Wednesday 25 April 2012

the thrice painted cloakroom !



So carrying on from the last post, this is the smallest room, and possibly a tiny bit smaller because I have painted it so often !



(sorry, it's a photo from a photo)

First time around, I just painted it in colours I had left over from the rest of the house. The red was much closer to the blind than in the picture, then there were two blues (used in the bunting in the boys room) and a gold (which I also used in the master suite and en suite, and living room).
The original client had chosen 7 silks (the two blues, deep red, gold, a very old gold, sage green and mushroom) from this company and we based the house on those. Although we added pink for the daughter's bedroom and the basecoats and woodwork were all cream.

My new client wanted it updated and we went back and forth with ideas.
Because my client is quite quirky, he took me up on the idea of scrabble letters. This came to me because of the light switches - they are flat metal plates with uneven edges and painted with a dry brush effect.



I know it looks like I'VE done them, but they can actually be bought like this, as well as a number of other finishes.

So, we chose some fun words, in different languages and I did a deep background to match the blind, so that the 'scrabble letters' would pop. I also graduated the colour slightly, painting a darker shade at the bottom and lighter at the top.





You can see the light switch just above the 'F' of Foo (for the Foo Fighters). There is also OCD Rules, because he is seriously obsessive and compulsive about tidiness and cleanliness (not a bad thing in a man, I hear you say).

I don't think my client ever really loved this room. Personally I wanted to do scrabble words everywhere -  mirror, wash basin, hand-towel, taps and tiles all in different languages. I think it would have been more fun.

So, I did the scrabble cloakroom last summer and last week I went back and below is the third incarnation.




All the hardware, light switches and curtain poles are from the Jim Lawrence, the same place that the original silk colours came from.



Better ? I guess it's nice and bright and fresh, and it suits my client much more.
He has quite a few 'delicate' pieces in his home, that I thought his daughter may have chosen, but the choices were all his !



Sometime I may go back to change more things or do touch-ups. Luckily I'm able to leave some of my paints there, in the old bread oven. If air-tight, they last for years.



Hopefully, my client won't be inclined to take up bread-making.


9 comments:

  1. I'm not a blue person - however I LOVE blue and cream stripes. LOVE. so I love this room....nice job!

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  2. Ι so much like the box letters! Are you gonna share the tutorial?

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  3. How fun the scrabble tiles are. I might have to copy that idea somewhere!

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  4. LOVELY PICS:) I really like your blog and I want to follow but I dont see twitter or FB in here???

    If you want some swedish decor inspiration, you can check out my blog:)
    Have a great week.

    LOVE Maria at inredningsvis.se
    (Sweden)

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  5. Your scrabble letters were so fun! I do like the new look, too. The blue and white are quite calming and the flowers are very pretty.

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  6. oh, i LOVE the scrabble letters, fiona! (my other blog has them in the header)

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  7. Wow, he's got nice taste, Fiona! I love those tables. I love this third incarnation - the stripes and flowers are just lovely.

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  8. The bread would at least be colorful, but not tasty.

    ~Bliss~

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