stencils Archives - The Whistling Elk

DIY, Furniture, Home, Paint, Uncategorized

There Are Two Sides To Every Door! Duh!

September 4, 2014by elegantparis2 Comments

I have a door in the shop that leads to a little foyer and the back door.

paint couture at the whistling elk — Before I got my hands on this door…it looked like this!

The door is in my little “Paris Boudoir” so you can see that it just wasn’t making it in its “silly brown” color…

Chester NJ — Paris Boudoir at The Whistling Elk

I like to show my customers what they can do with Paint Couture!™ but I keep selling the pieces that I paint so I decided to paint the door…my landlord would not like it if I sold his door so I figured it was safe to paint it with Paint Couture!™ in order to have a ready sample at all times!!! P.E.R.F.E.C.T.

So the door got a very light uneven coat of Italian Ivory with Dream in the area around the raised panels of the door and Pale Gold on the moldings around the raised panels.

Remember the movie Romancing the Stone when the smuggler says he’s going to get his “li’l mule” and smiles…well I feel that way about my li’l hand sander. So yup I got it out and beat up that door! I did get a little carried away on the “back side” of the door.

Paint Couture NJ — Paint Couture on the Paris Boudoir Door at The Whistling Elk, Chester, NJ

Yesterday I stenciled the front side of the door with Pale Gold…but I couldn’t decide if I was really done…that happens a lot when I paint.

Sometimes when I am not sure about how I feel about something – I go home and sleep on it – it never fails that when I wake up I have the answer…actually it came to me before I even got to sleep…A Door Has Two Sides…who said they have to be the same?

This morning when I came in I glazed the back side of the door with Light Brown Sugar on the raised panels…lightly rubbed in. Then I glazed everything but the raised panels in Champagne. Ha! I used some different stencil designs so it looks completely different than the front side.

The Whistling Elk, Chester, NJ — Paris Boudoir Door Front

paint workshops in chester, nj — Back of Door with light brown sugar on the raised panels and champagne glaze on the frame.

So now I am having one of those moments where I am thinking, Yah, you can have your cake and eat it too!!!!

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I like to live dangerously while painting

March 29, 2013by elegantparisLeave a Comment

It is not unusual for me to live dangerously and just start painting on a piece at home without actually clearing it off…lucky for me that i am a neat painter!

I have owned this beautiful bookcase for many years. It is pine and was imported from Europe and just brie waxed and left in its natural state. Up for a change in my home decor I decided that i would paint the outside shell of the piece and give it a new design. The Benjamin Moore Stonington Gray paint on the wall was my inspiration. So here it is with its first coat of Annie Sloan Paris Grey. I painted the sides and the front facing edges.
After this dried, I painted Olde White on the parts that i considered trim. You cant see them in the picture but at the bottom of the bookcase there are 2 drawers…these i painted as trim also.

The piece remained like this for several days as i had to wait for another day off. But actually i could have stopped here – it was simple and pretty and looked great in the room.
Meanwhile i was rummaging in my stencil collection and found one that i could run down the front side edges…so i kept going.
I clear waxed the piece then dark waxed it, rubbed off the excess and sanded it down to distress it.

I also gilded the beaded trim and the stenciled trim on the front sides and the crown.

I thought i was done but I think i will do some trim work on the drawers…but that will have to wait for another day off from The Whistling Elk.

There is an old hole about the wood knob and i am thinking that i can paint a fabulous “lock” above the knob. This too will have to wait for another day.