Manhattan Makeover

We just finished an ultra elegant bedroom in Manhattan. We worked with the very talented design firm Bradley Thiergartner. Benjamin Bradley conceived the idea of a high-end, modern-glam room with an overscaled floral pattern on the walls. A few samples were worked up and Benjamin and David Thiergartner decided to go more tone on tone.  They wanted crisp and fresh. We painted the background with a modeled effect in an eggshell finish. We printed the stencil using a high-gloss enamel. This gives a subtle pop to the design when the light hits it. Very chic!

                           

                Beehive designers stenciling              Veronique at work

 

Light Green Walls

When we bought our home, this room was painted a mid-range, flat, middle of the road yellow. It was hard to imagine the room in a color other than yellow, but the current shade didn’t have enough vibrancy to hold the room together. One day in the depths of a cold and frosty Pennsylvania winter morning when the north light is the flattest and grayest, the color came to me - a light warm chartreuse/green. This color was applied as a color wash. We have old plaster walls, and flat paint brings out all their imperfections. The color wash softens the unevenness of old walls, and can also add a lot of depth to already perfect walls.  This color – a combination of Valspar Lime Kiss and Citrus Tickle – has successfully brightened up the chilliest mornings. My lesson here was, faced with northern light, go warm, go bold.    

                                                         

       Lime Kiss 6008-9A                                             Citrus Tickle 6008-9C